The NKBA’s Kitchen + Bath Hall of Fame is accepting nominations for the industry’s risk-takers and innovative thinkers through Sept. 30.
By Dianne M. Pogoda
NKBA’s Kitchen + Bath Hall of Fame celebrates the remarkable individuals who pushed boundaries in their careers and created a lasting legacy of enduring impact to the industry.
Nominations for the Class of 2022 are open at nkba.org. Honorees will be recognized and celebrated for their significant contributions to the industry at KBIS 2022, Feb. 7 in Orlando, at the Design Competition + Industry Awards. The deadline to nominate for the Hall of Fame is 5:00 pm ET, Sept. 30, 2021.
The NKBA created the Hall in 1989, and over the last three decades has inducted more than 90 individuals from all segments of the industry. They include sales and showroom professionals, entrepreneurs, manufacturers, industrial designers and engineers, designers, educators, media and marketing pros, individuals who served the NKBA at local or national levels, and many others.
Some K&B inventors’ efforts might not be household names, or familiar to consumers, but they changed the way professionals do their jobs to create kitchens and bathrooms in more efficient, precise or otherwise superior ways.
Here are just a few:
Daniel Louis: owner and CEO of Laser Product Industries, is an inventor and businessman who developed precise laser measuring systems that make it fast, easy and affordable for any size manufacturer of kitchen cabinets and countertops to fabricate high-quality products. Louis, who holds numerous patents for his inventions, created a laser system that allows cabinet and countertop companies to document and measure jobs, add jobsite details and generate estimates. Inducted in 2017.
Jean Mignault is founder, executive chairman of the board, and chief of strategic direction for 2020 Technologies Inc. Mignault founded the company in 1987, introducing an alternative to pen and paper drafting, improving efficiency through his revolutionary design software, and forever changing the way contemporary designers work. In creating this professional and continuing to build on the products offered by 2020, Mignault has left an indelible imprint on the kitchen and bath industry, along with the interior design and furniture manufacturing industries. Inducted in 2012.
Stanley, Tony and Michael Joseph are the founding family of Dacor premium appliances and all three are in the Hall of Fame. In 1948, Stanley developed the first fully self-contained ventilating hood for residential use, under his company name, Stanthony. In 1952, he refined it, making it the first to fit under cabinets. He made the first electric barbecue for residential use in 1956. His sons Tony and Michael took the industry a step further by creating new patents for kitchen appliances. Those creations included a dual-fuel oven cell and a 30-inch-wide dishwasher, which remain highly innovative to this day. Stanley was inducted in 1989, and his sons in 2004.
Anthony Bechtold developed the Bechtold Roll-a-matic postforming machine, for the first time bringing true quality control and uniformity to the postforming process. In the early days of the industry, all “sinktop” manufacturers made tools and equipment as needed to get the job done. Bechtold’s invention automated and standardized the process and led directly to the general acceptance by the public of postformed countertops. Inducted in 1989.
Look for more featured Hall of Famers all month, visit the Hall online, and nominate an outstanding individual for this honor by Sept. 30. For guidelines, click here.
