It's Your Time to Nominate the 'Coolest Thing Made in Iowa'

For the third year in a row, a contest seeks to find the "Coolest Thing Made in Iowa," and it's a contest that lives up to its name.

The contest is sponsored by the Iowa Association of Business and Industry (ABI) and Nicolet National Bank. In the past, the assortment of nominees is both hilarious and informative, for there's a good number of products I had no idea were made in Iowa. The list even gives respect to the company/town that makes said products. Some of the nominees in past years have included:

Blue Bunny Mini Swirl Novelties (Wells Enterprises, Le Mars)
Gushers (General Mills, Cedar Rapids)
KLIMB (Blue-9 Pet Products, Maquoketa)
Regular Paring Knife (Rada Cutlery, Waverly)
The Moose Fireplace Grill (The Moose Fireplace Grill, LLC, Red Oak)

How the "Coolest Thing Made in Iowa" Contest Will Unfold:

The voting period is currently underway, with nominees to be announced on April 6th. From there:

Popular voting takes place from April 7-15 (top 16 products revealed on April 16th)
Second-round voting takes place from April 17-22 (top eight announced April 23rd)
Third-round voting will be from April 24-29 (final four announced May 4th)
Final round of voting will be from May 5-15 (winner announced June 3rd)

Previous Contest Winners:

Get our free mobile app

Here's a look at the previous winners in the Coolest Thing Made in Iowa contest:

2024: ZR5-1200 self-propelled baler (Pella's Vermeer Corp)
2025: CP770 Cotton Picker (John Deere, Ankeny)

For what it's worth, a winning company is not eligible to compete in the follow year. In 2025, Iowans nominated 69 products, and saw more than 93,000 votes cast, per The Des Moines Register.

The Purpose of the Contest:

The Iowa Association of Business and Industry conducts this contest as a way to spotlight how Iowa is a hub of manufacturing and cutting-edge inventions. It's not just machinery, however. Maple-Flavored Spam, Thelma's Ice Cream Sandwiches, and Winnebago campers have been nominated in years past.

Furthermore, the structure of the contest is germane to that of March Madness, which consumes so much of the media space this time of year. Read more about the Coolest Thing Made in Iowa contest on its official website.