2007

Award Recipient

City of Coral Springs

Chartered in 1963 and once known as the “City in the 

Country,” Coral Springs is located in Broward County in 

southern Florida. During the 1980s, the city was one of 

the fastest growing in the nation and now is home to about 

132,000 people, making it the 13th largest city in the state. 

With an annual budget of $135 million, the city of Coral 

Springs has a council-manager form of government with 

the City Commission serving as the board of directors and 

the City Manager as chief executive officer, with input from 

citizens and businesses.

The city has a workforce of about 770 full-time employees 

and about 300 part-time and temporary employees as well 

as a large pool of more than 800 people who volunteer as 

needed for emergencies, special events, or other activities. 

The city delivers a broad array of products and services, 

including police patrol, crime investigation, fire prevention 

and suppression, emergency medical services, parks 

maintenance, and economic development. Facilities include 

city hall, a public safety training and technology center, 

five fire stations, four police substations, regional and 

neighborhood parks, several sports and recreational centers, 

and a center for the arts.

The City of Coral Springs is the first state or local 

government agency to receive the Malcolm Baldrige 

National Quality Award. In 2007, the Baldrige Award 

was expanded to include nonprofit organizations such as 

government agencies, charities, and trade and professional 

organizations.

A Municipal Corporation

In 1993, the City of Coral Springs began its journey 

to be a high-performing “municipal corporation,” a city 

government following a corporate management model. And, 

much like a business, Coral Springs is customer focused and 

data driven. The city’s organizational culture is reflected in 

its four core values: customer focus—demonstrate a passion 

for customer service; leadership—establish an inspiring 

vision that creates a government that works better and costs 

less; empowered employees—empower the people closest 

to the customer to continuously improve the organization’s 

quality and services; and continuous improvement—commit 

every day, in every way to getting better and better.

The city relies heavily on input from its two key customer 

groups, residents and businesses, and on data analysis to 

develop priorities and make strategic and business decisions. 

Included are results from neighborhood “Slice of the 

Springs” meetings; 27 advisory committees and boards 

comprising of residents and business people; customer 

surveys; trends in demographics; information on local, 

state, and national economic conditions; an overview of 

technological developments; and an analysis of current 

strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities. 

National Institute of Standards and Technology • U.S. Department of Commerce

Baldrige National Quality Program

What is the Malcolm Baldrige 

National Quality Award?

Named after the 26th Secretary of Commerce, the Malcolm 

Baldrige National Quality Award was established by 

Congress in 1987 to promote excellence in organizational 

performance, recognize the achievements and results of 

U.S. organizations, and publicize successful performance 

strategies. For more information, see http://baldrige.nist.gov.

Baldrige 20th Anniversary Highlight:

The Quest for Excellence Conference 

Held each April in Washington, D.C., the Quest for 

Excellence Conference provides a forum for the most 

recent Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recipients 

to showcase their exceptional performance practices 

and share their journeys to excellence with interested 

organizations. The Quest for Excellence gives participants 

the opportunity to learn about the tools used by business, 

education, health care, and nonprofit leaders to evaluate 

and focus their efforts on performance results, leadership 

effectiveness, strategic thinking, customer loyalty, employee 

engagement, and process management. Attendees include 

CEOs, senior managers, government executives, education 

and health care professionals, directors of staff functions, 

heads of operating units, quality/performance improvement 

practitioners, and others seeking to implement the Baldrige 

Criteria for Performance Excellence (Criteria) and 

organizational best practices.
The city’s strategic plan, which is reviewed and updated 

annually, represents a shared vision for the future of the 

community and spells out its priorities: customer-involved 

government; financial health and economic development; 

excellence in education; neighborhood and environmental 

vitality; youth development and family values; strength in 

diversity; and traffic, mobility and connectivity. 

	 •	Annually, city leaders hold neighborhood meetings—

known as “Slice of the Springs.”

	 •	For the past seven years, Coral Springs has attained a

AAA credit rating from all three of the nation’s largest bond 

rating agencies—Moody’s Investor Services, Standard and 

Poor’s, and Fitch. 

