Governor Kehoe Presents Three State Teams with the 2024 Governor’s Award for Quality and Productivity, Recognizing Excellence in State Government Operations

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Today, Governor Mike Kehoe and the Office of Administration recognized three state teams with the 2024 Governor’s Award for Quality and Productivity, celebrating their outstanding contributions to improving efficiency, innovation and service delivery across Missouri state government. 

This year’s recipients were celebrated on June 10, 2025, during a ceremony held in the Missouri Capitol’s First Floor Rotunda. 

“These teams represent the best of Missouri, and we are thankful for their hard work and dedication to serving our state,” said Governor Mike Kehoe. “Our state team members aren’t afraid to roll up their sleeves to solve problems, and these award recipients embody that dedication and commitment to making our state better every day with their service.” 

This award recognizes winning teams in three categories: Customer Service, Efficiency/Process Improvement, and Innovation. These winning teams serve as a model of efficiency, quality and effectiveness for other Missouri State Government teams to follow. 

The 2024 Award recipients and their projects are: 

For Customer Service, Missouri Disaster Medical Assistance Team 1. On February 14, 2024, at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl celebration, the State Emergency Management Agency’s Missouri Disaster Medical Assistance Team (MO DMAT-1) effectively responded to a shooting, leveraging pre-positioned mobile medical units and strong partnerships with the Kansas City Fire Department, law enforcement, and local medical personnel to quickly retrieve, triage, treat, and stabilize victims for hospital transport. This successful response highlighted MO DMAT-1’s enhanced capabilities since 2020, transforming it into a rapidly deployable, fully equipped unit able to address a large array of medical needs capable of supporting overwhelmed hospitals and providing care at major public events like Super Bowl parades and large concerts across Missouri. 

For Efficiency and Process Improvement: The Department of Revenue “One Team, One Bill.” The Missouri Department of Revenue’s audit team, through its “Voice of the Customer” survey, identified the need to streamline post-audit billing notices after feedback revealed that the previous process caused customer confusion, stress, and high costs. The One Team One Bill initiative, completed by December 1, 2022, shifted billing responsibilities to client-facing auditors, introduced a consolidated billing notice, and implemented quality checkpoints, customer testing, and staff education, reducing costs from a projected $328,699 to $174,544 in 2023—a first-year savings of over $154,000—while improving customer experience by minimizing frustration from multiple notices and eliminating the need for multiple payments and fees. 

For Innovation: The Department of Social Services Fraud Finder Data Analytic Application. The Welfare Investigative Unit (WIU) enhanced its efforts to combat Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) fraud by developing the Fraud Finder Data Analytic Application, funded by a $415,025 USDA grant, in partnership with the Information Technology Services Division (ITSD). Launched to address sophisticated fraudulent activity, the application analyzes multiple databases to detect fraud and identity theft, leading to over a thousand investigations by December 2023, uncovering $1.4 million in fraudulent claims, saving Missouri over $2 million, disqualifying 623 SNAP beneficiaries, and resulting in 37 criminal prosecutions. 

For a complete description of each award and to learn more about the Governor’s Award for Quality and Productivity, visit State of Missouri Talent Development | Governor’s Advisory Council on Quality and Productivity. Requests for interviews for these teams for members of the news media should be sent to communications@oa.mo.gov. Photography from the award ceremony is at Governor's Award for Quality and Productivity (GAQP) | Flickr. (Photo Credits: Office of Administration, State of Missouri. Photographer: Mervyn John). 

The Governor’s Award for Quality and Productivity (GAQP), established in 1988 by the Governor’s Advisory Council on Quality and Productivity, honors state teams that exemplify excellence in public service. The GAQP program is administered by the Office of Administration, Division of Personnel.