Heart to Heart - Winter 2022

2 heart heart

Winter 2022

Life at BioBridge Global

Campos, Roberto Esquivel, Matthew Flores, Ashley Frolick, Emmanuel Lucio, Laura McGinnis, Francine Pina, Roger Ruiz, Sarah Sanchez, Laurryn Salem, Jillian VanDamme

I am feeling very Olympic today. How about you?

As we begin the new year and the 2022 Winter Olympics, I was reminded of the movie Cool Runnings, about the Jamaican bobsled team at the 1988 Winter Olympics. There was a great line, (besides the one I used in the headline) from one of the main characters, Sanka Coffie, that I thought fit fairly well with our time together as a team these last couple of “COVID” years: “….we have been through a whole heap together and I really, really need you.”

THE most important “ambassador” role that we have. If we can increase the number of donors, and/or the frequency with which each person donates, we can certainly achieve this goal.

For example, the average donor today donates blood about 1.5 times per year. If we could get all current donors on a regular/ quarterly donation schedule, we would nearly triple our local blood supply! But of course, we need to be adding new donors as well, because some of our donors are “aging out.”

The pandemic certainly caused 2020 and 2021 to be a real rollercoaster in terms of staffing, health, community needs, supplies and morale – we have been through a whole heap together, but you were determined, resilient, innovative and successful in fulfilling and expanding our mission. Thank you all for your hard work these past two years – together we have been successful and made great progress. We really, really need you.

So what will 2022 bring? As with life in general, it will bring challenges and opportunities, highs and lows, and hopefully in the end, growth. The need for our products and services is never-ending, and we have many responsibilities, activities and plans that must be organized and prioritized to see us reach our destination.

As usual, the Senior Leadership Team gets together and discusses the goals we want to accomplish each year. Then from that list, we prioritize the top five goals for the organization that we present for approval by our Board of Directors. Working together we have accomplished and will continue to accomplish our strategic objectives. Here are the top five goals for 2022:

>> Goal No. 1 << Stabilize the blood inventory to maintain an average inventory level of 2+ days of type O blood on hand, beginning April 1, through the end of the calendar year. This goal moves to the No. 1 position in 2022, our highest priority, and is slightly modified from our No. 2 goal in 2021. We have increased blood collections for each of the past three years – no small feat, for sure, but demand for blood in this area has increased at a faster rate than collections, due in part to the rapid population growth San Antonio has experienced in the last few years.

Five to six new hospitals are scheduled to be built/opened in the next few years, so we’ve modified this goal to focus on available blood inventory – so we can fulfill all the orders we receive from our hospital customers without adjustment or “triage.” Type O blood is in especially high demand, so that is the primary focus of this goal.

As I mentioned last year, we all can play a role in helping us achieve this most-important objective – some can be donors and all can spread the message of the need for, and benefit from, regular blood donations. Some of us interact directly with donors – this is probably

>> Goal No. 2 << Grow new customer or product line revenue by approximately $15 million over the 2021 consolidated revenue base (excluding COVID-related revenue items). We’ve worked hard the past few years to increase and diversify the number of customers we serve. Just as we were affected by COVID, so too our customers had varying disruptions in their business operations, particularly in the area of plasma collections.

To better weather these customer demand swings, we want to further grow and diversify our customer and product bases so we are not highly dependent on the growth or orders from any 1-2 customers. We began adding new customers in 2021 in GenCure, the Cell Therapy Reference Lab (QualTex) and in Birth Tissue and Clinical and Research Operations (STB&T). In addition, the R&D team has brought in project work from several outside organizations that provided more than $1 million in additional revenue to 2021.

These new contracts, while growing business from existing customers, are the key to expanding our mission on a continuous basis and providing stability to our operations, thereby reducing the risk of future expense cutbacks or layoffs. To assist us in this effort, we restructured our sales organization last year under the leadership of Ward Carter, and we are seeing benefits already, such as improved collaboration and pricing discipline, from this structural change.

As we exited 2021 and moved into 2022, we renewed our testing services agreement with Grifols, extended our TSA with BPL with improved pricing, and experienced an auto-renewal of the Immunotek TSA, renewing three of our largest testing customers for 2022. In GenCure, we signed several statements of work with a new customer that will add more than 50% to our 2021 GenCure revenue base, and there’s more to come!

