Trish Villines
Arkansas Institute for Performance Excellence
Trish Villines is the Executive Director of the Arkansas Institute for Performance Excellence (AIPE), an affiliated program of the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce. AIPE coordinates and oversees the Governor’s Quality Award program which helps Arkansas businesses apply performance excellence principles to improve processes and key results. The program has recognized more that 400 businesses in its 28-year history and is consistently in the top five programs in the nation for number of award applications. The award process aligns with the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, the nation’s only Presidential award for performance excellence. Prior to the State Chamber, Trish worked in higher education, public relations, and for a nonprofit serving individuals with developmental disabilities. While in higher education, Trish secured a $2.4 million Title III grant that allowed the institution to remodel its library and purchase and implement a new student information system. Trish is a member of Epsilon Sigma Alpha an international service organization that has contributed over $350 million to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital since 1972. An active member in her local community, Trish serves as a Harrison Regional Chamber of Commerce Ambassador and the co-director of Area 2 Special Olympics Arkansas. She is married to Jackson and attends church at Mary Mother of God Catholic Church. She has three dogs (Bella, Snoop Dog, Rusty) and one cat (Spit) and loves spoiling her niece Ally and nephew Tucker.