DETROIT — Tricia A. Keith, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan vice president and corporate secretary, has been recognized by the National Management Association (NMA) as the 2012 Executive of the Year for her leadership and career accomplishments in business and philanthropy. Keith is the first woman in NMA’s more than 75 year history of award recipients to win the organization’s top award.
“Tricia Keith is an asset to our organization,” said Daniel J. Loepp, president and chief executive officer of BCBSM. “Tricia relishes a challenge, sets high expectations and delivers consistently great results. Her recognition for this honor is a testament to her leadership.”
NMA’s Executive of the Year Award, given to a senior executive who has gained significant recognition for managerial and leadership accomplishments, and has conducted both personal and business affairs in accordance with NMA’s Code of Ethics. Recipients of the award have a demonstrated track record of managerial and leadership accomplishments over their careers. Past recipients include: George Romney, American Motors Corp. (1959); Lynn Townsend, Chrysler (1968); W. Michael Blumenthal, Bendix (1974); Ray W. MacDonald, Burroughs (1977); and William K. Coors, Adolph Coors Co. (1989).
Keith, a Ludington native who joined Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan in 2006, advanced into her current role in 2007. As vice president, corporate secretary and services, Keith managed and executed the company’s two-year move of 3,000 employees into downtown Detroit from the suburbs. In addition to helping re-energize Detroit’s central business district, the move of workers from offices in Southfield, offered significant operational benefits for the Blues. It eliminated the redundancies of operating two separate campuses and reduces the company’s real estate footprint by 400,000 square feet. The move created around $30 million long-term in real estate cost savings for BCBSM.
Keith’s role at the Blues includes being corporate secretary, which is responsible for organizing and managing meetings of the Blues’ 35 member board of directors and various board subcommittees. As vice president for Corporate Services, Keith has management responsibility for enterprise facilities and security; direction of corporate giving efforts; assurance of business continuity in the event of disruption; corporate procurement, executive and document services support.
Detroit native and Compuware founder and Executive Chairman Peter Karmanos, Jr., was also honored, being named to the NMA Hall of Fame, an honor reserved for nationally and internationally known leaders. Karmanos founded Compuware in 1973 with two partners and has been an integral part of growing the company to a $1 billion enterprise, with over 4,500 employees worldwide.
