BEREA, Ky. (LEX 18) — An annual contest leaves it up to Kentuckians to determine the coolest thing manufactured in the Commonwealth, and this year’s winner is located in Berea.
The city is known for making things already, especially in the artisan space, but it's also home to a Hyster-Yale plant that manufactures forklifts, lift trucks, and material handling equipment.
“We've had a decades-long relationship with the US government,” said senior director of manufacturing Tim White. “We supply to the Air Force, we supply to aircraft carriers and all of the movement of material, whether that be munitions, supplies, mainly uses Hyster fork trucks.”
That is part of the reason why Hyster-Yale’s military forklifts specifically were named the "Coolest Thing Made in KY" by the Kentucky Association of Manufacturing.
“One of the reasons we started the Coolest Thing Made in KY Tournament was to kind of shine a spotlight on that and bring attention to what role manufacturing played in the economic impact for the state,” said KAM senior VP Shelley Goodwin. “We have over 250,000 Manufacturing employees across the state and the contribution to the GDP is large as well.”
“When we woke up on Monday morning and got the word, everyone was just incredibly excited that, hey, we finally pulled this off and we were the coolest thing in 2026,” White shared.
The winners are decided by a bracket-style voting process. This year’s nominees also included things like the Toyota Camry and Corning’s precision cover class for electronics.
“To be put in that same category for this plant that's been here for 52 years in Berea, Kentucky, it feels pretty good actually,” said White.
According to Goodwin, competition this year was a close one.
On Monday, employees at Hyster-Yale celebrated their triumph in this year’s competition.
“It creates a real sense of pride with the employees which we love to see,” Goodwin said. “It really kind of gives a nod to those folks that come in and work those long shifts and long hours.”
The contest also educates Kentuckians about what is actually made in the state.
“I've talked to a lot of our shop floor associates, and when they're having their friends and family vote, a lot of their friends and family didn't know what they were really making day in and day out,” White shared. “To see it on social media like that and being able to see it in your home, I think a lot of people went, ‘wow, that's pretty cool, and we never realized a fork truck could be used for this or for that.’”
You can learn more about the competition and this year’s nominees at coolestthingky.com.
