WEB EXCLUSIVE
Louisiana Economic Development Earns ISO Certification
LED is only state economic development agency with
ISO distinction
In April, the International Organization for Standardization
awarded Louisiana Economic Development (LED) with
its ISO 9001:2000 certification. With this recognition,
LED becomes the only state economic development agency
in the United States that is ISO certified.
"Louisiana businesses in a variety of industries
pursue ISO certification to demonstrate their own
commitment to quality procedures, safety, environmental
responsibility and customer service. With our certification,
businesses and organizations across the globe can
look at LED and know that we meet the highest industry
standards for customer service and interaction,"
says Louisiana Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco.
The evaluation process for ISO certification is based
on feedback from LED employees and business community
members who work with LED directly or through one
of the agency's programs. To become certified, the
applying company or agency must implement a system
for improving service delivery to customers through
quality management practices, a process which LED
launched in May 2003.
"One of my top priorities when I came to LED
last year was to earn ISO certification. ISO is an
independent judge that sets high standards in scores
of industries. We can tell the companies that we talk
to everyday that our agency meets the same standards
of excellence for which they constantly strive,"
says LED Secretary Michael J. Olivier. "We set
aggressive goals for LED regarding the services we
wanted to provide the businesses and people of our
state. This recognition demonstrates we are meeting
and exceeding those goals."
Texas-based ABS Quality Services audited LED, reviewing
department procedures and policies and deeming the
department ISO compliant. ISO is a network of the
national standards institutes in 150 countries, with
a Central Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland. For
businesses, the adoption of ISO compliance standards
means that companies and organizations can base the
development of products and services according to
specifications widely accepted in their industry.
ISO standards are voluntary.
