RALEIGH, N.C. – Today, the NC Chamber announced the 130 nominees for its annual “Coolest Thing Made in NC” online competition. This is the fourth year that the NC Chamber has held the popular, public-driven contest, which spotlights North Carolina’s cutting-edge manufacturing industry—an industry that generates more than 17% of the gross state product and employs more than 10% of the state’s workforce.

The contest recognizes two winners: one for businesses with fewer than 100 employees, and one for businesses with 100+ employees.

“Congratulations to our 2023 nominees; each product tells a special story of the impact and innovation manufacturers have on our great state,” said NC Chamber President and CEO Gary Salamido. “As we always say at the NC Chamber: what’s made in North Carolina makes North Carolina.”

In 2020, the NC Chamber launched the “Coolest Thing Made in NC” competition to celebrate North Carolina’s vital manufacturing community – and champion the next generation of manufacturers and creators by raising awareness about the rewarding careers of modern manufacturing. Last year, the online contest began with 80 nominees and after three rounds of public voting totaling 46,000 votes, the Caterpillar Cat® track loader and beachBub umbrella system earned the top spots, earning 6,397 and 5,436 votes respectively.

Baxter is serving as the Presenting Sponsor of the online competition, and Business North Carolina is this year’s Media Partner. As the exclusive North Carolina affiliate for the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), the NC Chamber knows that a strong manufacturing industry is crucial to the state’s economic and competitive success. The North Carolina Manufacturing Extension Partnership (NCMEP) is collaborating on the annual contest as a Supporting Organization.

How to Vote:

Go to coolestthingmadeinnc.com to vote for the coolest thing made in NC; the 15 semifinalists will be announced on Thursday, September 7. The field of candidates will narrow with each round of voting, and the winning product will be revealed on Thursday, October 5, the day before National Manufacturing (MFG) Day. October is Manufacturing Month, and MFG Day, organized nationally by the NAM and The Manufacturing Institute, highlights the rewarding career opportunities of modern manufacturing.

Join the contest’s social media campaign by following #CoolestThingMadeinNC. In addition to receiving a trophy, the victorious company and product will be featured in NC Chamber and Business North Carolina publications, podcasts, social and digital media, among additional statewide publicity efforts. Information on last year’s winner and runners-up can be found here.

“The Coolest Thing Made in NC Nominees (in alphabetical order by manufacturing location):

