Voting is underway for the next round of the Coolest Things Made in Wisconsin.
One of the top-8 finalists in the competition sponsored by Wisconsin Manufacturing and Commerce is the Big Blue Crane, which was built by Manitowoc’s Broadwind Heavy Fabrications.
Bret Hartman, Director of Business Development, said of the honor, “To be considered in the top eight, I think is pretty neat…We feel very honored to be in the final 8 and we hope to see ourselves in the final 4.”
Big Blue’s departure by barge from Manitowoc on Memorial Day weekend attracted thousands of onlookers as it made its way down the Manitowoc River and out to Lake Michigan, en route to Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
Hartman said local residents will be able to vote for Big Blue through tomorrow (October 5th).
You can vote by going to MadeInWis.com, and click on the vote now button.
“We hope that everyone will vote for us,” Hartman said, “but either way it’s neat to get on there, support the contest, and support manufacturing in Wisconsin.
The company official also explained they’re about 75% complete with a second crane which will ship next spring.
Hartman said it’ll be disassembled with its parts shipped by barge to Louisiana via the Mississippi River.
Broadwind is also working on two other cranes, in partnership with Kone Cranes.
The first one will go to Washington State and the other all the way to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.