We're All Innovating Contest Winners

WE’RE ALL INNOVATING CONTEST WINNERS

The We’re All Innovating Contest was created by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) this fall to recognize and promote the creative ways startups and small businesses are adapting to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Learn more about the winners.

OVERALL WINNER

Novir LLC | Milwaukee, Milwaukee
novir-usa.com

When a Wisconsin-based, global manufacturing plant was hit by a COVID-19 outbreak in September, its managing team called Novir, a young company launched by former GE Healthcare executive Alexander Kempe. Why? Milwaukee-based Novir had developed a test to rapidly detect antibodies found in people who have already contracted COVID-19. Novir’s team quickly tested plant employees who had been in contact with infected workers. Because results were delivered in minutes instead of days, the company restarted manufacturing the following day. A lengthy shutdown was thus averted, saving millions of dollars and scores of family-supporting jobs. Simple to use, portable and not dependent on expensive laboratory equipment, Novir’s serological antibody test is less expensive than polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests that also detect COVID-19 antibodies. The Novir antibody test is undergoing U.S. Food and Drug Administration review and is expected to be cleared in December 2020. A second Novir product, a rapid antigen (virus detection test) is being developed; other support platforms are in the works. Production of about 100,000 Novir antibody tests per month will begin soon, providing more “early warning” potential to health systems, businesses and a general public eager to see the COVID-19 pandemic pass.

SERVICE AND BUSINESS OPERATION INNOVATION TO RESPOND TO COVID-19 DISRUPTION

Category winners: Less than 5 employees

Madison Farmers Unite | Madison, Dane madisonfarmersunite.com

It didn’t take long after the COVID-19 pandemic struck Wisconsin for Madison Farmers Unite to do precisely what the name suggests: Unite around a plan to connect producers with customers in need of fresh, locally produced food. By the end of March 2020, the company was organized and by mid-April curbside orders made online by former farmers’ market patrons were being fulfilled. Organizers were veteran farmers who had been taking part in traditional farmers’ markets for a decade or more, and they realized that disruptions in the supply chain would quickly effect their abilities to distribute produce – as well as the ability of consumers to avail themselves of eggs, baked goods, mushrooms, cheese, potatoes and more. Technology was utilized to “bundle” food for consumers, storage was made available and pick-up points were established. The operation grew while paying prices that kept farmers viable and consumers well-supplied.

Brewery Nonic LLC | Menomonie, Dunn
brewerynonic.com

Keeping a craft brewery alive during a pandemic is hard work. It can also be fun, with the right amount of innovation. Brewery Nonic LLC was launched in 2018 in Menomonie’s Omaha Train Depot, which is listed on state and national registers of historic places. However, even history can’t help a relatively new brewery during COVID-19 unless its owners get creative. That is true not only for maintaining safety for staff and customers, but in offering services that reach into the community. Brewery Nonic modified its facilities to invite musicians and “guest chefs,” some from struggling restaurants, to a setting that majority owners Ryan and Ron Verdon describe as a “Collaborative Community.” A food trailer was purchased, painted and otherwise upgraded to safely expand outside food options. Outside heaters, wind curtains and a fire pit have been added. A written “Coronavirus Safety Plan” guides other precautions. Brewery Nonic has established a “guest kitchen” to help other members of the community learn the trade, including students from UW-Stout and Hmong and Peruvian families.

Ventris Learning LLC | Sun Prairie, Dane
ventrislearning.com

The disruption in education due to the COVID-19 pandemic is pervasive, with schools at all levels adopting technologies to help bridge the learning gap for students of all ages. Some students may need more help than others, especially when there are prolonged periods without “live” instruction. Ventris Learning LLC of Sun Prairie is helping speech and language pathologists address the problem of not being able to work with students face-to-face. Ventris has made two copyrighted tests available for “teletherapy,” or focused online instruction. Those tests are called the Diagnostic Evaluation of Language Variation and Assessment of Literacy & Language. Federal law requires speech pathologists to administer speech and language tests to students who are referred for such services, school closures or not. The Ventris systems, which required modifying some existing software and creating new platforms, help pathologists to more effectively provide services.

