1000 Island Airboats named Coolest Thing Made in Wisconsin

Rich Palzewic

Staff

November 10, 2025

MARION – President Fawn Rogers said 1000 Island Airboats was founded with a clear mission: to build the highest-quality, lightweight rescue and general-use airboats possible – a goal that has served the company well.

That dedication recently caught the attention of Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC) and voters across the state as 1000 Island Airboats was named the Coolest Thing Made in Wisconsin for 2025.

“What a great honor,” Fawn said. “This was our first time applying, and there were a total of 148 entries this year. It goes through a voting system and then is narrowed down to the top 16, then the top eight and then to the top four.”

Ryan Rogers, 1000 Island Airboats’ director of operations, said though they were surprised to win, they were also prepared to win.

“We know we have a great product, but I think we were surprised we made it [to the final four],” he said. “I think once we got into the final four, we knew we had as good a chance to win as anyone. We were pleasantly surprised and excited about it.”

Ryan said since winning the honor, “the phone has been ringing off the hook.”

“There has been interest from all areas, whether it’s media reaching out or prospective customers,” he said. “Winning the honor is definitely not a bad thing – it can only help get the word out there about 1000 Island Airboats.”

Before cool was cool

According to madeinwis.com, each year, WMC partners with Johnson Financial Group to host Coolest Thing Made in Wisconsin, a competition designed to showcase the state’s thriving manufacturing industry.

The website also notes that one in six Wisconsinites works in manufacturing, an industry that contributes more than $73 billion to the state’s economy.

Since the contest began in 2016, WMC and Johnson Financial Group have invited the public to vote, with nearly two million votes cast to date.

Product entries have ranged from motorcycles, military vehicles, cheese products and boats, to generators, robots, iron castings, beer, all-terrain vehicles and snow blowers.

The site also notes that WMC was the first organization to host a “Coolest Thing Made” contest, and today, 25 other states hold similar competitions run by manufacturing, commerce or chamber groups.

“Congratulations to 1000 Island Airboats on its hard-earned victory,” WMC President/CEO Kurt R. Bauer said.

For WMC, Bauer said the contest goes beyond crowning a champion each year. 

“The Coolest Thing Made in Wisconsin contest showcases the strength of our manufacturers – the jobs they create, the investments they make in their communities, the impact they have on our economy and, of course, the cool products they manufacture,” he said.

More on 1000 Island Airboats

Fawn said 1000 Island Airboats are specifically designed for winter conditions and are used by municipalities and federal agencies to rescue people stranded or in danger during harsh winter weather.

The airboats, she said, can effortlessly transition from open water to ice and back again in heated comfort.

“Our boats can go on hard ice, breakable ice, transitional ice, water, snow, etc.,” she said. “They are built specifically out of composite material, with multiple layers of fiberglass – you need to have that flex in the boat for going over rougher stuff.”

Fawn said 1000 Island Airboats are significantly different from traditional aluminum boats.

“If you would use a traditional aluminum boat and have that out on the ice, those welds can break because they don’t have that flexibility,” she said. “When most people hear the word ‘airboat,’ they think of the airboats you see in the Everglades. Our boats are not like that.”

Most of the company’s customers, Fawn said, are in the northern and northeastern parts of the United States, along with Canada.

“We have some boats up in Alaska,” she said. “We’ve had several inquiries from northern Europe.”

Fawn said 1000 Island Airboats are also very effective in open water.

“People have probably heard of ice rescues being performed in the Bay of Green Bay,” she said. “In those cases, fishermen go out fishing, and all of a sudden, the wind and the currents change, and you have people floating on a big sheet of ice. You can’t take a regular boat or a snowmobile out because there’s usually ice up against the shore. That’s where our boats are also effective in open water.”

Though most of 1000 Island Airboats’ customers are municipalities with search and rescue units, Fawn said the company has also worked with the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Marshals and various police, sheriff, fire and state trooper agencies.

She said the company also sells to private users.

“We have several individuals who need an airboat because they have cabins with water-only access,” she said. “Also, some of our boats are used by fishing guides.”

Ryan said all 1000 Island Airboats are built on site, with a “handful of employees” constructing between eight and 10 airboats a year.

“We have another facility in Two Rivers where we build our hulls, and then we do all of our assembly in Marion,” he said. “We contract with fabrication and plastics companies and outsource the different parts we need, but we also do some manufacturing ourselves.”

Ryan said there’s a strong demand for their boats, but it comes down to people learning about the product and how it compares to alternatives, which he believes will drive further growth.

“It’s just a matter of people being educated and understanding about our product versus something else,” he said.

Sometimes, Fawn said it’s a matter of funding for a municipality.

“Unfortunately, sometimes lack of funding is the case,” she said. “Like any government agency or business in general, unfortunately, sometimes it also takes a [negative] event for people to realize the use of what we produce. If they had the use of one of our airboats, maybe they could have saved an individual.”

Turning a tragedy into a business

Fawn said a tragic event more than 30 years ago led Canadian brothers Gary and Terry Anderson to found 1000 Island Airboats.

“The company was started because a friend of theirs lost his life in the freezing ice-spotted water of the St. Lawrence Seaway – there was no way to reach him,” she said. “This event sparked the Anderson brothers into action to create the world’s best airboats to help keep people safe.”

Fawn said the company changed ownership in 2017 and was moved to the United States.

Since its inception, per 1000islandairboats.com, the boats built by 1000 Island Airboats have been used to save hundreds of lives around the world.