You can decide if maritime equipment made in Door County is the 'Coolest Thing Made in Wisconsin'
MADISON - Voters can decide if a unique piece of maritime equipment made in Door County is the “Coolest Thing Made in Wisconsin.”
The variable width mobile boat hoists built by Marine Travelift, Inc., in Sturgeon Bay are among the 115 nominees in the eighth annual “Coolest Thing” contest sponsored by Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce and Johnson Financial Group. The public is invited to cast its votes online for its favorites, with the first round of voting having opened Sept. 18.
The goal of the contest is to highlight the state’s diverse manufacturing industry. Nominees this year range from expected items like snacks and beverages, power and manufacturing equipment, and recreational items like billiard cues and fishing rods to more unique products like beer tap handles, clothing made from recycled water bottles, a drinking glass with a metal propeller embedded into its side, and a car designed to resemble a 1950s race car.
Marine Travelift specializes in boat hoists and other boat handling equipment. Its innovative variable width hoists are designed to offer more flexibility in servicing and storing boats by being able to use space that otherwise would be taken up by a standard, fixed-width hoist. The first model, which was delivered in March, has a 75-ton lifting capacity, and the company said it since has delivered units with 50- and 150-ton capacities and expects to soon add units with capacities of 35 and 100 tons.
Another nominee manufactured next door to Door County is the SAS Extreme Auto Processor. Made by SAS Forks in Luxemburg, which builds equipment for the the auto salvage industry, the machine is designed to recover valuable materials such as wiring harnesses, radiators, heater cores, engines, transmissions or catalytic converters from scrap car bodies.
The first round of “Coolest Thing Made in Wisconsin” voting continues through 5 p.m. Sept. 26. The public can cast one vote every day on any device.
The top 16 vote-getters will be announced Sept. 27 and placed into brackets for tournament-style, head-to-head matchups. Online voting to determine the top eight runs from Sept. 28 to Oct. 3, followed by the vote from Oct. 5 to 10 to narrow the bracket to the top four and the final round to determine the "Coolest Thing" from Oct. 12 to 18. The winner will be announced Oct. 19 during WMC's Business Day event in Madison.
To vote, visit madeinwis.com between Sept. 16 and 26 and click on the "Vote Now" button. There are six pages of nominees; the Marine Travelift hoist is near the bottom of the third page while the SAS equipment is near the top of Page 5.
Contact Christopher Clough at 920-562-8900 or cclough@doorcountyadvocate.com.
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This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Maritime equipment made in Door County might be the 'Coolest Thing'