Jenn Tuetken, director of innovation, design and brand experience at Pella Corp., doesn’t just lead teams that create prototypes.
She leads and creates innovative products.
For these efforts and more, Tuetken is the Business Record’s 2026 Iowa innovationLEADER Award winner, which recognizes an individual or organization advancing innovation in Iowa.
One example of prototype-turned-to-product is the Steady Set project. Her team learned that although windows were designed to be installed from the exterior, many installers worked from the interior, leaving their partners exposed to danger on the ladder outside.
According to Tuetken’s nomination, submitted by Monica Clark, head of stakeholder engagement and reputation at Pella Corp., Pella’s innovation team asked, “If installers want to work from the inside, why haven’t we designed it that way?”
“For over two years, Jenn led the team – which she steadily grew to include additional expertise as needed – through creative tensions and several prototypes to answer that question,” Clark wrote. “As designers and engineers worked through how to turn their prototype into a product that could be produced millions of times across three different manufacturing plants, Jenn was their North Star by continually focusing the teams on their task to solve the customer’s core problem.”
The team, under Tuetken’s leadership, designed an interior installation system that launched in 2024 that is more than three times faster than standard installation systems, reduces what was once a two-person job to a single installer and cuts outdoor exposure to the elements by up to 72%.
“Steady-Set stands today as a rare transformational innovation that is both groundbreaking and scalable – proof of the innovation model Jenn has built,” Clark wrote.
Tuetken’s contributions also extend beyond individual products.
“She manages a balanced innovation portfolio aligned to recognize innovation horizons,
ensuring the right mix of core, adjacent, and transformational work,” Clark wrote. “She
has strengthened the organization’s innovation engine by composing interdisciplinary ‘superpower teams,’ giving them autonomy while providing strategic guardrails, and creating a culture where innovators want to stay.”
After graduating from Arizona State University, Tuetken designed consumer electronics at
Kyocera and at Michael Graves Design Group launched 200+ SKUs (stock keeping units) for a major retailer in less than 18 months, according to her nomination.
“Throughout these chapters, Jenn gained deep expertise in capability-building, manufacturing, vendor relations, procurement and commercialization – skills that became invaluable in her later leadership,” Clark wrote.
Tuetken will be recognized at the Innovation Iowa unveiling and connection event held from 3 to 5 p.m. July 9 at the Krause Gateway Center in Des Moines.