®
Georgia Chapter
Spring, 2015
NEWSLETTER
www.nkbaga.org
The NKBA Georgia Chapter 2015 Board of Directors
Some new faces join the board for the upcoming year
Shown above, the 2015 Board of Directors for the NKBA Georgia Chapter, from left:
Jay Williamson, (outgoing) VP of Membership; Caren Danneman, VP of Programs;
Brittany Gardner, President; Jill Burnett, VP of Communications; David Leonard,
Secretary; Trudy McGuinness, VP of Government Relations; Lenia Pilkonis, Chapter
Representative; Shannon Piet, VP of Academic Relations; and Mark Keiser, VP of
Professional Development; inset: Glenda May, Treasurer
In a short ceremony
during the February
monthly meeting, the
NKBA Georgia Chapter
inducted the board of
directors for the 2015
calendar year. This year
saw some fresh faces,
along with long time
veterans to the board.
So let’s meet the
members of the NKBA
Georgia Chapter 2015
Board of Directors:
BRITTANY S.
GARNER, CKD, RID President Brittany is a
GA Registered Interior
Designer with advanced
training and specializes
in kitchens, baths and
custom cabinetry. She
has an accredited
educational background
and holds certiﬁcations
from the national
organizations, NKBA
and NCIDQ, known for
their high qualiﬁcation
testing and experience
requirements. She is
immersed in the design
community as a
volunteer and mentor,
See BOARD, Page 2
“Hunt for Inspiration” event beneﬁts consumers and designers
It was an event that exempliﬁed the purpose and
effectiveness of the NKBA: The “Hunt for
Inspiration,” held Saturday, February 7, 2015 at four
Atlanta area showrooms. The concept: to make
certiﬁed designers available to consumers for helpful
advice, planning, and creative ideas.
The participating showrooms - Atlanta Noland
Company, Howard Payne Company, DCD Kitchen &
Bath, and Specialty Tile Products, served as hosts for
the event, providing the locations for the interaction
between designers and consumers, offering up their
showrooms to provide inspiration, and providing
See HUNT, Page 4
NKBA Georgia Chapter Newsletter
BOARD from front
recognized as one of the 2014 NKBA’s 30 Under 30.
LENIA PILKONIS, CMKBD, RID, NCIDQ - Chapter
Representative Lenia brings almost 20 years of experience
in kitchen and bath design to her role as Chapter
Representative for the Georgia Chapter. A past president,
Lenia works for Guy Gunter Home as the Director of their
Plumbing Division.
Lenia received her BFA and MA in Interior Design from
the University of West Georgia (UWG) and Savannah
College of Art and Design (SCAD), respectively. She then
furthered that basis of knowledge with passage of the
NCIDQ, CMKBD and CAPS certiﬁcations. She also serves
as the NKBA Representative to the Georgia Alliance of
Interior Design Professionals (GAIDP).
CAREN DANNEMAN, CKD, CBD - VP of Programs
Caren began her kitchen and bath design career in 1999.
After working for a large retail corporation and then a small
kitchen showroom, she branched out and formed her own
company. From supervising complete projects to offering
total design services, Caren has a passion people and her
profession.
JILL BURNETT - VP of Communications Jill has
worked in the Kitchen appliance industry for approximately
20 years – many years spent at a Distributor showroom
and for
the past ﬁve years at the Dealership Builder Specialties on
Miami Circle. She provides sales consultations for
Consumers and the Trade
– often cooking/demoing the products “live” during
appointments and events. She has been enriched by the
diverse product offerings that include appliances,
ﬁreplaces, garage doors and lighting.
GLENDA L. MAY, CKD - Treasurer Glenda has been in
the kitchen business for over 40 years, owning her own
dealership, working in retail and as independent rep for
custom cabinet manufacturer. Since 2012 Glenda has
worked directly for that custom manufacturer as design and
training manager traveling the USA teaching product
knowledge, computer design and pricing software. Glenda
enjoys working with dealers to assist with showroom
design and projects for dealer's customers.
