MIRAMAR, Fla. – Tropical Financial CU has been chosen a 2005 recipient of the Florida Governor's Sterling Award, becoming the first full-service financial institution in the state ever to receive the award since the Florida Sterling Council was founded in 1992. The award is presented annually to Florida organizations that embody the excellence and leadership for higher performance in the state. The Sterling Criteria for Organization Performance Excellence is recognized as the preeminent state award process in the U.S. and is based on the Malcom Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence. Each year, the Florida Sterling Council reviews applications submitted by organizations throughout Florida. The extensive written application requires they provide information on how the organizations have developed a management system for performance superiority. The application addresses leadership, strategic planning, customer and market-focus, measurement, human resources results, process management, and overall organizational performance. After the application is received, a team of Sterling examiners conducts multi-day site visits during which more than 100 interviews are conducted with all levels of employees in the organization. The organizations are then graded by the team of examiners based on both the written application and the site visits. Tropical Financial President/CEO Greg Blount said the credit union was honored to receive the award. "We are proud to be recognized as a top performing organization. We value our members, our employees, and our role in the communities we serve." Tropical Financial CU has more than 60,000 members and more than $600 million in assets.