>> Goal No. 3<< Achieve targeted net promoter scores in each business unit. This goal relates to improving our customer service and relationships, from the perspective of the customer. To get a measurement of how our customers view us, we modified our customer satisfaction surveys in 2021 to include a question: “How willing are you to recommend our organization or services to a friend/colleague?”

FROM THE

CORNER

OFFICE

With that information, we were able to establish a baseline for each business unit, and from that, set new targets for 2022. In some cases, where we have already established excellent NPS scores (for example, in STB&T), we will look to maintain these high scores. In other areas, we will look for continuous improvement and build on the gains we made during 2021.

This is another area where every employee can play a role in meeting/exceeding this objective, whether through high-quality work product, excellent customer service, or personable and caring interactions and communication. We all contribute to the perceptions and engagement of our customers and fellow employees.

>> Goal No. 4 << Improve the overall employee engagement score and retention rates as compared to 2021 levels. It’s true: we really, really need you. Every person matters, and we want you all to feel like you are a valued member of a winning team working on interesting and important things.

Some of the ways we hope to do this is by giving your work meaning and clarity, taking an interest in your individual professional development (and feedback), and providing you a career progression framework so you can develop personally and professionally here at BioBridge Global. We will work to develop better relationships and trust/empowerment within our teams and work to build a more inclusive leadership style.

We all contribute to the perceptions and engagement of our customers and fellow employees.

>> Goal No. 5 << Achieve a contributed surplus in each business unit for the calendar year ending Dec. 31. In 2021, thanks to our collective efforts, we produced a second consecutive year of self-sustainability, as demonstrated by our net operating surplus – thank you once again!

We can never forget this Stewardship goal/principle, but we believe that we are now better positioned to make this a recurring event/achievement, so it no longer needs to be our No. 1 goal. Congratulations to you all and thanks for your hard work to make this a regular achievement. It allows us to continue investing in our people, for example, establishing a $15/hour minimum wage in January and related adjustments for salary compression, and in the expansion of our mission, through improved facilities (e.g., components lab) and expanded capabilities (CTRL, apheresis, bioproduction, cell isolation, etc.).

This surplus also helps to fund our annual incentive plan, and I am happy to report that once again, our Board of Directors has approved an incentive compensation pool to recognize and reward this team for all the goals that we accomplished together in 2021. You will hear more about this before we finish out February.

The 2022 “BBG Games” are just beginning, but we are off to a good start. You will be able to once again track and follow our progress on these goals throughout the year on One BBG and other avenues. We’ve been through a whole heap together, but along the way we have built and developed a very strong team and portfolio of products and services. If we execute well, we can achieve several new performance heights in the coming year - so we really, really need you! Thanks again.

Best regards, Marty

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Work anniversaries

November

Rachel Mata Perez 5 years

Monica Andalon Sanchez 10 years

Jessica Ann (Zamora) Green 10 years

Jesus R. Becho 20 years

December

Mari Lane Salmi 3 years

Laura Regino Pina 3 years

Kevin Davis II 3 years

Suthep Nitwahn 3 years

Joshua Isidro Pena 5 years

John William Youngdahl 5 years

Joby Michael Stortz 5 years

Ruby Poy Molina 5 years

Matthew Oliver Flores 5 years

Adela Angelica Inostros 5 years

Valerie Serna 10 years

Adriana Estela Villafana 10 years

Gloria H. Boyd 15 years

January

Wayne Smith 3 years

Sophia Ruth Gnuechtel 3 years

James Robert Johnson III 3 years

Neohli Vithed Ramos 3 years

Michael K. Ashton 3 years

Clay Howell 5 years

Bradley B. Ford 5 years

Ayziz M. Garcia 10 years

Ryan Duke Farias 10 years

Felita Diane Settle 15 years

New Hires (through

Katherine Marie Quinn

Kuwan M. Swift

Jan. 31)

Process Development Laboratory Manager

Administrative Assistant, Technical (Georgia)

