On this week’s episode of the NEW Manufacturing Insights podcast, sponsored by Stoke RGA, Northeast Wisconsin Manufacturing Alliance Executive Director Ann Franz and Insight on Manufacturing Editor Kate Bruns sit down with Ryan Rogers, director of operations for 1000 Island Airboats in Marion, winner of WMC’s 10th annual “Coolest Thing Made in Wisconsin” competition last fall.
The company’s 24-foot Search and Rescue Airboat, which is also the subject of this month’s Insight on Business magazine “Home Made” feature, defeated more than 100 other Wisconsin made-products to claim the title through a March Madness-style online vote during Manufacturing Month.
It was, as Bruns brags on the episode, the fifth-consecutive win in the competition by a Northeast Wisconsin maker.
The airboat, which was invented in the 1990s, was manufactured along the St. Lawrence Seaway in Canada before Rogers and his family purchased the company and moved it to Northeast Wisconsin in 2017. The owners of another successful manufacturing operation, Great Lakes Veneer, Rogers admits building boats was a new venture and a bit of a left turn for him and his family. What he found was a supportive and hyperlocal supply chain that has allowed the company to thrive.
“I think within 50, 60 miles of our plant I had multiple suppliers able to manufacture these parts for us,” Rogers tells the co-hosts on this week’s show. “Over time, with more experience, you begin to realize how special the state is, and how special Northeast Wisconsin is, and how much manufacturing might that we actually have here.”
The 1000 Island 24-foot Search and Rescue Airboat is responsible for saving countless lives, and Rogers says the first responders who rely on their product as well as the many manufacturing partners who help them create about 8 to 10 boats in Marion every year were among 1000 Island’s biggest supporters in the contest.
The boat truly is the gold standard for saving lives in icy waters, Rogers says.
“Most airboats are built out of aluminum. It’s great for water; the difference for us is ice,” Rogers explains on the podcast, noting that 1000 Island’s boats are made out of fiberglass — three times the amount, in fact, one might find on a traditional waterski boat navigating Lake Winnebago. “The biggest thing about composite is that it allows the whole hull to flex as one uniform unit.”
Rogers shares that winning the “Coolest Thing” competition has brought new attention to their company, which many didn’t even know was located in Marion — “even our mayor,” Rogers acknowledges.
Hear more about this one-of-a-kind product by listening to this week’s full episode on Spreaker or anywhere you get audio podcasts — including Apple and Spotify. NEW Manufacturing Insights, now in its third year, is produced by Woodward Community Media and will be sponsored throughout 2026 by Stoke RGA. New episodes are released every Thursday.
