ROCKFORD, IL - Obsidian Manufacturing Industries, Inc. was recognized at the awards ceremony for the Illinois Manufacturers Association’s Makers Madness competition this week after being voted to the top-16 of the bracket-style competition.

This was the third annual competition, with the public submitting votes for products manufactured in Illinois to determine a winner, dubbed the “Coolest Thing Made in Illinois.” Governor JB Pritzker held the ceremony at the Governor’s Mansion in Springfield this year.

Rivian’s R1T electric truck was determined the victor in the competition that had over 200,000 total votes throughout the process and featured over 400 products. The truck is the first all-electric truck and is produced in Normal.

Rounding out the top-4 products in the competition were diffraction gratings used in VR glasses made by Inprentus Precision Optics in Champaign, spacecraft parts for the Orion Capsule made by Ingersoll Machine Tools, Inc. in Rockford and General Mills’ popular snack Fruit by the Foot, made in Belvidere.

Obsidian, a Rockford-based company, submitted the Power-Grip LB-7Gx2, a lift magnet produced for large-scale magnetic lifting, advancing to the top 16 vote-getters in the competition.

The lift magnet was a recent development of the manufacturing company, combining two smaller units and increasing the overall lifting capacity to 14,000-lbs., one of the largest lifting capacities within its market.

Obsidian Manufacturing Industries, Inc. is a Rockford, Ill. manufacturing company and is the OEM for Magna-Lock USA workholding, MagnaLift & Power-Grip lift magnets, and Arter Precision Grinding Machines as well providing surface grinding services. They are located at 5015 28th Ave. in Rockford, Ill. with a phone number of 815-962-8700. Check out more at obsidianmfg.com/brands.