Alan De Keyrel Receives 2016 Karl Shurson Quality Award

Alan De Keyrel, Owner and Chief Happiness Officer at CWS, was recently presented the 2016 Karl Shurson Quality Award for his outstanding efforts in leadership and overall professional quality.

The annual award presented by the Performance Excellence Network is given to community leaders in honor of Karl Shurson, an executive who helped lead IBM Rochester to win the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in 1990. Recipients model excellence and reinforce quality within their organization.

De Keyrel’s peer nomination showcased his leadership ability, dedication to the community, and his priority to empower his team:

“Alan is a visionary leader that does more than just lead by example. He empowers his staff to be leaders as well. He puts his trust in a leadership team to develop growth and continues to advocate to further their knowledge and expertise. Alan also shares his success by not only giving back to the community, but also encourages his staff to do the same. Alan is someone whom for which you’re proud to work.”

Congratulations, Alan and CWS Team!

Award recipients were honored with a reception hosted by the local chapter of the Performance Excellence Network. You can catch the entire presentation on their Facebook page.

Karl Shurson Quality Award: Supporting Quality

Karl Shurson was a long-time executive at IBM Rochester and was an integral part of the team that won the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award for IBM Rochester in 1990. With Karl’s leadership, the Rochester Area Quality Council was formed shortly afterwards to leverage the strength and experience from IBM’s Baldrige work. Following a successful 32-year career at IBM, Karl was one of the founders and senior leaders for Pemstar, an electronics contract manufacturer.

Karl’s passion for quality and improvement was evident in all his conversations and work with employees, community members and with nearly everyone he interacted with. Karl emphasized the need for continual learning for employees and saw the benefits of engaging all employees in personal and organizational improvement. Karl passed away in September 2002. Karl’s contribution to quality and ongoing education is honored with this annual award.