Heart to Heart - Winter 2023

A quarterly magazine for team members of BioBridge Global CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Martin Landon

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR COMMUNITY AFFAIRS

Mary Uhlig

EDITOR

David King

CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS STAFF

Isabel Campos, Roberto Esquivel, Matthew Flores, Ashley Frolick, Emmanuel Lucio, Francine Pina, Catalina Ramos, Roger Ruiz, Sarah Sanchez, Angelica Sandoval, Jillian VanDamme

Our

Accountability: Do

Stewardship:

Pioneer: Create and deliver innovative products and service s

Integrity: Build trust and unity by doing the right thing

Respect: Treat all with dignity and kindness

Excellence: Surpass team, customer, and community expectations

2023 – OPPORTUNITIES ABOUND!

Happy New Year!

Wow, what a finish to last year – the energy around this enterprise, and its lifesaving mission is incredible! And why not? In each of operating areas, we are making great improvements, confirmed by our customers through our customer satisfaction surveys and net promoter scores.

INCREASE OUR BLOOD COLLECTIONS

2023 Goal: Increase Type “O” red cell collections by more than 6% compared to 2022 totals

Depending on who you talk to, San Antonio is one of, or maybe the fastest-growing big city in the United States. Given that expected population growth, and the fact that today, somebody in the United States needs a blood transfusion every 2-3 seconds, our blood services mission and operation will continue to grow in the coming years.

Marty Landon Chief Executive Officer

Our mission is alive and expanding, and opportunities abound as we enter 2023. We have good wind in our sails. How many of these opportunities can we realize/capture? How high can we climb up the mountain of service/success? There is something for everyone in our 2023 plans.

We’ve climbed to the base camp

Here’s a quick recap of your 2022 successes: For 2022, we generated product and service income of $201 million, the highest level in our history. Our growing community and the constant search for breakthrough therapies were two positive sources of energy for this growth.

We also managed our operations well, resulting in an overall net operating surplus of $4.3 million, tenth-highest in our history and 20% more than in 2021, despite only having Community Labs operating for half the 2022 year and raising our minimum wage to $15 an hour.

We set a record for donations/support coming in through our Foundation’s Red & White Ball, which is funding 20 new Alyx automated collection machines, as well as $100,000 of our Hospital Services renovations.

We honored tissue donors by collecting more skin tissue than ever before and we grew our Advanced Therapies revenue to approximately $15 million. In fact, we experienced revenue growth, i.e., expansion of our mission, in each of our operating units. Well done, team!

For 2023, just like in prior years, our Senior Leadership Team got together and discussed the goals we want to accomplish in the coming year. From what is a fairly long list, we then select the Top 5 Goals to present for approval by our Board of Directors.

Keep reading for the Top 5 Goals we have set for 2023.

We also know that type O blood demand/usage is in a greater proportion than the donor population/proportion for this blood type. This goal incorporates the increased

use of Alyx automated collection machines, which increase the number of double red cell collections we can do, as well as increasing the overall donor base and donor frequency to make sure we have the blood this community needs to adequately care for its residents and maintain a high quality of life.

EXPAND OUR MISSION THROUGH REVENUE GROWTH

2023 Goal: Achieve budgeted revenue for all operating units and advanced therapies

Just as we see increased demand in blood services for 2023,

tissue.

Tina Boldt was one of the first female Heroes in Arms blood donors.

COVER STORY | 2023 – Opportunities Abound!

Continued from page 3

From the Corner Office

we also see increased demand across the organization –whether that be in blood services, including the IRL; tissue services, both cadaveric and birth tissue; apheresis services; testing services, both donor screening and cell therapy

our team will feel that working here is both fulfilling and rewarding.

One area of improvement we are working on for 2023 is to create an on-campus health clinic for employees. We care about your health and wellness. You’ll hear more about this in the near future.

