Recently, for the first time ever, the CBIA Foundation, in partnership with the Connecticut Office of Manufacturing (CONNSTEP), sponsored a contest titled The Coolest Thing Made in Connecticut. Chief manufacturing officer for CBIA, Paul Lavoie stated:

“With all the really cool products invented and manufactured in Connecticut, we expect this to be an exciting and fun competition,”

Our highly qualified, productive workforce, one of the best in the world, produces a wide range of products as part of The Coolest Thing Made in Connecticut. In this single-elimination, bracket-style competition, the public voted for their choice of the Coolest Thing made in Connecticut.

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Sikorsky Black Hawk Helicopter - Getty Images
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The contest kicked off this past August, and the list of nominees featuring 16 Connecticut-made products appeared on the CBIA website. Residents could vote for their favorite product, which included Pratt & Whitney's GTF engine, Lyman Orchards Hi-Top Apple Pie, Sikorsky's Black Hawk Helicopter, and General Dynamics Electric Boat's Virginia-Class Submarine, along with 12 other nominees that included Danbury's Lesser Evil Snacks'Himalayan Pink Salt PopcornClick this link to check out the other seven nominees.

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The 16 nominated Connecticut companies went head-to-head in a single-elimination, bracket-style competition. The deadline for online voting was October 2nd. After approximately 87,000 were cast, the final four were:

  1. Virginia-class submarine made by Electric Boat...
  2. Sikorsky's Black Hawk Helicopter...
  3. Medtronic's Signia Stapling System...
  4. Pratt & Whitney's GTF Engine..

AND THE WINNER IS... General Dynamics Electric Boat's Virginia-Class Submarine! For more than 100 years, General Dynamics Electric Boat has been the primary builder of submarines for the United States Navy. The company's main facilities are a shipyard in Groton, Connecticut, a hull-fabrication and outfitting facility in Quonset Point, Rhode Island, and a design and engineering facility in New London, Connecticut.

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Gallery Credit: Ethan Carey