LINCOLN, Nebraska — September 10, 2025 — Tens of thousands of votes were cast in the first round of the Coolest Thing Made in Nebraska competition, presented by Pinnacle Bank, narrowing the field from 16 products to eight.
The following Nebraska manufacturers and their products are among the top eight contenders:
- AF Series Combine Harvester – CASE IH, Grand Island
- Double Wide Badass Workbench– Badass Workbench, Kearney
- Custom Artificial Limbs– Limb Lab, Lincoln
- Teryx4 H2 / Teryx5 H2 – Kawasaki Motors Manufacturing Corp., Lincoln
- Wool Yarn– Brown Sheep Company, Scottsbluff
- Hideaway Copper Mugs – Handlebend, O’Neill
- Dorothy Lynch Salad Dressing – Tasty Toppings Inc., Duncan
- Big M Commercial Smoker– M Grills, Beatrice
It has been announced that HandleBend in O’Neill has made it into the Top 8 finalists. This year, their “Hideaway Copper Mugs” are in the voting competition. This is how they describe the “Hideaway” mug on their website “It’s smaller in volume but delivers just as big an impression. Our Hideaway takes less room on the shelf, and yields the dialed-back volume of a net-8 oz cocktail. We’ve geared the design to be more compatible with a restaurant or establishment’s current cocktail program.” The Hideaway Mug holds 14oz of your favorite beverage or 8oz with ice.
In the Top 8 competition HandleBend will compete against “Wool Yarn – Brown Sheep Company”. Cast your vote for HandleBend now!!
Voting is open for the “Top 8” bracket-style competition and will continue through 11:59 p.m. Sunday, September 14. Advanced rounds will follow throughout September. Manufacturers, students and all Nebraskans are invited to cast their votes in the Top 8 competition at https://www.nemanufacturingalliance.com/top-8-voting-2025.html
The competition, hosted by the NE Chamber and NE Manufacturing Alliance, and presented by Pinnacle Bank, celebrates Nebraska’s dynamic manufacturing industry, home to more than 100,000 Nebraskans working in manufacturing every day.
The tournament will help launch NE Manufacturing Month this October. The 2025 Coolest Thing Made in Nebraska will be announced October 6 at the NE Chamber’s Manufacturing Summit in La Vista, where finalists will also be invited to display their products. Registration is open to the public and available here.
