Dogfish or RAPA? What's the coolest thing made in Delaware? Voting is now open to find out

What's a better Delaware export to the world?

Dogfish Head beer, Bloom Energy's Bloom Boxes or ILC Dover's space suits used by NASA for more than 55 years?

That's the question being popped in the new "Coolest Thing Made in Delaware" contest run by the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce and its offshoot, the Delaware Manufacturing Association.

The first round offers 50 items made in the First State up for vote, allowing one vote per item per day.

There are plenty of favorite items that most Delawareans should be familiar with including RAPA scrapple, Mountaire Farms chicken wings, Wilmington's Bernie's Original Water Ice, Dewey Crush drinks, Purdue Farms chicken breast nuggets and Smyrna-based Painted Stave Distilling bourbon.

And there are some big-time Delaware-based national leaders in there, too, such as AstraZeneca's Xigduo IR diabetes treatment or DuPont's Vespel parts used in aerospace and transportation.

A few under-the-radar gems also made the cut, such as New Castle-area's PickWorld, a leading maker of guitar picks; Rehoboth Beach-based Devil Dave's Bloody Mary sticks; and Wilmington's Blessed Hex Candle Co., maker of luxury soy candles.

Voting is now open at dscc.com/mfg, and the contest runs across the next month.

OPEN SPACEWilmington has the worst office vacancy of this millennium. So why's everyone so happy?

The goal of the contest is to "highlight Delaware’s vibrant and diverse manufacturing industry — which employs 28,000 Delawareans — and promote the sector as a top career path," according to the chamber officials.

The 50 initial products up for vote were culled from more than 100 nominations. The rules for nomination stated that the product must be manufactured in Delaware, although the company's headquarters didn't have to be in the state.

The first round of voting closes Thursday, Feb. 29. On Thursday, March 7, the top 16 vote-getters will be announced and will be put up for vote that day through Wednesday, March 13. Then on Thursday, March 14, the top eight will be voted on through Wednesday, March 20.

The top four products will go up for a final vote Thursday, March 21, through Thursday, March 28, with the winner announced that day at the Delaware Manufacturing Association's Spring Manufacturing & Policy Conference at Delaware Technical Community College in Dover.

The winner receives a custom award, feature story in the chamber's Delaware Business magazine and "bragging rights," officials say.

Have a story idea? Contact Ryan Cormier of Delaware Online/The News Journal at rcormier@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2863. Follow him on Facebook (@ryancormier) and X (@ryancormier).