Category winners: 6-20 employees

FMS LLC / Morris Ramen | Madison, Dane
morrisramen.com

The restaurant business is competitive by nature, but what happens during a pandemic in which restaurants and eateries are under intense pressure just to stay open? FMS LLC, which does business as Morris Ramen restaurant in Madison, has developed a collaborative approach that helps many restaurants as well as patrons who otherwise would not be able to afford a well-cooked meal. Working through non-profit affiliates such as Cook It Forward Madison, the owners of Morris Ramen have created a system by which about a dozen restaurants – including their own – are paid to prepare meals for disadvantaged people in the Madison area. With a goal of serving about 50,000 meals over time, FMS/Morris Ramen/Cook It Forward has raised money to help buy supplies locally, keep restaurant workers and delivery drivers employed, make use of food that might otherwise have been wasted, and serve hungry people across Madison. Competition and a for-profit approach are retained, but collaboration has helped from multiple angles.

Category winners: 21-50 employees

HC Gemini / The Abbey Bar | De Pere, Brown
abbeybar.com

A popular restaurant and tavern in De Pere, The Abbey Bar is much like other bars in Wisconsin: Its owners are doing what they can to stay alive in the COVID-19 pandemic. For Abbey’s owner, Kerry Counard, that means employing some of the safe practices you might expect – rigorous cleaning protocols, takeout options, limited indoor seating, outdoor dining, masks, sanitation stations, turning away large groups and more. The Abbey Bar has gone a step beyond by offering “pay-it-forward” gift cards to customers who are encouraged to give them to front-line health workers or people hard hit by COVID-19. Under consideration is a plan to winterize the outdoor area with heating and wind blocks. Counard is making sure staff and vendors get paid first by not paying himself. “Safety first” is a constant and transparent motto for The Abbey Bar, and so is giving back to others in need, even in tough times.

Additional Winners

TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION TO ADDRESS COVID-19 IMPACTS ON HEALTH

Category winners: Less than 5 employees

Innovation Strategies | Madison, Dane
ideatomarket.com

Innovation Strategies LLC took an off-the-shelf, conveyor-style bagel toaster and turned it into an ultra-violet light sterilizer that could disinfect used or exposed personal protection equipment (PPE). Because founder Bruce Winkler and other team members had backgrounds in UVC lighting, device development and prototypes, the bagel toaster was stripped of its conventional heating elements and became a sterilizer with the addition of a UVC sterilizer and other components. With help from the UW-Madison and the state of Wisconsin to ensure safety and efficacy, the sterilizer has been used to clean face masks, blood pressure cuffs, N95 masks, keyboards and other small items for fire stations, police stations, dental offices and other health facilities. Next up for Innovation Strategies: Larger and even more efficient sterilizers with next-generation UV lights and remodeled pizza ovens instead of bagel toasters. Would you like extra cheese with that?

Simul8 LLC

Simul8 LLC | Deforest, Dane
simul8.tech

One of the most devastating effects of COVID-19 is respiratory and pulmonary system failure, in which patients are deprived of life-giving oxygen. Extra Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation, or ECMO, is an existing but complicated process that can take over heart and lung functions for critically ill patients. However, there is no commercially available training system for physicians. Much like flight simulators help to train pilots before they take to the air, Simul8 LLC’s training system can instruct doctors before they work with live patients. The ECMO procedure involves placing larger catheters into the body, removing blood to be cleansed of carbon dioxide, and recirculating it with necessary oxygen. The Simul8 system, which is being developed at UW Health in partnership with Dane County Emergency Medical Services, will allow more physicians to be credentialed. In the process, perhaps more lives to be saved. The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, the University of Iowa and others are also involved in advancing the Simul8 model.

