Pella Corporation has been recognized with a Prometheus Award by the Technology Association of Iowa (TAI) for the company’s innovations in manufacturing, artificial intelligence and information security.

TAI guides public policy, develops talent, and invests in Iowa’s innovation ecosystem. For two decades, the Prometheus Awards have celebrated the year’s most remarkable achievements in shaping the future of Iowa’s technology landscape. Winners were announced at an awards ceremony Thursday, Nov. 6, in Des Moines.

“We are excited about the advancements that Pella is making with technology, helping to create pathways that improve the lives of our team members and create elevated experiences for our customers,” said Laura Phillips, Vice President of Engineering & Procurement at Pella Corporation. “We have our eyes set on the future and continuing to innovate with technology will unlock growth and enable amazing manufacturing careers. Today’s manufacturing careers require creativity, technical skills, and collaborative problem-solving – skills that are perfect for the next generation of leaders.”

In addition to winning AI Breakthrough of the Year, Pella Corporation was also a finalist for Manufacturing Innovation of the Year. John Baldwin, Director of Cybersecurity at Pella Corporation, was also a finalist for Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) of the Year.

Pella Corporation was honored with the AI Breakthrough of the Year Award for its creation of the AI Maintenance Doctor, an agentic AI system that leverages over 20 years of historical equipment and maintenance data to build a model of Pella’s manufacturing environments. Using that contextual understanding, the AI Maintenance Doctor actively monitors machinery, diagnoses faults, prescribes fixes, and even recommends needed parts based on historical fixes.

At more than 14 Pella manufacturing plants across the U.S., AI Maintenance Doctor has delivered improvements in machine uptime. This has directly reduced production delays, improved workflow stability, and elevated throughput across plants.

“The AI Maintenance Doctor marks a transformative milestone not just for Pella, but for the entire building materials manufacturing sector,” said Jacey Heuer, Sr. Manager of Data Science & AI at Pella Corporation. “At a time when many companies are still piloting AI, Pella has operationalized it at scale across multiple factories, across states, and across machine platforms—demonstrating a level of AI maturity rarely seen in the industry.”