INDIANA — The Indiana Chamber’s third annual Coolest Thing Made in Indiana tournament is down to the Sweet 16.
The contest started with 47 competitors, and interest remained high with thousands of votes cast in the second round as the field of 32 was trimmed in half.
The 16 remaining companies are from 15 cities, including Batesville, Columbus, Decatur, English, Gary, Grabill, Granger, Greens Fork, Indianapolis, Lafayette, Nashville, Plymouth, Seymour, Syracuse, and Wawaka.
The third round of voting tipped off this morning and will conclude on Nov. 13 at 9 p.m.
Cast Your Votes
Coolest Thing Made in Indiana Round 3
Hard Truth Maple Bourbon Cream made in Nashville, Indiana, is a pleasantly complex blend of Hard Truth’s rich, Indiana-crafted straight bourbon whiskey, fresh dairy cream, and pure maple syrup. The aroma features notes of maple candy, toasted pecans, sweet cream, and oak. Luscious cream, sweet maple, bold bourbon, brown sugar, marshmallow, and pecan treat the palate and lead into a creamy finish highlighted by notes of toffee, nougat, warm bourbon, and maple.
Institute for Affordable Transportation
The Basic Utility Vehicle (BUV) was designed to create rural transport solutions to allow the poor to thrive in Africa and beyond. It is a simple, low-cost vehicle that is easy to operate, maintain, and repair. Designed for rugged terrain, these robust vehicles can serve the vital needs of a community such as transporting the sick and hauling food and water. BUVs enable people to earn a livelihood and generate income by delivering crops to market and transporting materials. The company is located in Indianapolis.
Birthday Chocolates, in Greens Fork, would like to mail a small gift box of Birthday Chocolates to each of your employees at their home address – to arrive on or the day before each person’s birthday – with whatever personalized message you desire on the enclosed birthday greeting card. Please go onto our website for a free sample.
Heritage Construction + Materials
J-Band, as a sustainable technology, helps save three of the most important things to any engineer, applicator, or community: time, money, and lives. J-Band is a void-reducing asphalt membrane that extends the life of asphalt pavements by as much as five years and returns three to five times its initial cost. J-Band significantly reduces air voids in the longitudinal joint and the area on each side of the joint, as it is applied before the asphalt mix placement. When the asphalt mix is placed on top of the J-Band, it migrates into the asphalt mix from the bottom up. THE COOLEST THING: J-Band as a highly polymerized material just sits on the surface after it has been applied. It cools and sets in place. Once hot mix asphalt is applied on top of it, it becomes active again and flows up from the bottom of the hot mix asphalt into the newly laid asphalt. It’s mad science!! As air voids are reduced in the newly laid asphalt, density increases and water permeability decreases. This reduction in permeability extends the life of the joint, which improves the performance of the entire pavement and extends the life of the pavement up to five years longer, 20 years vs. 15 years (typically). The company is based in Indianapolis.
Hiker Trailers in Columbus, Indiana, designs and manufactures custom teardrop camping trailers for almost any type of camping environment. We are headquartered in Columbus but sell nationally and have a showroom and service facility in Lafayette, Colorado. Our trailers come in four different models and three different sizes, each one customizable with various options and accessories for electrical, water, heat, air, A/C, solar power, awnings and so much more. We have more than 200 options and packages to choose from, or our skilled team of customer service reps can assist in building one based on your camping style and needs. With our teardrops being eight-, nine-, or 10 feet long, our trailers are perfect for almost any tow vehicle due to the lightweight nature of our designs, engineering, and construction methods. We strive to be the most affordable and customizable camper on the market while maintaining high quality and build standards. Our trailers come with a one-year limited warranty.
