April 25, 2024
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Makers Madness asks voters to select coolest thing made in Illinois

Nuclear power from La Salle County in the field of 16 possibilities

By Shaw Local News Network
As La Salle County's nuclear plant begins its annual refueling and maintenance outage, more than 2,000 highly skilled workers, many from local union halls, will converge on La Salle County

Exelon with nuclear power plants in Marseilles, Braidwood, Byron, Dresden, Clinton and the Quad Cities is among 16 nominations for coolest thing made in Illinois. (Shaw Local News Network)

What is the coolest thing made in Illinois in 2021?

With the help of online voting, the Illinois Manufacturers Association soon will find out.

The organization has kicked off its Makers Madness — a play off of the NCAA Tournament — with its own bracket pitting items made in Illinois against each other to determine a champion.

More than 300 products were submitted and voted on in this year’s contest for the coolest thing made in Illinois and the top 16 vote getters were put into a bracket.

Representing La Salle County, Exelon and its nuclear power plants, including the one near Marseilles, is on the list of 16 manufacturers. Exelon has nuclear power plants in Braidwood, Dresden, Quad Cities, Clinton and Byron as well. Exelon squares off against the Accuchiller KSE Series Packaged Outdoor Chiller by Thermal Care Inc. out of Niles for the most votes.

Voting for the first round is from March 2-7. The round of eight will be March 9-14 and the final four March 16-21, until the coolest item is crowned.

Other notables in the round of 16 are Caterpillar’s D11 Dozer, Jessup the Original Grip Tape, Nerds Gummy Clusters Candy and Blistex Lip Ointment — all made in Illinois.