Final Round of Voting Starts Monday to Name HSC Polysilicon ‘Coolest Thing Made in Michigan’

HEMLOCK, Mich. — The hyper-pure polysilicon produced by Hemlock Semiconductor Operations (HSC) has been named one of the 10 finalists for the 2020 “Coolest Thing Made in Michigan” People’s Choice Award hosted by the Michigan Manufacturers Association (MMA).

This “Coolest Thing Made in Michigan” contest highlights the coolest product manufactured in Michigan and is part of the MMA’s MFG Excellence Awards program, which celebrates the contributions manufacturers make to Michigan’s economy and local communities. The winner will be decided based on how many votes from the public a product gets during the final two-week round of voting, which starts at 12:01 a.m. Monday, Nov. 9.

“The polysilicon made by HSC employees is the essential ingredient in the semiconductors that run electronics and the solar panels that give us green energy,” said HSC Chairman and CEO Mark Bassett. “We hope everyone in the Great Lakes Bay Region goes online to help HSC win, spreading the word that polysilicon truly is the ‘Coolest Thing Made in Michigan.’”

HSC produces polysilicon up to a 99.999999999% purity level — the equivalent of allowing no more than one grain of sand inside 16 Olympic-sized swimming pools. It’s the nation’s largest producer of hyper-pure polysilicon and the only one headquartered in the United States.

HSC’s polysilicon made the cut in the “Coolest Thing” contest to the final 10 after a two-week contest in which 27 Michigan-made products from around the state competed.

Anyone can vote daily at coolestthing.mimfg.org to help determine which products will win the “Coolest Thing Made in Michigan” Award. Round 1 of voting ran from Monday, Oct. 12, through Friday, Oct. 23. The second round of voting begins Monday and will run through Friday, Nov. 20.

The winner of the “Coolest Thing Made in Michigan” will be announced during the virtual MFG Excellence Awards event in January. A photo of the polysilicon produced by HSC is available here and a logo for the contest is available here and here.

Learn more about MMA and the MFG Excellence Awards at mimfg.org.

HSC is the nation’s largest producer of hyper-pure polysilicon and the only one headquartered in the United States. It’s one of the Great Lakes Bay Region’s largest employers with 1,400 employees and contract workers engaged in its 24/7 manufacturing operation west of Saginaw.