Daniel Hernandez Hospital Services Delivery Rep

Emma Marie Carrasco Donor Care Specialist, Fixed Sites

Edward Louis Shahan III Hospital Services Delivery Rep

Ruben Valadez Systems Analyst II

Benigno Rodriguez Surgical Back Table Technician, On Call

Clayton Jacob Trevino Laboratory Technologist

Brenda Denis Velazquez Elizondo Laboratory Technologist

Beatrice Martinez Donor Care Specialist, Mobile

Jay Philip Podjenski Director, Strategic Initiative & Com Dev

Zamar Drummond Laboratory Technologist (Georgia)

Vanessa Jane Rodriguez Executive Admin Assistant, Admin

Sarah Alexis Sanchez Digital Media Specialist

Russell Glenn Miller Laboratory Technologist, CTRL

Laura Marie Contreras Donor Care Specialist, Fixed Sites

Josie Guadalupe Veloz Donor Care Specialist, Driver, Mobile

Angeliq Helena Ramos Donor Care Specialist, Fixed Sites

Dante Chavez Johnson Laboratory Technologist, Covid

Jordan Amanda Bell Laboratory Technologist, Covid

Rayland Charles Burries Logistics Coordinator, Donor Services

John Edward Ibarra Manufacturing Associate, CDMO

Ashley Rene Jimenez Donor Care Specialist, Mobile

Monica Laura Reyes Associate Corporate Account Executive, STBTC

Laurryn Kamilah Salem Communications Specialist

Elizabeth Reyna Chavez Blood & Tissue Manufacturing Associate

Jacklyn N. Alameda Laboratory Technologist, Covid

Paoyin Ko Manager, Supply Chain Procurement/Source

Janelle Cherai Stapleton Corporate Account Executive, GenCure

George Brent Brumfield Supervisor, Tele & Digital Recruitment and Training

Felix Rene Chavez Senior Manager, Analytical Development & QC

Milton Masayuki Pollard Vice President, GenCure Biomanufacturing

Alia Hussein Mallah Scientist II, Process Development and Cell Manufacturing

Jaleia Mariuna Richey Senior Quality Systems Admin Associate

Cheyenne Lee Gordon Human Resources Specialist

Jesus J. Cortez Donor Recruitment Consultant

Kimo Barrera Wilcox Blood & Tissue Manufacturing Associate

BBG goals for

Stabilize the blood inventory to maintain an average inventory level of 2+ days of type O blood, beginning April 1, through the end of the year.

STRATEGIC THEMES FOR

QUALTEX LABORATORIES

SOUTH TEXAS BLOOD & TISSUE GENCURE

New fixed sites Boerne and Bulverde

Explore Rio Grande Valley pop-up site

Grow Donor Reach and Engagement

New donor registr y (research donors)

Cellular Therapy Reference Laboratory

Implement customer onboarding process

Develop and implement planning and scheduling process

Create metrics that measure profitability and productivity of the laboratory

Community Labs

Maintain turnaround time of less than 12 hours

Leverage automation to improve testing output

Secure funding for 2022

Operational

Excellence

• Implement career progression process • Develop and improve management accountability at all levels • Improve employee engagement

Link personal development plans to current goals and objectives

Programs for young donor education and recruitment

Spanish-language skills and campaigns for Rio Grande Valley

Blood and tissue donor reach underser ved communities

Employee Engagement Efforts

Goal support and development: listen and remove roadblocks; inspire with constructive feedback

Fairness, trust and respect: value and support diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging efforts; be transparent

Utilization: grow with stretch assignments

Accelerate sales and improve targeting

Accelerate contract close timelines

Build out customer targeting process

Accelerate clean rooms transitions (in/out)

Standardize customization platforms (electronic business relationship systems, supply chain, etc.)

Accelerate path to clean rooms

Capability Development

Address current and future customer needs

Workforce Development

Recruiting

and

Refine career progression tracks for entry-level staff

Leverage training programs / crosstraining

Establish internship and recruiting targets and programs

BBG PEOPLE

Meeting the team.

The first Heart to Heart issue for 2022 is our annual “people” edition, with profiles of our employee of the year, our soon-to-be Chief Financial Officer and more. These stories and interviews, and plenty more like them, can also be found on the new “BBG People” page on One BBG. You can find a link to it on the One BBG homepage and in The Update.