DAVID L. LEONARD - Secretary David helped start us
Atlanta Home Improvement Magazine thirteen years ago
by working through NARI. When AHI needed passionate
industry professionals who were certiﬁed in kitchen and
bath design for their annual Kitchen & Bath Planner, David
reached out to the NKBA Georgia chapter, and fell in love
with the kitchen and bath industry and the “amazing
network of designers and vendors who make up our
chapter.”
TRUDY McGINNIS, CKD, CBD, RID - VP of
Government Relations Trudy began her career in the
kitchen and bath ﬁeld at a Poggenpohl Design Studio in
Sandy Springs, Georgia, taking classes given by Ellen
Cheever and other members of the NKBA teaching staff.
She pursued and earned the certiﬁcations of CKD, CBD
and RID to add to her professional credentials.
Trudy has had her own design ﬁrm, The McGinnis
Group, L.L.C. for roughly twenty-ﬁve years, and has
assisted in the formation of three NKBA Chapters. She has
held several ofﬁces in the Georgia Chapter, including two
Spring, 2015
years as Chapter Representative to NKBA National. She
serves as a liaison between the University of Georgia NKBA
Accredited Program and the local chapter. She frequently
speaks to consumer groups and professional organizations.
MARK KEISER, CKD, CBD - VP of Professional
Development Mark started in the home building industry right
out of college, working for a custom home builder in
Michigan. In the early ‘90s, he started his own residential
design business. Working part time for a large home
improvement retailer, he got involved in the kitchen and bath
industry and NKBA.
While pursuing his certiﬁcation, he was hired by a top 10
national home builder, headquartered in Atlanta, where he
has been employed for the past nine years.
Member Spotlight
Sandy
Slezak
Sandy (AKBD) is a
Kitchen and Bath
Designer with
Diversiﬁed Cabinet Distributors. She has
worked designing kitchens and baths for
over ﬁfteen years, and earned her
Associate Kitchen and Bath Designer
certiﬁcation from the NKBA. Her
extensive experience with all types of
cabinet construction and custom design
is reﬂected in many creative and timeless
projects completed in the Atlanta Area.
Prior to kitchen design, after earning her
degree from the University of Chicago,
she worked independently, specializing in
designing and fabricating drapery and
other set decoration for local ﬁlm and
television productions.
page 2
R
Thursday, March 19, 2015
MARCH, 2015
CHAPTER
MEETING
“Luxury Living Show”
Join us as we present a Panel Discussion by Industry Leaders in the areas of
Kitchen and Bath Cabinetry, Tile and Counter surfaces, Appliances and
Outdoor Kitchens. Each of our panelists and their firms are represented in the
Luxury Living Show held in the Monarch Court of Phipps Plaza through the
month of March. Come see the displays, hear the panelists discuss the
process and challenges facing design, installation, and marketing of an event
such as the Luxury Living Show.
Panel Participants:
MIKE BELL, Owner, Bell Kitchen and Bath Studios
STEEN CLAUSEN, Founder, CSI Kitchen and Bath Studio
MITCH HIRES, Co-owner, Construction Resources, Inc.
HERB YOUNG, Branch Manager, InterCeramic Tile & Stone
LISA CONNOR, Marketing Director, Builder Specialties, Inc.
Special Thanks to our Sponsors:
5:45 - 6:30pm: Registration/Networking
6:30pm - 7:40pm: Guest Speakers
Register for events at:
www.nkbaga.org
[email protected]
Members:
$20
Non-Members: $35
Students:
$10
Phipps
Plaza
3500 Peachtree Road
& Lenox Road, Atlanta, Georgia
Location:
NKBA Georgia Chapter Newsletter
Spring, 2015
HUNT from front
refreshments and hospitality for
the participants.
The overall purpose of the “Hunt
for Inspiration” as proposed by the
NKBA Georgia Chapter Board of
Directors, was to expose the public
to the beneﬁts and advantages of
using Certiﬁed Kitchen and Bath
Designers for their kitchens and
bath projects.
During the course of the
afternoon, an estimated thirty
projects were presented to the
designers that populated the four
showrooms. On the consumer end
were both couples and individuals,
looking for help and guidance for
their renovation projects.
