MESA

MESA, is a small (139 employees), privately held business that 

designs, manufactures, and installs cathodic protection systems 

that control the corrosion of metal surfaces in underground and 

submerged structures, such as pipelines and tanks. MESA sells 

products and materials nationwide; technical and installation 

services are provided regionally. The company’s headquarters and 

production facility are based in Tulsa, Okla. Branch offices are in 

Fort Worth, Texas; Houston, Texas; Tallahassee, Fla.; Huntington 

Beach, Calif.; Wapakoneta, Ohio; Charleston, S.C.; and Freeland, 

Wash. Revenue in 2011 was $45 million and projected to be $55 

million in 2012.

This is the second Baldrige Award for MESA; the company was a 

2006 recipient in the small business category.

A Quality Pipeline to Success

• Since 2006, MESA more than doubled in size while transforming

itself from a manufacturing company to a full-service provider of 

corrosion control and integrity solutions to the pipeline industry. 

MESA’s growth rate during this period exceeded its closest 

competitor by almost 40 percent. 

• MESA’s entry into new markets, including expansion into the asset 

integrity market for pipelines, has created more than $26 million 

of annual revenue over a nine-year period. Most of this growth has 

occurred in services, with a fourfold increase over seven years. 

• Profitability as a percentage of revenue has increased from 5 

percent in 2006 to greater than 10 percent projected for 2012. 

A Steady Flow of Satisfied Customers

• Consistent with its core competency of “great relationships,” MESA 

has meshed formal approaches and role-model behavior to 

produce a culture committed to its customers. MESA’s customerbased sales plan defines highest-possible performance standards 

for service and ensures that those levels are maintained. 

• Senior leader communications and behaviors continuously

reinforce the importance of maintaining and growing every 

customer relationship. In a new approach called Top 10/Next 

Top 10, MESA identifies its current top 10 customers and potential 

next top 10, and uses this segmentation to foster relationships. 

• Customer retention rates consistently exceeded 95 percent in both 

materials and service between 2006 and 2011, and revenue from 

existing customers increased over the same period. The customer 

satisfaction index has been at high levels since 2006, increasing 

2012 Award Recipient

Baldrige Performance Excellence Program • National Institute of Standards and Technology • Department of Commerce 

Highlights

• Since 2006, MESA more than doubled in size while 

transforming itself from a manufacturing company to a fullservice provider of corrosion control and integrity solutions 

to the pipeline industry. MESA’s growth rate during this period

exceeded its closest competitor by almost 40 percent. 

• MESA’s senior leaders use a variety of communication 

vehicles to reinforce high performance. The communication 

plan includes weekly e-mail messages to the organization, 

local and remote town hall meetings, group meetings, and 

an open-door policy. Profit sharing and performance 

appraisal systems are part of a focused approach to reinforce 

high performance. Profit sharing has resulted in individual 

cash distributions of between 7–15 percent of annual 

compensation.

• Consistent with its “great-place-to-work” core competency, 

MESA has built a culture where the worker is secure and 

supported in developing current or different career paths. 

Workers are cross-trained and are readily moved to busy 

work areas. Employees frequently characterize their 

colleagues and workplace environment as “family.”

• According to a third-party survey, MESA leads its competitors

in customer satisfaction. In 2012, MESA led its closest 

competitor in 20 out of 20 performance attributes, resulting 

in an industry benchmark placement in the top 1 percent.
Baldrige Performance Excellence Program • National Institute of Standards and Technology • Department of Commerce 

2012 Award Recipient

MESA

from 87 percent in 2006 to over 90 percent since 2009; these 

levels are consistently better than competitors (ranging from 72 to 

83 percent) and the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ranging 

from 72 to 76 percent). 

• According to a third-party survey, MESA leads its competitors in 

customer satisfaction. In 2012, MESA led its closest competitor in 

20 out of 20 performance attributes, resulting in an industry 

benchmark placement in the top 1 percent. 

Innovative Management at the 

Core of Operations

• MESA’s senior leaders use a variety of communication vehicles to 

reinforce high performance. The communication plan includes 

weekly e-mail messages to the organization, local and remote 

town hall meetings, group meetings, and an open-door policy. 

Profit-sharing and performance appraisal systems are part of a 

focused approach to reinforce high performance. 

• By establishing ownership and schedules for action plans, MESA’s 

senior leaders create a focus on action clearly linked to the strategic

planning process. Key near-term priorities are reinforced through 

management reviews, and outstanding performance is recognized 

through merit increases and other incentives. 

• MESA’s senior leaders have established a sustainable organization 

by fostering an environment that supports the company’s vision 

and strategic objectives. This is demonstrated in the business 

continuity plan, succession plans, and strong emphasis on overall 

workforce learning and development. 

• MESA’s strategic planning process integrates and prioritizes key 

initiatives across the organization. External, competitor, customer, 

workforce, work system/work process, and supplier/partner 

information are inputs to the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, 

and threats (SWOT) analysis. A strategic objective includes growth 

by identifying and capitalizing on opportunities. 

A Company Fueled by a “Family” Workforce

• MESA has multiple methods to determine employee satisfaction 

and foster an open, high-performance workplace. These include 

MESA’s Employee Satisfaction Survey, where the corporate culture 

was rated better than the top-10 percent of others in the 

manufacturing sector. 

• Consistent with its “great-place-to-work” core competency, MESA 

has built a culture where the worker is secure and supported 

in developing current or different career paths. Workers are crosstrained and are readily moved to busy work areas. Employees 

frequently characterize their colleagues and workplace 

environment as “family.” 

• Employees share in financial success through a profit-sharing 

program, which has resulted in individual cash distributions of 

between 7–15 percent of annual compensation. 

Continuously Striving to Become Better

• MESA demonstrates a systematic and well-deployed approach to 

performance measurement. Measures are reviewed with regular 

frequency, integrated across four levels of the organization 

(corporate, operational, work system, and individual), and aligned 

with core competencies. 

• MESA monitors defined measures of success to help ensure that 

work processes meet requirements. On-time shipping, a key 

measure, has remained high, while inventory turns, a measure 

of managing inventory investment, have increased since 2008 and 

consistently exceeded the manufacturing industry top-25 percentile

benchmark for returned materials authorization. 

For more information:

MESA

P.O. Box 52608

Tulsa, OK 74152

Telephone: (888) 800-MESA (6372)

E-Mail: sarfraz.shaikh@mesaproducts.com

Web Site: http://www.mesaproducts.com

Baldrige Performance Excellence Program

The Baldrige Program educates organizations of all sizes and 

from all sectors in organizational performance management and 

improvement. We also administer the Malcolm Baldrige National

Quality Award. Our key services are to identify and recognize 

role-model organizations, share best management practices, and 

help organizations achieve best-in-class performance levels. We are 

the only public-private partnership and Presidential award program 

dedicated to improving U.S. organizations. 

For more information on Baldrige, visit www.nist.gov/baldrige, 

call (301) 975-2036, or e-mail us at baldrige@nist.gov.