Built in Indiana in 1982, Wood-Mizer portable sawmills located in Indianapolis and Batesville help hobbyists and businesses turn logs into lumber. Woodworkers, farmers, tree services, sawyers, homesteaders, builders, educators, missionaries, and others rely on Wood-Mizer sawmills to build their own dream homes and projects, keep barns and fences maintained, or operate their own business selling lumber or wood products. With a patent granted in 1985, Wood-Mizer portable sawmills were invented, designed, and made in Indiana and became a true innovation for the global sawmilling industry. By combining pickup truck portability with thin-kerf blades, more boards are recovered from every log, less energy is used to operate, and fallen trees in the forest or city can be salvaged by a single person on-site. For the very first time, individuals could start sawmilling and make the most out of our beautiful, renewable, and natural local wood resources. Celebrating 40 years, Wood-Mizer is the global leader in the portable sawmilling industry with more than 100,000 sawmills in 120 countries throughout the world. Today, Wood-Mizer stays rooted in Indiana with two manufacturing facilities in Batesville and Indianapolis with 450-plus employees. Recently, Wood-Mizer portable sawmills have been part of creating 20,000-plus wooden toy cars in Michigan for Operation Christmas Child, rebuilding 600-plus homes in Fiji after a hurricane, making Major League Baseball bats in North Carolina, and much more.
Born in Indiana, Hoosier Racing Tire in Plymouth takes great pride in producing top-quality racing tires that are shipped all over the world. Our Indiana roots are particularly important to us, and we are honored to be named after our state. We are passionate about our product and industry, and we are proud to manufacture the tires that help drive champions to victory. Our race tires have consistently placed racers on the podium, time and time again. We offer a wide range of tire options, from go-kart tires to drag tires with top speeds of 270-plus mph, which means that if it races on wheels, we probably have a tire for it. Not all tire manufacturers can boast such a diverse and impressive range. We are committed to helping racers fulfill their passion and achieve their goals, and we believe that our Indiana heritage and Midwest values have played an important role in our success.
Kidstuff Playsystems, located in Gary, is a very popular school bus on springs that allows children to sit or stand and rock the bus as well as climb on its real tires. “Driving” the bus stimulates the imagination. Schools can customize it with their name on the bus. Kids gain social skills as well when they climb, jump, and play together.
GE Aerospace – Lafayette Engine Facility
Lafayette Engine Facility, in Lafayette, produces the LEAP 1A and 1B engines, used on the Airbus A320neo and the Boeing 737 Max airliners, as well as the Passport engine used on the Bombardier Global 7500/8000 business jets.
The Martha Stewart by POLYWOOD Chinoiserie 4-Piece Deep Seating Set with Sofa creates a warm, welcoming outdoor space with classic styling and embracing silhouettes. Traditional design shows through the graceful lines and intricate latticework, with delicate details grounded by the sturdy all-weather materials. This lounge set charms in any space or season, inviting friends and family to gather alfresco any time of year. We partnered with Martha Stewart – America’s favorite lifestyle expert – to create this exclusive collection of durable outdoor furniture. It’s a collaboration celebrating our shared dedication to American-made quality, beautiful designs, and superior functionality. Though the furniture’s style evokes the romance and glamour of faraway places, this set – and all POLYWOOD furniture – is made in the U.S. The genuine POLYWOOD lumber frames and plush, hand-sewn seat cushions are designed and crafted at our Syracuse facility by teams of dedicated Hoosiers. We’re keeping hundreds of jobs in the state and growing our Indiana team every year. The company is located in Syracuse.
With a nearly 80-year history in Grabill, Revive Home Brands takes high-end custom kitchen cabinetry to the next level. Combining state-of-the-art technology with lovingly hand-crafted woodwork, RHB craftsmen, designers, and engineers work together to bring life to the places that matter most. Our custom-built cabinets have been featured in popular magazines such as House Beautiful, Southern Home, Luxe Interiors & Design, and Kitchen and Bath Design News and on TV’s “This Old House.”
Aqua Blast, in Decatur, is a pressure washer company, plain and simple. For more than 60 years we have built equipment larger than you can imagine and have always made sure that our smallest standard pressure washer will work for years, around your home, farm, or business. We are confident in our capabilities because of our unparalleled experience and long-term connections to the best suppliers of motors, pumps, parts, and accessories. This network of high-quality suppliers helps bring our washers to life and keep them in service for years to come with proper maintenance. We’re confident that once you start a relationship with Aqua Blast, you’ll be a customer for life.
