Local business vying for "Coolest Thing Made in Wisconsin" title

What is the coolest thing made in Wisconsin? In a few weeks, we’ll know.

It could be a machine designed and built by an Ashland-area business, Absolut Manufacturing, a Bretting company.

Blake Bretting said with rolled paper products in short supply when COVID-19 hit, they saw an opportunity.

"We said, ‘Hey, we’re great at what we do.’ We build custom machinery. So making another great custom machine like this for the world is something we can do," Bretting said. "So we put our minds together and within eight months, we had a brand new product line out there to help out in this COVID pandemic."

Absolut created WiNDR, a machine that makes disinfecting wipes. Bretting said it can put out 140 rolls a minute.

They entered it in Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce’s "Coolest Thing Made in Wisconsin" contest, and they’re in the Top 16.

"We’re going to go for the win," Bretting said.

He said they have employees from all over northwestern Wisconsin, from Superior to Hayward to Mellen.

"I think it’s a big pride thing for us in northern Wisconsin. And I would say it’s a lot about the people up here and our employees," he said. "Absolut and Bretting Manufacturing, we, the company didn’t create this. It’s the people in here that really have done a great job."

You can vote for Bretting here.

They plan to continue making the disinfecting wipe machines for the foreseeable future.

"This is a growing market, it’s a growing product line," Bretting said. "We’re just going to keep going, keep moving forward, growing."