Meet your Top 8 contenders for the 2026 Coolest Thing Made in California contest. ⚙️ Voting in the Top 8 round opens Monday, and will run Sept. 28-Oct. 1. Set those alarms, and get ready to vote for your faves! ⏰ 🫡

What's the Coolest Thing Made in California? 💭 YOU get to help decide. Products made across the state are going head-to-head in a bracket-style tournament, and your votes decide which ones advance. Voting in this round, the Top 16 round, closes tonight at 11:59 p.m. ⏰ Vote now at CoolestThingCalifornia.com

Union Pacific announces the arrival of two battery-electric locomotives in Southern California, part of the company’s ongoing investments in testing next-generation technologies in real-world operating environments. The locomotives are the first of four FLXdrive battery-electric units built by @WabtecCorp and ordered by Union Pacific. The FLXdrive will undergo extensive testing in a variety of railroad operations, including switching and providing local customer service. Operating in a busy rail yard will provide Union Pacific with valuable data on their performance, reliability and operational capabilities. up.com/press-releases/growth…

With California being home to tech startups and iconic brands alike, ever wonder what cool stuff is being created in the state? 🤔 The public has voted to determine the Top 16 products that they think deserve the title of "Coolest Thing Made in California." 💡There are TWO Top 16 Brackets you can vote in: one for small-to-medium manufacturers and one for large manufacturers. Go to CoolestThingCalifornia.com to see the California-made innovations everyone's talking about.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has vetoed SB 954, which would have narrowed the California Environmental Quality Act exemption for advanced manufacturing projects. buff.ly/ZuA8PFX

Talon-A is in the round of 16 for @cmta's Coolest Thing Made in California competition. Voting is live now! You can vote up to five times per day, per device. Help Talon-A become the 2026 Coolest Thing Made in California winner! Vote here: coolestthingcalifornia.com #Talon #CoolestThing

🚨 Top 16 Alert! 🚨 The coolest products from the state are facing off in the #CoolestThingMadeInCA contest. 🏆 Vote now at CoolestThingCalifornia.com to help your faves advance to the Top 8. The SMM (200 employees or fewer) and large manufacturer brackets ensure fair competition. Vote daily until 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 24.

Statement from CMTA President & CEO @lance_hastings on @CAgovernor's VETO of SB 954. We applaud the Governor for keeping California’s promise to manufacturers.👏

Help us find the Coolest Thing Made in California!🔎 Vote for up to 5 California-made products from the full list of eligible nominations. That's everything from space tech to home gadgets.⚙️ Voting in this round closes at 11:59 p.m. TONIGHT! ⚡️Vote here: coolestthingcalifornia.com/p…

We’re investing $21 million in our Los Angeles and Mira Loma, CA facilities to fuel production of @MichelobULTRA and @CutwaterSpirits and bring a new technical skills training center to our California workforce. It’s all part of our $600M commitment to invest in our people, facilities and the future of American manufacturing.

SB 947 piles new compliance burdens and litigation risk onto California employers, potentially discouraging the responsible use of technologies, such as fraud detection, that can improve workplace decision-making. CMTA urges @CAgovernor to veto SB 947.

Need a moment's inspiration? Take a few minutes to check out the astonishing range of innovation represented on the Coolest Thing Made in California website, which is open for voting this week. A project of @cmta, the Coolest Thing Made in California celebrates the builders who are still making amazing products right here in the Golden State. This year's finalists include life-saving biomedical advances, satellites that spot fires almost the moment they ignite, and autonomous electric crop dusters. Call me biased, but I am particularly proud of the Shockwave X, built by Orchard Machinery Corporation in Yuba City, in the 1st Senate District. It is the world's first autonomous tree shaker. Robots in the fields are not something everyone is ready for, but labor shortages and the high cost of operating in California mean farmers must innovate and adapt to stay competitive. It's exciting to see the latest technology at work in the fields helping Golden State farms feed American and the world. Cast your vote today! coolestthingcalifornia.com/p…

Talon-A has been nominated for @cmta Coolest Thing Made in California competition! The popular voting round is live now, and we are counting on your votes to help us win this competition. The coolest thing about Talon-A is hypersonic speed. Flying five times faster than the speed of sound, Talon-A provides a reusable, autonomous platform for testing technology in the real-world hypersonic environment. Vote here: coolestthingcalifornia.com/p… #VoteNow #CMTA #CoolestThing #Talon

This is the only time I can say this. Vote early…vote often!!!

California manufacturers need more tools to meet our recycling goals, not fewer. AB 2253 cherry-picks which standards businesses can use and takes a proven compliance tool out of the toolbox. We're asking @CAgovernor to veto AB 2253.

Voting in the Coolest Thing Made in California contest is LIVE! 🗳️ Right now, in the Popular Round, you can vote for 5 products per day, per device from the full list of eligible nominations at CoolestThingCalifornia.com. Vote daily through 9/17 to determine the Top 16 Brackets. 🏆

As we continue to track AI issues impacting California manufacturers, CMTA wants to thank #CALeg for not moving AB 1018 forward this year. The bill would have created uncertainty and unnecessary complexity for the state's businesses. We appreciate lawmakers taking a thoughtful approach to emerging technology.

🚨Last call, California!🚨 Today is the FINAL day to nominate for this year's Coolest Thing Made in California contest. Whether it's a household name or a hidden gem, we want to see the best of CA innovation. ⏰ Nominate before midnight at CoolestThingCalifornia.com/N…

🚨 Coolest Thing Made in CA update 🚨 We're extending the nomination deadline to Monday, Sept. 7 to keep the California love flowing. With a long weekend ahead, you've got three extra days to nominate the products that make the Golden State #1 in manufacturing. Visit CoolestThingCalifornia.com and let's keep the momentum going! 💪

For California manufacturers, August included trade tensions, facility announcements, and the end of a particularly busy legislative session. Here's your monthly download on industry news: cmta.net/manufacturing-news-…