Category winners: 6-20 employees

Semba Biosciences Inc. | Madison, Dane
sembabio.com

Much attention has been focused on the development of vaccines to safeguard people against the ravages of COVID-19. Semba Biosciences Inc. has devoted its expertise and energy to advancing production of a therapy for patients who have already contracted the virus – monoclonal antibodies. Monoclonal antibodies are laboratory-made proteins that mimic the immune system’s ability to fight off harmful pathogens such as viruses. Monoclonal antibodies, or mAbs, appear to help many COVID-19 patients, but the trick is producing enough of them to make a difference in a pandemic. The process developed by Semba Biosciences is a step beyond current “batch manufacturing” methods and employs continuous chromatography and Protein A capture systems for purification. If testing of the Semba system goes as hoped, biopharmaceutical companies will be able to produce mAbs faster and more efficiently. The same system may also hold potential for manufacturing vaccines. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently issued emergency use authorizations for certain COVID-fighting mAbs.

AIQ Global Inc. | Madison, Dane
aiq-solutions.com

Predicting the extent of lung damage in COVID-19 patients has perplexed medical professionals, with some infected patients showing few, if any, signs of lung issues and others exhibiting harmful, lingering effects. AIQ Global Inc. is using patented software to automatically quantify sophisticated computerized tomography (CT) lung imaging patterns in COVID-19 patients. The process improves how accurately such readings are interpreted; better predicts the severity of lung damage; and provides valuable insights into emerging drug therapies. The core AIQ Global platform, which rests on artificial intelligence and “deep learning” features, was previously cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for a range of clinical applications. Its use for COVID-19 was shown to be feasible in a study of 1,110 patients recently sent to the World Health Organization. The AIQ platform may be especially useful in rural hospitals, where radiologists are not always available and rapid triaging of COVID-19 patients can be more difficult without solid images and data.

Category winners: 21-50 employees

Midwest Prototyping | Blue Mounds, Dane
midwestproto.com

From Blue Mounds, Wisconsin, came blue-sky innovation that helped to lead the fight against COVID-19 statewide and around the world. Working with its partners, Midwest Prototyping developed an inexpensive yet effective process for making face shields for healthcare professionals. Known as the “Badger Shield” due to the involvement of the UW-Madison College of Engineering, the open-source process for making the COVID-resistant shields has been used about 15 million times around the world. Working with Delve Engineering in Madison and consulting with companies as large as Ford, Toyota and Apple, Midwest Prototyping opened a production facility and worked with dozens of small production companies internationally. Healthcare facilities as large as UW Health and the Mayo Clinic have used the Badger Shield, as well as schools and public health agencies. In the process, jobs were created from Blue Mounds to Boscobel to Sheboygan Falls in Wisconsin alone. Next steps: “Badger Shield+” is in production and so is a Personal Air Purifying Respirator Hood.

Additional Winners

TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION TO ADDRESS COVID-19 IMPACTS ON BUSINESSES

Category winners: Less than 5 employees

Train Skills Management LLC | Siren, Burnett
softeceducation.org

The COVID-19 pandemic brought a wave of change to the construction industry, especially in the form of digital innovation touching everything from business processes to “smart” building design. One constant remains: The need for well-trained workers. Train Skills Management LLC is providing Certified Heavy Equipment Operator Training to people in northwest Wisconsin, often helping them escape a life of unemployment or low-paying jobs for careers in an industry that values talent. Simulator training followed by real-time training, with instructors remaining safely remote through GPS and visual software, prepares novice operators to meet industry and union standards. Majority owner Tim DJock brings decades of heavy equipment and instructional experience to Train Skills Management, as well as deep community roots that have allowed him to reach out to high schools, technical education teachers, contractors, Native American tribes and others. The roughly six-week course has produced graduates that so far include 82% Native Americans, about a quarter of which are women.

eCourt Reporters | Burlington, Racine
ecourtreporters.com

One mostly unseen but nonetheless serious result of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the slowing of criminal and civil justice systems. Court backlogs are growing as the intensely personal aspects of a crowded courtroom – a judge, a jury, lawyers, plaintiffs and defendants – become more difficult to manage. Among the players in that scenario are court reporters and videographers, who were in short supply even before the virus hit. eCourt Reporters in Burlington has provided a two-sided marketplace for law firms and government entities to schedule court reporters directly with live search capabilities across the United States. With 1,700 registered users in 48 of 50 states, eCourt Reporters has a strong toehold within the legal community. The company recently partnered with the American Bar Association Pro Bono program to plan the launch of free of charge services for law firms that often work with under-represented clients. Those types of cases may be hit hardest by COVID-19 slowdowns in the legal system, especially in areas such as domestic abuse and child protective services. eCourt Reporters may become the first platform of its kind to offer pro bono services.