Generating a net operating surplus also allows us to increase our total compensation, and in 2023, we will be increasing our minimum wage for the second year in a row, to $16 an hour. Given compression adjustments, this change will increase the base pay for approximately 150 employees, or more than 20% of our workforce.

Still in 2022, we lost one of every five employees that we started the year with – we’d like to move that to one-insix, then one-in-seven, etc. We recognize that this work is challenging, and zero turnover is not possible, but we’ll keep working to get that reduced to a “best-in-class” level. Please continue to let us know where can improve.

testing; or bioproduction.

We are well-positioned to grow in almost every area of the organization – our key challenge will be one of execution, and we’ll need each of you to help us be successful. In other words, during what many people are predicting will be a recessionary period, here at BioBridge Global, we should have plenty of work for everyone in the coming year – stick around!

RETAIN OUR VALUED EMPLOYEES

2023 Goal: Achieve a voluntary turnover rate of less than 17% (vs. 19% in 2022)

As I embark on my seventh calendar year with this great organization, I believe we start with the best team, overall, that we’ve had during my tenure. You all continue to answer the call, and I am proud of your accomplishments and confident in your abilities.

Given this is probably the best team we’ve had, we’d like to have everyone stay around to help us continue to climb this mountain of success. When you build a successful team, you want to try and create an environment where the individual team members feel valued and empowered and have interesting things to work on. We certainly have interesting/ challenging things to work on.

And while we recognize that we’re not perfect on employee engagement and feedback, we continue to work on this so

RETAIN OUR VALUED CUSTOMERS

2023 Goal: achieve targeted net promoter scores in each operating unit: STB&T/GenCure/BBG – 60, QualTex – 40

In 2022, we made great strides in customer satisfaction, and NPS scores improved across the board. We had three areas where our scores were in the Excellent category (“World Class” starts at 70 and includes companies like Amazon) and we moved our QualTex scores into the “Good” category, despite a significant increase in testing volumes that began in the middle of the year.

For 2023, we want to hold our “Excellent” scores and improve QualTex another 10 points to move solidly into the “Good” range. Keeping our production turnaround times at their current “best in class” levels should help us here, along

The GenCure team is prepared for an expanded role in the organization’s growth.

New employees bring new life to the team, but one of our goals is retaining current staff.

with standardizing and improving our cell therapy testing turnaround times.

Having satisfied customers who would be willing to promote our services to others is critical to retaining our current customer base which will allow new sales to be additive to our results versus maintaining/sustaining.

MAINTAIN GOOD STEWARDSHIP

2023 Goal: Achieve/exceed the 2023 budgeted consolidated net operating surplus of $4.3 million In 2022, we generated a net operating surplus for the third

margins (stewardship).

As noted earlier, this operating surplus is used to finance needed capital expenditures, like the remodeling currently taking place in Hospital Services, and employee benefits like improved wage structures and an on-campus health clinic, as well as additional innovation through increased R&D resources and programs.

We think we can continue this strong stewardship into and through 2023, but we will need to continue to grow our mission and revenues to accomplish our goal.

Please join your teammates as we continue to climb this mountain of service/success. Let’s make 2023 our best year of service ever! n

Top 5 Goals for 2023:

1. Increase our blood collections

2. Expand our mission through revenue growth

3. Retain our valued employees

4. Retain our valued customers

5. Retain our valued customers

year in a row – thank you and congratulations! We continue to work on operating efficiencies and value-based pricing – a strong combination when one is searching to improve

The team at GenCure is working to achieve excellent-level new promoter scores in 2023.

Having an operating surplus helps the organization pay for remodeling projects.

Audra Taylor Q & A with

The organization welcomed Audra Taylor late last year as Executive Director, Blood Operations, with South Texas Blood & Tissue.

Taylor, who retired from the U.S. Army last year with the rank of lieutenant colonel, was Division Chief of the Armed Services Blood Program for the Defense Health Agency.

She oversaw a successful rollout of initiatives in information management and technology modernization, strategic communications and marketing, donor recruitment, budget, and contracts for the Department of Defense.