MELISSA DELBOSQUE

Employee of the year

A resolve to save lives

Saving lives isn’t something new for Melissa Delbosque.

Her experience includes working at a hospital, a nursing home and a kidney clinic.

But even with her healthcare background, South Texas Blood & Tissue gave her new ways to make a difference when she started five years ago.

“I had never donated blood before,” she said. “In my hometown of Odessa, there were no blood drives. It was something we didn’t do. Starting here was the first time I donated blood and signed up for the National Marrow Donor Program.”

She also never thought her way to save lives would evolve to what it is today.

“I started as a Donor Advocate Nurse for blood donors for eligibility or reactions,” Melissa said. “Then I became a Donor Workup Nurse, helping stem cell donors through screening, health questionnaires, and transportation for cancer patients waiting on a match on the National Marrow Donor Program.”

From the countless donors she has helped, two have stayed on her mind: Flying a donor on a helicopter during the Texas winter storm last year and coordinating an emergency trip to New Jersey for a stem cell donor in less than 12 hours.

“It was amazing how they were willing to do all that,” said Melissa.

In her current job as Lead Donor Workup Nurse, she deals with training and standard operating procedures for her team to help people donate blood—or specific types of blood cells—needed for research into new therapies for patients in need.

Her team is part of the new Center for Advanced Therapies that includes tissue, cord blood and birth tissue, apheresis services and clinical research.

“Everybody always goes above and beyond,” Melissa said. “Everyone is mission-driven. When you work with people who love their jobs, it’s rewarding and makes it a nice place to be.”

The recent recognition of 2021 BioBridge Global Employee of the Year caught her off-guard – in a good way.

“I was so surprised and so happy,” she said. “I always felt appreciated but this was a whole other level. It was great.”

The award also brought a sense of gratitude to everyone who guided her.

“I love this company,” she said. “I’ve learned so much from everybody. It’s amazing. I’ve grown so much as a person here, and I thank them so much.”

She’s also grateful to her team members, who all practice the ASPIRE values on a daily basis.

“My team is amazing too,” she said. “They’re ready to do anything. We have respect for each other. We all do what we have to do. We’re all coming up with new ideas on how we can make things better.” n

“She treats all donors with dignity and kindness and makes donors feel comfortable with their upcoming process.”

AUSTIN SMITH

Musically inclined

Saving lives and making beautiful music

When friends and family ask Austin Smith what he does at QualTex Laboratories in Atlanta, his answer is simple.

“I tell them I’m saving lives,” says Smith, who joined the organization as a temp in December 2020 and now is a full-time lab technologist.

Smith, originally from Clarkston, Georgia, says he always was interested in lab work, so joining QualTex was a good fit. He earned a bachelor’s degree in biology in 2018 from Elmhurst University in Elmhurst, Illinois, where he also developed his skills on the cello.

“I am a musician at heart,” he says. “I absolutely love playing my cello. I have been playing for 16 years now and improved my playing while in college.”

When he can’t be playing – there isn’t enough room in the lab – he can he found humming or even singing.

“If COVID conditions become better, I will gladly get back out there to perform in front of audiences again,” he says.

His favorite piece to play is the first movement of Franz Joseph Haydn’s cello concerto in C major, one of the most popular pieces among cello players for its range – and its degree of difficulty.

“It has elements of tranquility and virtuosity that challenge cellists whenever they perform the piece,” Smith says of the concerto, which was lost from the late 18th century until 1961, when it was discovered in a music archive in Prague.

He says a close second favorite is the Allemande in G major from Johann Sebastian Bach’s unaccompanied cello suites.

Smith says he is happy to be with QualTex, and he’s especially thankful to his coworkers.

“I unfortunately lost my father at the beginning of August, and they have been so supportive during my healing process,” he says. “I appreciate the flowers they sent and the words of encouragement they still give me.” n

DONDRA GILES

Cheer, cheer

Q & A: Happy to meet you

She has been with the organization since October 2020.

What do you do?

I am an Executive Administrative Assistant. So I handle schedules, travel arrangements, expense reports, lunch orders and anything else that might come along for members of the Senior Leadership Team at BioBridge Global.

Where are you from originally?

