(PRESS RELEASE) GREEN BAY, WI – The winners of Fast Company’s 2021 World Changing Ideas Awards were announced honoring the businesses, policies, projects, and concepts that are actively engaged and deeply committed to pursuing innovation when it comes to solving health and climate crises, social injustice, or economic inequality.
Carnivore Meat Company received Honorable Mention in the Pandemic Response Category for their donation of UV equipment to two local healthcare systems. The donation was in response to the alarming shortage of masks and personal protective equipment (PPE) amid the COVID-19 pandemic last year.
Working with local health professionals, Carnivore Meat Company CEO & Owner Lanny Viegut organized the relocation of the equipment to a clean room facility on March 29, 2020, which became the first known fully operational, continuous in-line UV PPE sterilization facility in the United States.
In the past year, the facility has processed thousands of masks for health care facilities, police and fire departments, dental offices and local businesses throughout Northeastern Wisconsin, allowing them to safely and confidently serve their communities. Nearly 70 organizations have benefited from services provided by the UV sterilization facility. And, the Wisconsin State Hygiene Lab considered replicating the facility to aid communities in other parts of the state.
Now in its fifth year, the World Changing Ideas Awards showcase 33 winners, more than 400 finalists, and more than 800 honorable mentions with Health and Wellness, AI & Data among the most popular categories. A panel of eminent Fast Company editors and reporters selected winners and finalists from a pool of more than 4,000 entries across transportation, education, food, politics, technology and more. Plus, several new categories were added, including Pandemic Response, Urban Design and Architecture. The 2021 awards feature entries from across the globe ranging from Brazil to Denmark to Vietnam.
Showcasing some of the world’s most inventive entrepreneurs and companies tackling exigent global challenges, Fast Company’s Summer 2021 issue highlights, among others, a lifesaving bassinet; the world’s largest carbon sink, thanks to carbon-eating concrete; 3D-printed schools; an at-home COVID-19 testing kit; a mobile voting app; and the world’s cleanest milk.
“I’m grateful that Carnivore Meat Company was in a position to donate our UV sterilization machine and provide help to our community in a time of great need,” commented Viegut. “We had no idea of the number of first responders, front-line workers and other organizations that would ultimately benefit from the services provided by the UV machine when we first came up with the concept. This recognition is a testament to our innovation and dedication to supporting our community and hopefully an inspiration for other companies to follow our lead.”
“There is no question our society and planet are facing deeply troubling times. So, it’s important to recognize organizations that are using their ingenuity, impact, design, scalability, and passion to solve these problems,” says Stephanie Mehta, editor-in-chief of Fast Company. “Our journalists, under the leadership of senior editor Morgan Clendaniel, have discovered some of the most groundbreaking projects that have launched since the start of 2020.”