Her work encompassed three service blood programs (U.S. Navy, U.S. Army, and U.S. Air Force), 20 blood donor centers, 60 transfusion services, two whole blood processing laboratories, one blood trans-shipment center, along with blood support detachments and blood product depots.

Here’s a little mora about her:

Where are you from originally?

I am originally from Springfield, Ohio.

How did you wind up in the military?

I attended Howard University on a four-year Army ROTC scholarship. I was commissioned as a 71E (Clinical Laboratory Officer) in the U.S. Army Medical Service Corps in May 1994.

How long did you serve?

I served for 28 Years on active duty in the U.S. Army.

What attracted you to work for South Texas Blood & Tissue?

I have always been aware of South Texas Blood & Tissue. My husband and I have known for several years that we would retire in San Antonio. I knew that if (and when) I started working, I would prefer something “blood -related” and something local, so I started to look at potential opportunities at South Texas Blood & Tissue, just to see what may be available.

So the fact that I really enjoy working in this field, combined with the BioBridge Global/South Texas Blood & Tissue family equals a perfect match!

What are the biggest challenges facing South Texas Blood & Tissue – and the blood banking industry in general?

Three major issues: Continuing challenges with the supply chain; dealing with an aging donor base, growing a more diverse donor base and finding enough donors to support our various programs; and exceeding the growing customer demands. n

Read all about it!

Corporate Cup competition is underway, with Field Day set for June 3

Team BBG will once again take on archrival NuStar Energy in Division 2 of the San Antonio Sports Corporate Cup this spring.

Teams earn points in both athletic and non-athletic events.

“We keep creeping up in the standings, and I believe this is our year to win Division 2,” says Susan Smith, Team BBG captain.

Team BBG can earn points by taking part in the Charity Challenge by making an online donation to the San Antonio Food Bank, Haven for Hope, Boys and Girls Clubs of San Antonio, and San Antonio Sports youth programs. We also can earn points

through donations made during the BBG Employee Blood Drive.

See One BBG for links and information about the Charity Challenge, which continues through May 12.

The Corporate Cup Field Day will be Saturday, June 3 on the campus of the University of the Incarnate Word, and it features non-athletic competitions, including a barbeque contest (sponsored by BioBridge Global) and final voting in the T-shirt design competition, as well as a large Team BBG tailgating area with plenty of free food.

You’ll be able to find out more about the Corporate Cup, volunteer to be the captain of a team and/or sign up for

events at our annual Non-Field Field Day, which will be Wednesday, March 29 in the Donor Pavilion Auditorium. Registration also will be available on One BBG.

For further information about the Corporate Cup, contact Susan Smith by email or at extension 1728. n

JENNY COBOS

BBG employee of the year

Jenny Cobos ‘creates a great atmosphere’ in New Braunfels

Jenny Cobos has a knack for making her donors and staff feel like family.

“She has never once made anyone feel unwanted,” her team wrote when nominating her for BBG Employee of the Month. “She always has a smile on her face, even if she is having a rough day. She always greets the donors with a bright and welcoming personality. And she treats her team with the same care.”

Her efforts took the Supervisor Fixed of Site Operations at the STB&T New Braunfels Donor Center to the next level, as she was recognized as the 2022 BioBridge Global Employee of the Year.

Long before joining the team in 2003, Jenny knew she wanted a career in the medical field. She maxed out on science credits while in high school and worked hard, first at making sandwiches and later at H-E-B, to reach her goals.

“Going from school and then changing into uniform and going to work, I did that and I figured this is all for a good gain so that I can start working in the medical field,” Jenny said.

Thanks to a professor who submitted her resume, she got an

Jenny Cobos greets donors with a smile at the New Braunfels Donor Center.

Team members who nominated Jenny for employee of the month praised the way she treats everyone with care.

interview at the South Texas Blood & Tissue Center. She nailed it, and from the start, she was excited to contribute to our mission.