I am from Big Spring in West Texas. When I was in middle school, my parents decided they would be the first store to specialize in cotton candy, so we moved to San Antonio. Their first locations were at South Park Mall and Crossroads Mall (now known as Wonderland of the Americas). Now they are franchised as far away as Finland.

What did you do in high school?

I was a varsity cheerleader at Taft High School. I enjoyed cheerleading because you never have to sit still, and I’m still a huge cheerleader for everything.

What do you like about working here?

I look forward to coming to work every day – I get to work happy and leave home happy. Everyone is friendly and great to work with. If I don’t know someone, I want to meet them. I want to know what they do, how they got here and how are they supporting the mission of saving lives.

What do you like to do outside of work?

To get miles in. Exercise is important with type 1 diabetes. I started exercising years ago when my niece was diagnosed with leukemia. I wanted to do something to raise money and awareness for leukemia, and I wound up doing a marathon and raising $16,000 by myself. I just got into running, and everything outdoors.

How did working first in Human Resources prepare you?

It helped because I got to know the different departments and leaders of those departments. Now I am able to point people in the right direction for their specific needs. n

RANDY BIRKELBACH

Feeling motivated

Q & A: A hand for music and numbers

He has been with the organization since 2011.

What do you do?

I’m a Data Analyst in Information Technology Services (ITS). My specialty is data analysis like running reports or pulling together data. Whatever they need, I get done.

Why have you stayed with the organization for more than a decade?

It’s the people. The people here are all motivated and being around this group motivates me. The people I deal with regularly are friendly.

How did you wind up with the organization?

I had been out of a job for a couple of months. My next-door neighbor had worked in Quality Assurance (QA) at South Texas Blood & Tissue for years. One Saturday afternoon, he said “I know you’re looking for a job. You should apply at the blood bank. It’s a great place to work. I think you would like it there.”

The next morning, there was a blood drive at my church. One of the questions was “Where do you work?” I said “I’m presently unemployed.” They said “Why don’t you apply at the blood bank? It’s really a great place to work.” If two people within 24 hours told me to apply there, I think I’ll apply. Two weeks later, I was hired.

What do you do outside of work?

Being a musician is what I really love to do. I’ve been playing in a band for 44 years now. It’s a polka band, and I joined them two years after they formed.

I mainly play the saxophone but also other instruments. My band is the Seven Dutchmen Orchestra. We have played at Wurstfest for over 45 years, playing seven of the 10 days. I usually take the week off at work. n

Service minded

Q & A: Discovering value through numbers

He has been with the organization since 2018 and will take over as BBG’s Chief Financial Officer this summer.

Where are you from originally?

I was born and raised in Austin. After studying at Minnesota for college, I moved back to Austin and then relocated to San Antonio. We’ve been here since 2005.

What’s your educational background?

I received my bachelor’s degree in finance from Gustavus Adolphus College and my MBA from Texas State University. Currently, I’m taking classes for a graduate certificate in accounting from Penn State University.

How did you get into your line of work?

Growing up, math was always my strongest subject. Ever since I was young, I’ve enjoyed working with numbers and solving problems. My mom was also a big influence on me, as she spent most of her career in finance. I also give both my parents credit for being service-minded. Over the years, I have taken roles outside of finance, but inevitably I always found my way back.

What attracted you to a job here?

For as long as I can remember, our church would host blood drives and I would go with my parents when they donated, mainly so I could get cookies! My colleagues and I would also donate blood when my past employer would host drives, so I was familiar with South Texas Blood & Tissue. When I found out there was an opportunity to join the team, I immediately knew this was a perfect fit.

What do you like about working here?

The mission and the people. I wake up every morning knowing the work each of us does here helps to save and enhance the lives of patients in the local and global community. Additionally, I’m in a role where I get a chance to see all the amazing work we do here.

What do you like to do outside of work?

I enjoy traveling and going on adventures with my wife Marcy and two children, Lane and Maren. When time permits, I also like to play golf. n

The end of 2021

UPCOMING EVENTS

The HR Talent Acquisition / Recruiting Team

In HR, our focus is on supporting your continuous development and growth.For that reason, we highly recommend that everyone visit our Career Portal at on the website at BioBridgeGlobal.org/careers/employment, where you are able to view all of our current openings and be aware of any advancement opportunities within the organization.