	 •	The city has received the Government Financial

Officers Association’s Distinguished Budget award for the 

past 16 years and zero findings on external audits for the 

past 11 years. 

	 •	In 1997 and 2003, the city received the Florida

Governor’s Sterling Award, Florida’s highest honor for

organizational performance and management excellence. 

	 •	The strategic planning process has been cited by

a number of organizations, including the American 

Productivity and Quality Center, as a “best practice” and is 

a case study in Five Key Principles of Corporate Performance 

Management. 

The Nation’s Premier Community

With citizen involvement, a low crime rate, and an 

abundance of parks and cultural and community activities, 

the city is achieving its mission “to be the nation’s premier 

community in which to live, work, and raise a family.”

A number of mechanisms make it as convenient as 

possible for customers to get information on services, 

conduct business, and communicate with city officials and 

employees. They include the city’s Web site, podcasts and 

streaming video, e-mail, the CityHelpDesk (automated 

comment and complaint system), and the City Hall in the 

Mall, which offers services such as paying cable and water 

bills and applying for a passport and permits. 

The city has taken a leadership role in minimizing adverse 

impacts on the environment, including using environmentally 

safe cleaning products and bio-diesel fuel to run all of its 

large trucks. To protect native plants and animals, the city 

has purchased and placed in trust 66 acres of environmentally 

sensitive land. In 1995, Coral Springs became a model in 

Broward County by establishing a Multi-Cultural Advisory 

Committee to promote appreciation, acceptance, and respect 

for the city’s diverse cultural community. 

	 •	Since 1999, the percentage of residents who are satisfied

with city services has been in the mid- to upper 90s.

	 •	For the past three years, business satisfaction has risen

from 76 percent in 2004 to 97 percent in 2008; 90 percent of 

businesses would recommend the city to others, up from 82 

percent in 2004.

	 •	In 2006, Money magazine named Coral Springs as one 

of the Best Places to Live. In 2005, 2006, and 2007, the city 

was named as one of the 100 best communities for young 

people by America’s Promise Alliance.

	 •	Over the last 10 years, the crime rate per 100,000

people has decreased by nearly half. For cities with 

populations between 100,000-499,999, Coral Springs has the 

lowest crime rate in the state and the fourth lowest crime rate 

in the nation.

Empowered Employees

A motivated, empowered, and high-performing workforce 

is vital to Coral Springs achieving its mission and priorities, 

and the city strives to retain its top-notch staff through 

job security, competitive pay and benefits, a safe and 

positive work environment, and recognition. The city’s flat 

organizational structure, training, and recognition encourage 

employees to be innovative in addressing customer concerns 

and make on-the-spot improvements. Teams of employees 

from across the organization work together to solve problems 

and review processes, promoting cooperation and driving 

organizational innovation. The city actively identifies and 

develops its future leaders through training; participation in 

meetings, workshops, and other events; and mentoring by 

senior managers.

	 •	Employees are recognized and rewarded in a variety of

ways ranging from “Applause Cards,” given by an employee 

to a co-worker for exemplary customer service, to restaurant 

certificates and movie tickets for employees who display 

outstanding initiative, to bonuses for employees who have 

gone above and beyond the call of duty. 

	 •	In 2006, employees received 1,325 applause cards.

	 •	For the past 10 years, more than 90 percent of

employees have been satisfied with their jobs and are willing 

to recommend the city as a place to work, outperforming a 

comparison group of federal government employees.

	 •	Employee turnover rate has declined from 7.5 percent

in 1997 to 4.5 percent in 2006.

	 •	In 2006, 93 percent of employees agreed that the

organization is highly ethical, and 94 percent agreed 

that the city’s commitment to integrity has been clearly 

communicated to all employees.

For more information:

City of Coral Springs

9551 West Sample Road

Coral Springs, FL 33065

Telephone: (954) 344-1000

Email: webmaster@coralsprings.org

Web site: www.coralsprings.org