These consumers were
encouraged to visit all four
showrooms over the day-long
event, and those doing so qualiﬁed
for a grand prize drawing, an
Shown above, designer Jennifer Reed, CKD, CBD offers advice to
appliance package from Dacor and a couple looking to renovate their home bath project. The Hunt
MTI Baths, valued at $3500.
for Inspiration event brought together certiﬁed designers and
consumers for advice and ideas. Below: scenes from the event
For a ﬁrst-time event, the
“Hunt for Inspiration” proved to
be a considerable success. The
turnout of both designers and
consumers more than exceeded
expectations, and many of the
consumers in attendance made a
point to let their satisfaction with
the event be known.
So successful was the event
that the NKBA Georgia Chapter
board has already made the
decision to make the “Hunt for
Inspiration” a twice-yearly event.
The next one is tentatively
scheduled for the fall, date and
locations to be determined.
Complete list of
“Hunt For Inspiration”
winners on page 7!
page 4
NKBA Georgia Chapter Newsletter
Spring, 2015
Enjoying a ﬁve percent rise in attendance over
the 2014 event, this year’s KBIS show was
declared an unqualiﬁed success. Featuring more
than 500 vendors, and working in partnership
with The National Association of Home Builders,
the 2015 event cemented the partnership
between NKBA and NAHB through 2020. Next
year’s KBIS will take place January 19-21 in Las
Vegas. Future show dates and locations include
January 10-12, 2017 and January 9-11 at the
Orange County Convention Center in Orlando
Florida.
Members of the Georgia Chapter were on
hand for the 2015 show. Here are a few of their
photographic memories:
page 5
NKBA Georgia Chapter Newsletter
Spring, 2015
KBIS from page 5
Member Spotlight
Jacki
Phillips
Jacki Phillips is the
Business Development
Lead for Noland Co.
Atlanta. She has spent the past fourteen
years in the plumbing industry, enjoying work
on both sides of the chain from showrooms to
manufacturing, most recently representing
the Grohe brand.
Jacki began with Noland in March of 2014
and spends her days assisting designers and
builders with speciﬁcations in the plumbing
and appliance segment.
Noland Co. Atlanta is a WinWholesome
company, one of the largest plumbing
wholesale companies in the country.
page 6
NKBA Georgia Chapter Newsletter
Coming May 13th at the Cobb Galleria
Spring, 2015
Member Spotlight
Cutting Edge
Educational Expo
Jay
Williamson
- a NARI and NKBA partnership, bringing a day of
CEU educational programs and an
Industry Tabletop event to builders, remodelers and
designers in the Greater Atlanta Area...
®
Georgia Chapter
More details to follow
at www.nkbaga.org
After seven and a half
years as a District
Manager with Dacor, Jay
is starting the next
chapter of his professional and personal
journey. Jay and his wife Elaine are moving to
Cincinnati, Ohio, where he will begin working
for Tisdel Distributing, a top distributor for the
Sub-Zero/Wolf organization.
Jay’s contributions to the NKBA Georgia
Chapter over the years are immeasurable,
and he will be sorely missed by the board. We
wish you the best of luck and prosperity, Jay!
Hunt
Hunt For
For
Showroom Prizes:
Inspiration!
Inspiration!
DCD Kitchen & Bath Studio
Big Green Egg................................Barbara Ogden, Atlanta
Cambria Cheese Board..................Betsy Floyd, Tucker
Cambria Cheese Board..................Hal Plourde, Lawrenceville
Cambria Cheese Board..................Nan Eberly, Sandy Springs
Cambria Cheese Board..................Jackie & Charles Schroder, Buford
Cambria Cheese Board..................Dana Kind, Lawrenceville
Noland Co. Atlanta
DXV Spalet Smart Toilet Seat.........Brad Schlottman, Atlanta
Howard Payne Appliances
KitchenAid Artisan Stand Mixer..................Connie O’Neill, Norcross
Specialty Tile
$1000 Gift Certiﬁcate.......................Alan Lindsay, Atlanta
Grand Prize Winner: Dacor Appliance & MTI Bath Package
Alan Lindsay, Atlanta
page 7