What’s cooler than being cool? Being the coolest. And four finalists have been chosen for the third annual Coolest Thing Made in Minnesota contest.
Run by the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, the competition helps highlight new and old products that are manufactured in the state.
The contest began with 64 products that have been whittled down to the top four by public voting. A winner will be chosen through a final round of voting and announced Tuesday.
The products weren’t necessarily invented by Minnesotans or in Minnesota. To qualify, the product must be manufactured in the state and the company must have existed for at least two years.
"These Minnesota-made products need to be spotlighted just because I think there's a big misnomer that a lot of these products or devices innovations have been offshored,” said Elizabeth Sherry, the director of development and strategic partnerships for the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce.
This year’s finalists range from life-saving to recreational products, and they’re made by a mix of small and big businesses.
“The glory of this contest is that we have a range of different products,” Sherry added. “It's brand new products that you might not have seen. … and then we also have seen products that have been around for 100 years.”
Two are finalists from last year: a teardrop trailer from Eagan-based Vistabule and an all-terrain wheelchair made by ATZ Manufacturing in Marshall.
“The wheelchair is actually a medical need, but they're used for recreational purposes,” Sherry said. “Their goal is to make sure that those folks that no longer are able to have those capabilities to go hunting, going on the beach, taking long hikes and walks have that ability to do that now with their wheelchair.”
Another finalist, the Fire Boss built by Wipaire, helped fight fires in Ely over the summer.
“These types of airplane systems, they are able to scoop water and dump water down on wildfires as they're in progress,” Sherry said. “So it saves time, it saves gas, and it can help mitigate fires faster.
The youngest company to be a finalist is Solventum, which spun out from 3M in 2024. Its Bair Hugger system is used in hospitals to keep patients warm.
Public voting ends on Tuesday, the same day the winner will be announced at the chamber’s 2026 Manufacturers’ Summit.
Collected from Minnesota Public Radio News. View original source here.
Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) is a public radio network for the US state of Minnesota. With its three services, MPR News, YourClassical MPR and The Current, MPR operates a 46-station regional radio network in the upper Midwest.
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