Voting has begun for the “Manufacturing Madness” portion of the 10th annual Coolest Thing Made in Wisconsin contest — and six products from southeastern Wisconsin are up for the title.
Like March Madness, competitors face off in bracket-style head-to-head competitions to determine one ultimate winner. But instead of between basketball teams, the competition is among Wisconsin-made products.
Sponsored by Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce and Johnson Financial Group, the Coolest Thing Made in Wisconsin contest asks the public to vote on what dairy state-manufactured products they find the “coolest,” to “highlight the state’s vibrant manufacturing industry,” the contest website says.
This year’s competition kicked off Sept. Aug. 25, when nominations opened. Between Sept. 21 and Sept. 30, the public voted on a list of 148 products, when a total of 15,000 votes narrowed the list to the top 16.
Now, the public is asked to make eight head-to-head votes on those 16 products, between Oct. 2 and Oct. 7.
Coolest Thing Made in Wisconsin Top 16 nominees from Milwaukee, southeast Wisconsin
These six of the top 16 nominees are made in southeast Wisconsin:
How can you vote?
Voting is held online at madeinwis.com/contests/2025-contest. Voters can vote once a day.
Following the Oct. 2-7 voting period, the schedule is as follows:
Past winners have included Harley-Davidson engine, kringle, fire truck and more
These are the top winners of each of the previous years’ Coolest Things Made in Wisconsin competition, dating to 2016:
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: These southeast Wisconsin products are vying for title of ‘Coolest Thing Made in Wisconsin’
Reporting by Kelli Arseneau, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