*Designates Medium-to-Large Business Category

City	Company	Product Name
Apex	Penny Portrait	Penny Portrait Kit
Asheboro	*The Magnet Guys	The Magnet Guys Promotional Magnets
Asheboro	*Energizer	Energizer AA Batteries
Asheboro	Cargo Caddie	Cargo Caddie Golf Cart Utility Box
Asheboro	Matthew Kelly Pottery	Matthew Kelly Pottery
Asheboro	Carriage House Tea	“Sex on the Beach” Herb & Fruit Tea
Asheboro/Asheville	Shibumi	Shibumi Shade
Asheville	Industry Nine	Bicycle Wheels
Atlantic Beach	Atlantic Beach Sea Salt	Atlantic Beach Sea Salt
Bear Creek	Southern Supreme	Southern Supreme Nutty Fruitcake
Beaufort	350 Cheese Straws	350 Cheese Straws
Boone	Fun Mom Band	“Mom’s Fanny” Bag
Brevard	SylvanSport	SylvanSport VAST Travel Trailer
Brevard	Gulo Composites (KEIR Manufacturing)	GGA 38 Carbon Wheelset
Browns Summit	*Bankote Corporation of America	Banknote Corporation of America USPS Stamps
Burgaw	Mojotone	NC-2 Acoustic Guitar Pickup
Burlington	Fjord	Static Rope Edge Protection (STREP)
Burlington	Wrightsock	Coolmesh II No Blister Sock
Burlington, Morganton, Nebo	Carolina Textile District	Marigold Beanie
Chapel Hill	SilverQuicken Education	Questclub Kits
Charlotte	*Aplix	Hook and Loop Fasteners
Charlotte	*Sealed Air	SEE Brand Bubble Wrap
Charlotte	Still There Shine Sauce	Pig Polish
Charlotte	Piedmont Pennies	Piedmont Pennies
Charlotte	Lucid Bots	Lucid Bots Sherpa Drone
Cofield	*Nucor	Nucor Steel Plate
Concord	*Safewaze	Arc Flash Construction Harness
Concord/Kannapolis	Genixus	KinetiX
Cooleemee	Memory Lane Boutique	Custom Memory Bears
Creston	BREW Bikes	Custom Racing Frames
Currie	The Beach Mule	The Beach Mule
Denver	WaterDog Adventure Gear (WAG) Boarding Steps	WaterDog Adventure Gear (WAG)® Boarding Steps
Dobson	*Carolina Carports	Carolina Carports
Durham	*Merck	M-M-R®II Vaccine
Durham	*Wolfspeed	Wolfspeed Silicon Carbide Wafers
Durham	*Humacyte	Human Acellular Vessel (HAV)
Durham	Bright Black	Durham Candle
Durham	Vestaron	Vestaron SPEAR
Durham	Restor3d	3-d Printed Kinos Axiom Total Ankle System
Eden	Night Owl National Stoneworks	Night Owl National Stoneworks Custom Desks
Eden	*Armor Express	AETOS PC Vest
Elizabeth City	*TCOM Aerostats	TCOM Aerostats
Fayetteville	U-TECK	Attick-Trax Illuminated
Fletcher	Cane Creek	DB Kitsuma Coil
Fletcher	Opie Way	Opie Way X HH Canvas Sneaker
Franklinton	*Novozymes	Lipozyme
Greensboro	*HondaJet	HondaJet Elite II
Greensboro	C.E. Smith	Multi-sport Kayak Trailers
Greenville	*Grady-White Boats	Grady-White 281 CE
Greenville	Jenni’s Ugly Chocolates	Sweet Potato Crunch Bonbon
Greenville	Prints and Clay	Prints and Clay handcrafted pottery
Harrisburg	US Legend Cars	The Legend Car
Hendersonville	Bright Farms	Sunny Crunch Lettuce
Hickory	*Century Furniture	Chandler Telescoping Dining Table
Hiddenite	Elliott Guitars	Custom Guitars
Hillsborough	Jabin Beverage	Jabin Beverage
Holly Springs	*CSL Seqirus	Flucelvax Quadrivalent
Huntersville	*Atom Power	Atom Switch
Indian Trail	2 Hounds Design	No-Pull Harness
Kernersville	K-Vegas Nuts	Goober’s Mix
Leland	*Bradford Products	Custom Hotel & Resort Pools
Leland	HSM Machine Works	F-35 Fighter Jet Landing Gear Components
Leland	Rescue Essentials	Slishman Traction Splint Generation 2
Lexington	Piedmont Candy Company	Red Bird soft Peppermint Puffs
Lincolnton	Annihilare Medical Systems, Inc.	AoS-500
Madison	Gia Distillery	FJW Solera Style American Whiskey
