Nominations accepted: February 17 – March 20
Voting on all eligible products: March 24 – 30
Top 16 Round: April 1 – 6
Top 8 Round: April 8 – 13
Top 4 Round: April 15 – 20
The winner will be announced on May 21 at the Made in New Jersey Day.
Competition Schedule
How Voting Works
During the nominations voting round, all eligible products will be displayed. You will receive five votes per day per device, and you can distribute those votes however you’d like. For example, if you wish to vote for five different products, you can give one vote each to five products. You could also vote five times for the same product, or give three votes to one product and two votes to another. It’s up to you!
For the Top 16 and Top 8 rounds, products will be displayed in head-to-head matchups. You will have one vote per day per device for each matchup, and you must submit a vote for each matchup.
During the Top 4 round, the top four vote-getters will all be displayed. You will have one vote per day per device, and you must vote for one of the four products. The winning product from this round will be declared the coolest thing made in New Jersey!
Is my product eligible?
The product must be made in New Jersey, but the manufacturer’s headquarters does not have to be located in New Jersey. Products can be nominated from any sector of the manufacturing industry.
What does the winner receive?
The winning product will receive an award recognizing it as the coolest thing made in New Jersey, as well as an article written about the company and product in the New Jersey Business Magazine and the Manufacturing Matters Magazine.
Can a company nominate multiple products?
Yes, but only one product per company will be allowed into the Top 16. If a company has multiple products that receive enough votes in the nomination round to make it into the Top 16, only the product with the most votes will move on.
Full Rules
- Any product made in New Jersey may be nominated for Makers Madness – The Coolest Thing Made in New Jersey. There is no limit on the number of products that a person may nominate.
- The product must be made in New Jersey. The manufacturer’s headquarters do not need to be located in New Jersey.
- Nominations must include the name of the product, the name of the manufacturer, photo of the product, a short description of the product, link to the product/manufacturer’s website along with the name, email, and telephone number for the person making the nomination. The nominator’s information will not be made public but may be used for verification or follow-up questions from NJBIA and NJMEP staff.
- Nominations must be made at manufacturingcounts.org. Written, emailed, or other nominations will not be accepted.
- Products nominated can be from any sector of the manufacturing industry.
- A company can have multiple products nominated for Makers Madness but only one product per company will be allowed into the First Round (Top 16 products). If a company has more than one product in the Top 16 after the Nomination Voting round, the product with the highest vote total will be that company’s sole entry into the competition in the Round of 16.
- Voting during the Nomination Round will occur March 24, 2026 through March 30, 2026, with individuals able to vote up to five times per day per device.
- In the First, Second, and Final rounds, a voter may vote in each bracketed competition once per day per device. There are eight head-to-head matchups in the First Round (16 total products), four head-to-head matchups in the Second Round (8 total products), and one Final Round with all four products competing.
- During the First and Second Rounds, the product with the most votes in each seeded, bracketed matchup will advance to the next round. The product with the most votes in the Final Round will win the title of The Coolest Thing Made in New Jersey for 2026.
- Votes will be tabulated and confirmed by the NJBIA and NJMEP at the conclusion of each round before winners are announced.
- The number of votes will be reset at the beginning of each round.
- Products nominated are subject to qualification verification by the NJBIA and NJMEP. In case of questions about nominations, NJBIA AND NJMEP will make every effort to contact the nominator for additional information.
- NJBIA and NJMEP will attempt to contact all companies with products nominated for Makers Madness for every round of voting.
