American Quality Management Employee Receives Certificate of Appreciation

Montebello, CA based American Quality Management (AQM) is proud to announce that one of their employees recently received an award for her dedication to providing life-changing guide dogs to people with vision loss. The employee, C. Smith, received the certificate of appreciation from an organization that strives to improve the lives of people living with vision loss.

Guide dogs are assistance animals trained to lead blind or visually impaired people around obstacles, allowing their owners to live fuller lives since they have a degree of more freedom when traversing their environment. While they are trained to navigate around certain obstacles, they unfortunately cannot read signs and are color blind. This means the owner has to direct them via the use of signals learned in mobility training. The handler knows where to go and how to go there, and the dog guides them both there safely. Guide animals are also generally exempt from regulations against dogs in public spaces. Smith has been helping blind people get these guide dogs to help them get around safely. Her work led the organization in question, Guiding Eyes for the Blind, to honor her for her efforts.

Guiding Eyes for the Blind is a canine development center in Patterson, New York. Established in 1966, the development center is often the first step in every suitable dog’s journey to becoming a guide dog. The organization is considered an international leader in breeding and genetics, having built their breeding program on best-in-class analyses of genetic data from every step of a dog’s life. Blind and visually impaired men and women from across the United States and other countries come to Guiding Eyes for their guide dogs, a process that requires their participation in the training center’s 19 day program.

“Since our founding by Donald Kauth in 1954, we’ve graduated over 7,000 guide dog teams,” says Guiding Eyes for the Blind. “As an accredited member of the International Guide Dog Federation (IGDF), we’re proud to support their mission to improve and uphold worldwide standards for the breeding and training of guide dogs. We also partner with other organizations to ensure that exceptional dogs who are not suited to guide work may become service dogs.”

Connie Smith works for a quality management consultancy called American Quality Management. The consultancy has been helping companies maintain their ISO and AS Certifications for 25 years. Thanks to the company’s efforts, their clients have met all of the required ISO standards and received suitable solutions for all QMS, environmental and safety programs.

“If your organization needs a cost-effective solution to help qualify or maintain your quality management systems, then look no further,” says the firm. “At AQM, we are never satisfied with you simply passing an audit. We believe that having a piece of paper is secondary to achieving a cutting edge quality system that unquestionably benefits your organization from the ground up. We are professionally trained consultants with over 25 years of auditing and quality management experience, and we won’t rest until we’ve developed a fully customized and state-of-the-art QMS that boosts your quality and delivery to peak levels while trimming your cost and error to its absolute minimum.” Notably, AQM is also ISO 9001 certified. Smith is a part of the AQM team and has worked with the consultancy for years.

Many of the consultancy’s clients have left great reviews of AQM’s services on various platforms. One such review, which can be found on their website, says, “Your team came in not knowing how challenging this task would be, but they accurately assessed the areas that needed special effort and found perfect solutions for the many weaknesses in our company’s QMS. After having been disappointed by other consultant firms and customers relying on us to achieve certification, we were in a desperate position. Your team far exceeded my expectations of professionalism and the level of service provided.”

For more information on Connie Smith, American Quality Management, Guiding Eyes for the Blind and the award Smith received, visit the associated entities’ websites and other online resources. American Quality Management is pleased to have a member of their team recognized for their service to the community.