The National Kitchen & Bath Association celebrated its 2025 Kitchen & Bath Hall of Fame inductees for careers of innovation and service to the industry.
By Dianne M. Pogoda
The Kitchen & Bath Hall of Fame award honors individuals who have contributed to the growth and professionalism of the association and the kitchen and bath industry as a whole. At KBIS 2025 in Las Vegas, during the Design Competition & Industry Awards, the association honored two individuals with induction to the Kitchen & Bath Hall of Fame: Paolo Bertazzoni, CEO of Italian appliance giant Bertazzoni, and the late Manuel D. Gutiérrez, an industry economist, Kohler market researcher and longtime NKBA contributor.
Individuals selected to the Hall of Fame are truly game-changers in the kitchen and bath universe. Their contributions have helped shape the industry and touched the lives of millions of consumers and homeowners in their daily lives. Whether recognized for their service to the industry; inventing a new product, manufacturing process, or marketing technique; developing a groundbreaking technology, or otherwise affecting some aspect of the business, this prestigious award acknowledges their profound influence and is a testament to their long-lasting impact on the industry.
Paolo Bertazzoni
Love that bright red range that looks like a Ferrari parked in your kitchen? You can thank Paolo Bertazzoni, CEO of his family-owned company. Recognized as an inspirational leader, for blending heritage with innovation, and a mentor for the next generation, Bertazzoni transformed the look of the high-end appliance market. He brought sleek Italian style, coupled with precision engineering and cutting-edge technology, to the North American market and the world.
The Bertazzoni company was founded in 1882 in Guastalla, Italy, a manufacturing hub that would also become home to the Italian automotive industry. It is the oldest family-owned appliance company in the world, and Paolo Bertazzoni represents the fifth generation to lead the company, joining management in 1978 and serving as CEO since 1999. In the early 2000s, inspired by his speedy neighbors in the Emilia-Romagna region, he conducted an extensive analysis of the American market and launched a series of ranges that introduced the high-gloss red, orange, and yellow colors more often seen on Formula 1 racetracks than in kitchens. It was one of many “firsts” to reshape the appliance industry. In 2022, he introduced the Carbonio finish, a matte graphite similarly inspired by the automotive industry. He also was an early advocate of induction cooking and has led a decade-long push for this technology in the U.S. Bertazzoni has been a member of NKBA since the company launched in the U.S. in 2018. Paolo has served on numerous industry boards, and is a current member of the Council for Italy-U.S. Relations. He has been a leading advocate for NKBA’s Global Connect program, serving as the first Italian host at EuroCucina and an ambassador between NKBA and other Italian K&B companies.
His guiding philosophy, and that of the company for six generations, has been “Family, Food, Engineering.” Throughout his career, Paolo has been honored with numerous business, national, civic, and philanthropic awards. In May 2024, the President of the Italian Republic, Sergio Mattarella, presented him the prestigious knighthood title of “Cavaliere del Lavoro” (Knight of Business & Manufacturing). It is equivalent to the Presidential Medal of Freedom in the U.S., and for more than 120 years has recognized entrepreneurs who have “significantly contributed with their business activities to the promotion of the national economy and, with a high level of commitment to ethical and social responsibility, to the improvement of the living and working conditions in the country.”
Manuel D. Gutiérrez
It’s one thing to understand the complex macro- and microeconomics that impact the overall state of the nation, the world, and the kitchen, bath, and construction industry. It’s quite another to make it understandable to others. Manuel D. Gutiérrez devoted the better part of his career to helping K&B industry professionals grasp the big picture and the nuances of national and global economies, and what made them relevant to the specific industry and how they could affect businesses large and small.
A true scholar and an astute observer of the kitchen and bath industry as well as the overall economy, Gutiérrez spent more than 25 years at Kohler Co. in market research, and wrote the Economic Indicators column for NKBA’s newsfeed for more than a decade. He died in September 2024 at the age of 79 following a battle with cancer, but was remembered for his keen insights on economic matters impacting the industry as well as his charm, wit, and perpetual smile.
As NKBA’s Consulting Economist, Gutiérrez helped map the association’s research strategy, including the highly regarded annual Kitchen & Bath Market Outlook and the quarterly NKBA/John Burns Kitchen & Bath Market Index. He made crucial economic data relevant to the industry and educated NKBA members. While at Kohler, Manuel was integral to large global change in the business. He created and actively wrote for a newsletter his department prepared for Kohler Co. worldwide on kitchen and bath trends and housing starts. He was always busy making predictions and preparing graphs of data for better visualization and understanding.
Gutiérrez was very active with the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, a research center dedicated to advance policy and practice concerning housing, from which he was awarded a special recognition of achievement upon his retirement. Manuel was an active leading member of The Economic Club of Sheboygan (Wisconsin), where he was given an emeritus award. He also had a stint in local politics, serving as village elder in the Village of Kohler for a number of years.
This fall, NKBA will begin accepting nominations for the 2026 Kitchen & Bath Hall of Fame. Stay tuned for the opportunity to honor industry professionals who have made a lasting impact.