Madison	Clay Revolution	Project X Silver Clay
Madison/Stokesdale	KALO Foods	Gluten-free Ginger Snap Cookie
Mayodan and Mount Holly	Charlie’s Soap	Charlie’s Soap Laundry Liquid
Mebane	*Sandvik Coromant	M5B90 Super Finishing Face Milling Cutter
Mebane	*Lotus Bakeries	Biscoff Cookie
Mocksville	Country Water	Country Water Canned Wines
Mocksville	Bus Safety Solutions	Extended Stop Arm
Mooresville	M7 Tuning	M7 Tuning Mini Lift Kits
Mooresville	Holohan’s Hot Rod Shop	Steel Exhaust Hangers
Mooresville	Detroit Speed	Detroit Speed Subframes
Mooresville	Sheets	Sheets Laundry Detergent
Morehead City	Bogue Sound Watermelons	Bogue Sound Watermelons
Morehead City	Jake & Meta Designs	Jake & Meta Designs Calendars
Mount Airy	Station 1978 Firehouse Peanuts	Station 1978 Firehouse Peanuts
Mt Olive	*Mt. Olive	Mt. Olive Pickle Juicers
Mt. Airy	*Nester Hosiery	Farm-to-Feet Socks
Mt. Airy	LazerEdge	NC Coasters
Mt. Airy	Andrew Pearson Premium Glassworks	Fuzion Glass
Nashville	George’s BBQ Sauce	George’s BBQ Sauce
Newport	Mamasita’s	Gourmet White Corn Tortilla Chips
Oak Island	Ocean Therapy Potions	Bug Off Spray
Old Fort	*Columbia Forest Products	PureBond Formaldehyde-Free Hardwood Plywood
Old Fort	Forza X1	F-22 All-electric Center Console Motor Boat
Pfafftown	SPEVCO	NC Be Pro Be Proud workforce education trailers
Raleigh	*Mallinckrodt	Mallinckrodt Acetominophen
Raleigh	Queen City Crunch	Queen City Crunch Pretzels
Raleigh	Benny T’s Vesta	Benny T’s Vesta Dry Hot Sauce
Raleigh	Designed for Joy	Designed for Joy Handbags
Raleigh	Diveplane	GeminAI
Randleman	*Timken	Taper Roller Bearings
Reidsville	Fogwood Farm	Ghost Pepper Jam
Rockingham	Cold War Concealment	Cold War Concealment Holsters
RTP/Durham	Trio Labs	Micro-precision Metal Components
Salibury	*Amrep	Amrep Garbage Trucks
Salisbury	*Hexagon Agility	Hexagon Agility Fuel Storage and Delivery System
Salisbury	*Power Curbers	5700-Series Slipform machine
Salisbury	Carolina Beverage Company	Cheerwine
Sanford	*Boone Brands	Patterson’s Hot Dog Chilli
Smithfield	*Carolina Packers	Bright Leaf Hot Dogs
Smyrna	Fisherman Creations	Crab Pot Christmas Trees
Statesville	L.A. West	Sprinter Luxury Transportation Bus
Stony Point	*Shurtape	Duck Tape
Summerfield	Burn Bags USA	The Classic Bag
Troutman	*C.R. Onsrud	Q-Series 5-Axis CNC Machine
Troutman	Troutman Chairs	Troutman Rocking Chairs
Wanchese	*Bayliss Boatworks	Bayliss Boatworks Custom Sportfishing Yacht
Waynesville	Waynesville Soda Jerks	Waynesville Soda Jerks Sodas
Weldon	Weldon Mills	Weldon Mills All-Malt Bourbon
West Jefferson	Ashe County Cheese	Ashe County Cheese
Wilmington	Rulmeca	Rulmeca Motorized Pulley
Wilmington	MusicMedic	Saxophone Pads
Wilmington	CoopWorx	CoopWorx Feed Silo
Wilmington, Concord, Hickory, Newton and Winston-Salem	*Corning Optical Communications	Corning Optical Fiber and Cable
Wilson	Artisan Leaf	Tobacco Leaf Tables
Windsor	Bertie County Peanuts	Blister Fried Peanuts
Winston-Salem	*Garner Foods	Texas Pete Hot Sauce
Winston-Salem	Chad’s Chai	Original Black Chai
Zebulon	MacLellan Bagpipes	MacLellan Bagpipes
	Awaken NC	Beard Balm

 

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About the NC Chamber

The NC Chamber works to research, develop, advocate, and communicate for solutions and policies that produce a nationally competitive business climate in North Carolina. For more information, visit ncchamber.com.