With so many major colleges and universities it’s no surprise that North Carolina has produced more than its fair share of well-known athletes over the years. But who are the biggest names to come out of the state? Our friends at BetCarolina.com did a deep dive to see which athletes who were raised in the state of North Carolina are the most well known currently. They looked at North Carolina athletes and how much those individuals have been discussed in the past year. From there they concluded that these individuals would be the most well-known athletes.
To create the list, BetCarolina utilized a weighted system between AhRefs.com Keywords Explorer and Google Trends to look at the most searched North Carolina athletes over the past 12 months. Once they had both pieces of information, they were averaged to determine the most well known athletes. For the purpose of this list BetCarolina definite ‘NC athlete’ as a “person who was born or resided in North Carolina in their formative childhood and teenage years for over 10 years.” You can read their full study and methodology here or see the 7 most well known NC athletes below. Did your favorite make the list?
There are so many incredible ideas and innovations in North Carolina. We’ve got some incredible, noteworthy brands that have come out of the state. With major universities, there is constantly new products and ideas coming out of the state. And now is the chance for those ideas to be recognized as the coolest things made in North Carolina.
The NC Chamber is currently conducting its fourth annual “Coolest Thing Made in NC” contest. The purpose of this contest is “to celebrate one of North Carolina’s most economically vital and enduring industries”. Nominees have been collected and voting is currently underway featuring a variety of products from both small and medium/large-sized businesses. Food, alcohol, technological advancements, safety products, jets, and consumer goods are just some of the categories the products nominated as the coolest things made in North Carolina. Voting continues through September 1st at which time the semifinalists will be selected.
Previous winners of the coolest thing in NC include:
2022: Medium-to-Large Business: Caterpillar 299D3 XE Compact Track Loader, Small Business: beachBUB® All-in-One Umbrella System
2021: Western Star 49X Vocational Truck
2020: Saf-T-Liner C2 Jouley Electric School Bus
The NC Chamber is the leading business advocacy organization in North Carolina. The Chamber’s mission is “to research, develop, advocate, and communicate for solutions and policies that produce a nationally competitive business climate in North Carolina.” The products listed below are just a handful of the ones in this contest. They are ones I found personally interesting or noteworthy and I hope you feel the same way too. You can see the full list of nominees and vote for your favorite here. I can’t wait to see which products take the title of the 2024 Coolest Thing Made In NC.
12 of The Coolest Things Made In North Carolina
Melanie Day is a graduate of North Carolina State University. She has worked for Beasley since 2012 in a variety of behind-the-scenes roles in both digital and promotions. Melanie writes about a diverse range of topics some of her favorites include travel, restaurants, Taylor Swift, and college athletics. When not at work you'll find her at a country concert or NC State sporting event.