Economic Empowerment Wisconsin | Madison, Dane
economicempowermentwi.org

All entrepreneurs needed to be connected to wider networks to succeed; making those connections can be more difficult for entrepreneurs of color. Finding better ways to help those entrepreneurs is the goal of Economic Empowerment Wisconsin, which is building a digital system that connects entrepreneurs to resources, mentors and service organizations while capturing important parts of individual “journeys” that can help others. An “Interactive Resource Map” under development will help foster more and deeper connections across a range of resources, including some groups not known to other organizations in the directory. To counter the effects of COVID-19 in terms of traditional networking, the system will make use of online scheduling, virtual meetings and follow-up capabilities. At a time when the pandemic is hitting minority communities and entrepreneurs hard, Madison-based Economic Empowerment Wisconsin is offering ways to connect, consult and collaborate

Category winners: 6-20 employees

Plutoview LLC | Milwaukee, Milwaukee
plutoview.com

Platforms such as Zoom and Skype can be ideal for presentations, but what if the goal is collaboration around a research project or tutoring sessions in mathematics, software coding or other disciplines? Under most online platforms, screen sharing can only take place one device at a time. Plutoview LLC has developed virtualization that allows all users to work together in synchrony, as if they were physically gathered around the same table. Milwaukee-based Plutoview brings multi-screen accessibility to distance learning and remote collaboration for up to 100 users simultaneously. It’s a shared browser approach that has already attracted thousands of users. Possible applications include preparing for a student presentation, developing a marketing campaign, researching sources for a dissertation with students around the world, or surfing the web in privacy with friends. It can speed decision-making and approval processes while reducing the costs of coordination and research. COVID-19 has hastened the transition to distance learning around the world; Plutoview is offering technology to make distance learning an even richer experience.

Photonic Cleaning Technologies | Platteville, Grant
photoniccleaning.com

Before COVID-19 hit Wisconsin, Photonic Cleaning Technologies was a successful manufacturer of high-tech polymers for the photonics and aerospace industries, with sales in 75 companies. For a small company in rural Grant County, that’s impressive market penetration. While polymers can be used to make lighter, stronger coatings for mix of industrial products, they can also be used as a thickening agent for alcohol-based hand sanitizer. A new line of business was born. At the request of state and federal agencies, Photonic Cleaning began making a line of gel-based, quick-drying sanitizers that also carried the extra property of making people’s hands feel softer. Now called the “Hands So Soft” line, about 30,000 bottles have been shipped, jobs have been created and the possibility of a product line that lives beyond the COVID-19 pandemic has emerged. What began as a rapid retooling to assist with the emergency need for hand sanitizer has become a possible long-term product line for Photonic Cleaning Technologies.

Category winners: 21-50 employees

The Menomonie Food Co-op | Menomonie, Dunn
mmfc.coop

At first, the Menomonie Food Co-op’s attempts at weathering the COVID-19 storm weren’t all that successful. A simple “drive-up, pick-up” system for buying groceries was only part of the answer, as patrons accustomed to choices that often distinguish a local co-op from other grocery stores couldn’t specify local, specialty or delicatessen items. A more robust eCommerce site helped to solve that problem with photos and information that help shoppers tell if items were locally produced, organic, house-made or carried other attributes not easily ascertained by shoppers hesitant to simply roam the aisles. The innovation saved some jobs within the store – especially in the deli – and transformed others with training and a tailored approach to customer service. It has maintained sales of locally grown items, such as produce, and allowed the co-op to keep buying from small producers. An apple orchard, a goat ranch and Amish farmers are among local suppliers who have benefited from innovative steps taken by the Menomonie Food Co-op.

Additional Winners

We’re All Innovating Contest Winners