The first Executive Director of the Ohio Partnership for Excellence was Tom Casperson (1998 – 2001), followed by Michael DiMonte (2001), Casey Mackert (2003 – 2006), Boris Slogar (2007 – 2008), and Dr. Elaine Edgar (2008 – 2011).

This is a distinct difference from the national Baldrige Award process[5] where only organizations with highly graded applications are granted a site visit.

The professional coach reviews the feedback for the Organizational Profile and assists the organization in interpreting the feedback including linking the Organizational Profile to the process categories and aligning to the Baldrige Criteria, and developing a timeline for the organization to develop a 25-page application addressing the Baldrige Excellence Builder criteria.

Organizations participating in this option submit an Intent to Apply in August before the application due date in December each year.

TPE assigns a team of 6-8 members from the Board of Examiners to review (independently and then by consensus) the application before a 3-day site visit is conducted.

Based on the recommendations of the examiners team, TPE's Board of Trustees recognizes each organization with a Bronze, Silver, Gold, or Platinum Award at the annual Quest for Success conference.