Robert Sturgeon, in English, manufactures hand-made, one-of-a-kind fishing lures from wood sourced from his family farm in Crawford County. It’s not simple whittling, Sturgeon has combined his 20 years of manufacturing and engineering experience and artistic aptitude to produce something quite unique. Showcasing the beauty of Indiana’s vast variety of wood each lure is a work of art, yet it is engineered to catch fish. Lures are sold through select retailers in several states and occasionally online. Sturgeon has produced many thousands of lures in over a decade of manufacturing and shipped them far and wide yet each one is genuinely unique.
Guardian Bikes, in Seymour, is a company that specializes in designing and manufacturing high-quality, safe, and innovative bicycles for children. They are known for their unique SureStop braking system, which allows kids to stop faster and with more control, reducing the risk of accidents.
Blue Fox Farms LLC, in Wawaka, sells dormant ephemeral plant roots to nurseries across the country that pot them up and sell them retail. We specialize in woodland and wetland plants (ferns, early spring blooming wildflowers).
Wag’n Tails Mobile Conversions
Introducing the Wag’n Tails Elite Well Pet Vet – a revolution in mobile veterinary care in Granger, crafted right here in the heart of Indiana! In a world that’s constantly evolving, the way we care for our pets should never stand still. Wag’n Tails, Indiana’s proud innovator in mobile pet care solutions, presents the Elite Well Pet Vet – a state-of-the-art mobile veterinary clinic designed to bring premier pet health care right to your doorstep. Engineered to perfection in Granger, the Elite Well Pet Vet is more than a vehicle; it’s a lifeline for pets and a symbol of care, convenience, and compassion. The Elite Well Pet Vet showcases Hoosier craftsmanship at its finest by combining a state-of-the-art veterinary facility with luxurious comfort and bringing it to your door! However, what really sets it apart – and makes it a true contender for the Coolest Thing Made in Indiana – is our groundbreaking CleanPower System. Gone are the days of relying on conventional generators. The CleanPower System utilizes the latest battery technology to deliver silent, emission-free power, minimizing the Elite Well Pet Vet’s power usage. With a whopping 1,200-amp lithium-ion battery pack, our CleanPower System ensures uninterrupted care, allowing pet professionals to focus on what matters most, the well-being of their furry patients. Time is of the essence in veterinary care. That’s why our CleanPower System recharges itself automatically throughout the day via solar panels and an auxiliary alternator. Designed with longevity in mind, the CleanPower System requires minimal maintenance and has an expected lifespan of 10-13 years. Every feature has been meticulously designed with pet care professionals in mind.
Cast Your Vote
Round two winners can be seen and votes for the third round can be cast at www.indianachamber.com/coolestthing.
As with the first two rounds, round three winners will be chosen through public fan voting, with the products receiving the highest votes in each matchup moving to the next round. A voter may vote once per matchup per round. Voters must vote for all matchups in each round to have their votes count.
Vote totals reset at the beginning of each round. The schedule for the remaining rounds is as follows:
Quarterfinals: November 14-17
Semis: November 20-24
Finals: November 27-30
The winner of the contest will be announced on December 13 at the Indiana Chamber’s 2023 Best IN Manufacturing Awards Luncheon.
Companies entered in this one-of-a-kind contest 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, notes the Indiana Chamber.
To participate, a company did not need to be headquartered in Indiana, but the product entered must be manufactured in the state. Companies are limited to having one product nominated for entry.
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 Coolest Thing Made in Indiana and Indiana Best Places to Work in Manufacturing programs are supported by spirit sponsor Purdue Manufacturing Extension Partnership (Purdue MEP); gold sponsor Kalenborn Abresist Corporation; and silver sponsors Evonik Corporation and Tippecanoe Labs and Joyce/Dayton Corp.
