Don’t know if college basketball analyst Dick Vitale ever said, “Awesome, baby!” about a Great Lakes freighter, but he could once he discovers that one made in Door County is still alive in the basketball tournament-styled “Coolest Things Made in Wisconsin” contest.
The M/V Mark W. Barker, built by Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding in Sturgeon Bay for Ohio-based Interlake Shipping Co., reached the top 16 in preliminary voting in the seventh annual Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce-sponsored contest.
In fact, the Barker was the No. 5 vote-getter out of 121 entries from across the state. The top 16, which were revealed Sept. 28, advanced to the first round of what WMC calls “Manufacturing Madness,” which pits each product head-to-head against another in a bracket format, with online public voting determining the winners. Each of the eight winners in this round advance to the next round of head-to-head competition, continuing until the last two winners face off for the “Coolest Thing” title.