Leadership Team

Kathleen McManes

Director of Dealer Support

Kathleen has been in the Promotional Products Industry for over 30 years, and 29 have been with Kaeser & Blair. Kathleen started as a customer service rep, and now oversees all of dealer support and order processing.   Kathleen's knowledge of the industry and our order entry system is second to none. As part of the leadership team, she is using this knowledge and experience to provide you top notch service, by managing her support team.

But more than just making sure your business is supported and your orders processed, Kathleen has done or DOES just about anything around here. And if she doesn’t know how to do something, she definitely knows who to ask!

When she has free time, Kathleen enjoys auto racing (any kind), and she is a Member of the American Coaster Enthusiasts Club. That means she looks for the biggest, fastest, and newest roller coasters to ride. On the calmer side, she enjoys gardening, photography, auctions, curling and crafts.

Kathleen has 4 fantastic sons, 7 cool grandsons, 1 patient husband, and a dog who greets her at the door every evening ready to play.

A Rich Heritage

In our 120+ years of continuous operation our business owner family has achieved some milestones we're proud of. Scroll or click through to learn more.

1894

Founded in 1894 as the Cincinnati Printing and Paper Products Co. in Cincinnati, an extension of a Northern Kentucky printing company dating back to the 1850's.

1923

Purchased by Dutch Kaeser & Bill Blair.

1924

Name changed and incorporated in the State of Ohio as Kaeser & Blair, Inc.

1925

Began selling products through independent dealers - the start of the Kaeser & Blair family of dealers.

1926

First dealer sales catalog produced.

1934

Installed new state of the art printing equipment and doubled capacity.

1944

Purchased 47,000 square foot printing facility and office on Eastern Avenue in Cincinnati - home to Kaeser & Blair for the next 46 years.

1947

Contracted with Disney to manufacture and offer special Disney character calendars.

1956

Awarded copyright by the US Library of Congress Copyright Office for commercial Teaser calendars.

1957

Manufactured and offered now famous Marilyn Monroe calendars.

1960

Integrated state-of-the-art, cutting edge IBM computer automation.

1974

Gas prices jumped from $.38 a gallon to to $.55 and a record number of new dealers joined the Kaeser & Blair family to earn extra money.

1981

To better serve family of dealers, manufacturing jobbed out and higher focus and attention placed on distributer functions.

1984

First Best Buys concept catalog produced.

1987

Introduced the Ultimate Marketing Vehicle - a mobile showroom of promotional products.

1988

Awarded as a Top 25 Distributor by ASI Counselor Magazine - have received this honor continuously every year since.

1990

Expanded and moved to present day location in Batavia, Ohio.

1991

First Kaeser & Blair annual convention and family reunion held.

1993

Introduced the highly profitable sub-dealer program.

1994

Celebrated 100th anniversary and introduced Century Club to recognize and award top producers.

1995

Introduced revolutionary ACH wire transfer of daily earnings to dealers.

1995

Expanded Batavia facility to keep up with business growth.

1996

First KTU (Kaeser Training University) dealer educational seminar.

2000

Introduced cutting edge KaeserCentral dealer web site.

2005

Expanded Batavia facility again to keep up with business growth.

2019

You become a Kaeser & Blair Business Owner!