The Indiana Chamber of Commerce’s third annual Coolest Thing Made in Indiana tournament officially tips off Friday with online voting at www.indianachamber.com/coolestthing.
The contestants, matchups, products and product descriptions can now be seen on the event’s web site and include items made in Columbus, Nashville and Seymour, among others.
The contest, which celebrates the state’s long manufacturing history, boasts a 47-company field. There are a wide range of makers and their products entered from 38 Hoosier communities. The Hoosier Hysteria-style contest has quickly become one of biggest of its kind in the country.
Columbus again is in the contest with Hiker Trailer’s custom teardrop camping trailers, while Nashville is represented by Hard Truth Distillery’s Maple Bourbon Cream whiskey. Seymour’s entry is SpaceGuard Products’ Centurian Rack Repair for pallet racks.
“Once again, we are thrilled and impressed with the quality of entrants in our Coolest Thing Made in Indiana contest,” says Kevin Brinegar, Indiana Chamber president and CEO. “The depth and breadth of this third annual field, like the previous two versions of this competition, are a testament to Indiana’s status as a manufacturing powerhouse.”
The organization’s goal with the Coolest Thing Made in Indiana program is “to showcase the wide variety of manufacturing taking place in the state that has helped our economy thrive,” Brinegar adds.
Entered companies face off in a single-elimination bracket format with winners chosen through public fan voting. Each winner goes to the next round until the Coolest Thing Made in Indiana champion is crowned. For fairness, the initial matchups were generated via an online randomizer. Due to the number of companies entered, 15 teams received first round byes, selected at random.
The field is composed of manufacturers from Albion, Angola, Batesville, Carmel, Columbus, Decatur, English, Evansville, Gary, Grabill, Granger, Greencastle, Greenfield, Greensburg, Greens Fork, Indianapolis, Jasper, Kendallville, Lafayette, La Porte, Ligonier, Logansport, Matthews, Mitchell, Muncie, Nappanee, Nashville, Pendleton, Peru, Plymouth, Seymour, South Bend, St. Meinrad, Syracuse, Terre Haute, Upland, Wawaka and Woodburn.
Janus Motorcycles of Goshen took top honors in the inaugural competition and the Indiana Chamber honored Leesburg-based Maple Leaf Farms for its roast half duck in the second annual Coolest Thing Made in Indiana tournament.
The first round of voting ends Wednesday, November 1; voting for subsequent tournament rounds concludes November 30.
The latest ‘Coolest Thing’ champion will be announced December 13 at the Indiana Chamber’s Best IN Manufacturing Luncheon, which also features the honorees in the Indiana Best Places to Work in Manufacturing program.
