Kansas Manufacturing Council
WICHITA, Kan. — After six weeks of competition, the Kansas Manufacturing Council (KMC) on Wednesday announced the Atom Pop corn popper is the winner of the 2024 Coolest Thing Made In Kansas - People's Choice .
"The KMC is excited to celebrate QuinCraft Production's Atom Pop corn popper as the 2024 Coolest Thing Made in Kansas, said KMC Executive Director Brandie McPherson. "Thank you to everyone who nominated and voted for their favorite Kansas-made products. It once again has been a fun competition,"
McPherson said the KMC launched the Coolest Thing competition in 2020 to highlight the important role the manufacturing industry plays in the Kansas economy and as a way to promote the manufacturing industry and to raise awareness about the many cool products made in our state.
Presented by Forvis Mazars, the competition kicked off in August with 16 products in the bracket-style tournament. The products competed in two rounds of head-to-head match-ups with the product with the most votes moving to the next round. The final round put the final four Kansas-made products up against one another. The final four were:
- Disc Tree Cutter by CVR Manufacturing, Galesburg.
- Handy Hook Firefighter by Helten Panacea, LLC, Garden Plain.
- Air Navigation Aid Systems by Indra Air Traffic, Inc., Overland Park.
- Atom Pop Corn Popper by QuinCraft Production, Bushton.
Kansans cast nearly than 30,000 votes during the tournament and final round of voting.
Manufactured in Bushton by QuinCraft Production, the Atom Pop is a stove top popcorn popper. It makes 2 1/2 quarts of popped corn. The conical shape and aluminum bowl allow the popcorn to be popped without stirring or shaking.
Popped kernels are pushed up away from the heat and the aluminum dissipates the heat so the corn does not burn. It is as convenient as microwave popcorn and is healthier without the additives.
The winner of the 2024 Coolest Thing Made in Kansas - People's Choice was announced during the KMC's annual Kansas Manufacturing Summit held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Wichita.
There are nearly 2,500 manufacturers in Kansas, employing more than 160,000 people with an average annual compensation of $79,722. Manufacturing produces more than $26.7 billion in output annually, 15% of the total output in the state. Manufacturing helps drive the state's economy with more than $9.93 billion in annual manufactured good exports to markets such as Canada, Mexico, and Japan.