In addition, if you know someone who you believe would be a great addition to our organization and they meet the qualifications for an existing opening, they can create a profile on the Career Portal and apply to any of our many openings. You may be eligible to receive a cash reward each time one of your referrals are hired!

More information about our Employee Referral Program can be found on One BBG, in the Human Resources section under “Forms and Other Documents.”

Employee Benefits

During Open Enrollment last November, our medical provider changed to United Medical Resource (UMR). UMR uses the same network of providers that we had under UnitedHealthcare (UHC), so you should not need to change providers.

We have also had a change with our pharmacy carrier, taking the place of OptumRx under UHC, our pharmacy provider is now Southern Scripts. Please

ensure that your pharmacy of choice is aware of this change.

New UMR medical ID cards (that include the Southern Scripts information on them) were mailed out mid-tolate December.You may also find a list of benefits and services using the Internet at the My Benefits app site. Additional information regarding our benefits can be located on the HR site on One BBG.

The site also includes the 2022 Open Enrollment guide and documents associated with the health plans.

Worker’s Compensation

At BBG, we strive for the safety of all of our employees. Unfortunately, though, accidents do happen. Have you gone onto OneBBG to get the most up-to-date forms and processes in reporting an accident?

To access the accident workflow and forms that we have updated, here’s where to go –OneBBG -> Departments -> Safety & Workers Compensation -> Workers Compensation Forms

Once on the page, you will find the Accident Algorithms, first steps if you have an accident, types of accidents and related forms for those accidents and then blank versions of the forms individually.

You’ll also notice other resources available through this part of the OneBBG page, so it should hopefully be a great resource for you and your teams on safety and accident issues.

Performance Feedback

The first Performance Feedback cycle of 2022 is underway In the next few weeks managers will

complete performance appraisals addressing team members’ achievements in the latter part of 2021 and allocating merit increases that will be reflected, as applicable, in the March 18 paycheck.

This is the time to create performance and professional development goals for 2022. Be sure to work with your respective managers to provide your input and perspective on the initiatives you will be working on this year.

Strategy/Learning & Development

During this time of year many of us are setting goals/resolutions for this upcoming year striving to make this year better than the last.

Here in HR/L&D we are doing the same for our organization by helping support and drive the development and tracking mechanism for BBG and its subsidiaries strategic plans for 2022. We are currently in the process of ‘Cascading and Aligning’ our top 5 goals along with the business units’ goals into specific department, team, and individual performance goals.

This process of Cascading and Alignment ensures our entire workforce is aware of the organizations top goals and they see how their goals are aligned to the organizations’ goals. Goal Development and Alignment ensures we are focused on meeting and exceeding the top five goals and verifies our Mission and Vision are being met.

This ensures that ‘the main thing is the main thing’, as our teammate Granville likes to say. I bet you didn’t know we did all this in HR/L&D land. We are very proud and fortunate to work with some great people here at BBG. I believe our people is what sets us apart from our competition and makes us successful as an organization.

Keeping with the theme of people, in L&D we are focused on one main objective this year, Enhance our Workforce Experience. This objective focuses on enhancing BBG’s workforce experience during their career journey with our organization.

The goal is to reduce the cost of turnover and improve engagement and retention. By providing our workforce with a seamless onboarding experience along with compassionate leadership support and integrating our people properly, they will stay with our organization and be effective in our high-performance culture.

We are actively working with each business unit on improving our overall BBG onboarding processes and creating specific onboarding programs for each BU. Be looking out for updates in the future on this program. We are also planning a new webinar series for 2022 that supports our Leadership Institutes’ curriculum and will be focused on Enhancing our Workforce Experience and learning how to practice Compassionate Leadership and utilize Emotional Intelligence in our everyday people interactions.

Diversity Calendar

Look out for a new feature on the home page of OneBBG: the BBG Diversity Calendar This new tool will help us celebrate the diverse and unique contributions that each employee brings to our team.

Each day will showcase the rich tapestry of milestones, holidays and traditions that make us who we are: a capable, creative and multitalented team! Start your workday by checking out all the special celebrations around the world.