By Kendra Gilchrist
For HDMedia
West Virginia companies are battling it out in a people’s choice contest to decide who has the coolest product.
The West Virginia Manufacturers Association is hosting the Coolest Thing Made in West Virginia Tournament, an online voting, bracket-style tournament that will showcase products manufactured in the state.
Similar competitions are held across the country, but this is the first time the Manufacturer’s Association is holding one in West Virginia.
“We often worry, as West Virginians, not that we have a bad reputation, but that we have no reputation around the country,” West Virginia Manufacturers Association President Bill Bissett said. “We want to put West Virginia more on the map.”
The competition will be entirely the voters’ choice. The public can nominate their favorite products and vote for them as the competition progresses. Any product manufactured in West Virginia is eligible to be nominated.
The mission of the tournament is to share the story of West Virginia manufacturing, Bissett said. Local manufacturers take pride in their products, and the Manufacturers Association wants to shine a spotlight on their cool creations.
“At the end of the day, it’s the products that touch our lives and make life great, not only in West Virginia but in this country,” Bissett said.
How the competition works
Nominations are open to the public until Saturday. Nominated products will be announced, and voting will take place from Aug. 17 to Sept. 7. Fourteen products will advance to the bracket, which will include four elimination rounds. The top five products will be announced Sept. 21, and the winner will be announced on Oct. 2.
Competition rules include:
- Nominated companies can use social media, local media and other channels to promote their product, but paid advertising is prohibited.
- Companies can have multiple products nominated, but only one product per company can advance to the tournament.
- The winning company can’t compete in the tournament for one year after winning, and the winning product can’t compete again.
A national competition — where states across the U.S. submit their coolest products to compete against each other — may be held in the future, according to Bissett. If that tournament is held, the West Virginia Manufacturers Association will submit the winner of the Coolest Thing Made in West Virginia Tournament to compete at the national level.
The Manufacturers Association plans to host the tournament in West Virginia annually.
Read more from HDMedia, here.
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