“Can you believe it, I save lives?” Jenny recalled telling her mother. “I’m just there at the front lines so that one day their loved one can get blood.”

Once on board, she became a sponge, striving to learn and was supported by her coworkers, who helped take her to the next level. They quickly became like family.

“I had a lot of peers that were my

more, and not just stay where I was.”

As the organization shifted, so did Jenny, reaching for a team lead role.

“When she was just a tech, she always did her best every day," her team said. “However, when she became supervisor, she has done so much more than she even realizes."

team leaders that brought me to where I am right now,” Jenny said. “Those people are what brought me to where I am and I want to share that with (my team, too) because I know they can become so much better, so much greater.”

Starting as a phlebotomist, Jenny worked hard to become indispensable, taking the initiative to jump in to help before and after mobile drives. Though she admits it was a struggle, she took on more, mastering the ALYX system during STB&T’s early adoption of the new blood collection devices, as well as contributing to special collections efforts.

“I got to learn more,” Jenny said. “I got to be a little more thorough working with patients, talking to doctors, physicians. I got to grow with the company, and it was a great learning experience because that’s what I wanted to do, I wanted to learn more, to accomplish

The New Braunfels Donor Center has undergone several positive changes since Jenny became a supervisor in February 2022. She sought her staff’s input and restructured the facility to make it more efficient and also friendlier.

“She has created a great atmosphere in New Braunfels for our donors and our team,” said Tony Piatt, Manager, Fixed Site Operations.

A sign of the donor center’s success is the large number of regular donors. The positive messages they leave the team stuck on the walls are a testament to the positive experience they’ve had.

“I’m always happy to see them because I see them like family,” Jenny said. “That's an awesome feeling to see them again and smiling and helping (to meet) the need of their particular blood type. Especially if they’re O-negative and O-positive donors, definitely.”

She also is happy to share the same encouragement she received as a young team member with her own staff.

“I’ve always told them as their supervisor, I want you to grow better, I don’t want you to stay comfortable where you’re at. I want you to grow in the company,” Jenny said. “One of my girls just got promoted as a team leader as a floater, which is a great accomplishment and I'm so proud of her.”

When not encouraging her team, supervising the donor room or learning, she enjoys spending time with her husband and 4 dogs, Chippy, Trixie, Lucy and Natsu. n

Thank-you notes from donors fill a bulletin board.

Jenny works to build a family atmosphere at the New Braunfels donor room.

“She always greets the donors with a

bright

and welcoming personality. And she treats her team with the same care.”

– From her nomination form

Supporting a People-Centric Culture

Laura Eickhoff | Senior Director, Human Resources & Learning

At BioBridge Global we often talk about our commitment to nurturing and supporting an organizational culture that puts people at its center - employees, donors, and customers.

What does that mean, and why, in particular, is this important for us team members?

First, individuals who feel valued and respected are more likely to be engaged in their work and eager to produce great results. Everybody wants to be part of a winning team that does meaningful, life-affirming work! Work requires effort and sacrifice but can be incredibly rewarding when we are proud of what we do and feel fulfilled by doing it.

Furthermore, a culture that promotes human dignity, as we do through our ASPIRE values, provides opportunities for growth for each of us. The collective knowledge and skill set of our team represents an enormous competitive advantage for BBG. That’s why we emphasize the value of learning, continually improving technical training programs and offering many leadership development opportunities.

A people-centric culture is like a coin that has two sides: respect and accountability. We need to honor the humanity in each of us by consciously practicing behaviors that lead to better communication and collaboration. But, as professionals, we also need to readily admit when we fall short on expectations and aim at continuous personal growth through learning and experience.

In our culture journey and through our Seneca Roots training, we have become acquainted with six accountability statements that can guide us in our

contributions to a people-centric culture, a culture where managers and direct reports have trusting and transparent conversations, and where team members are rooting for their coworkers and not only focused on their own success.

Our six accountability statements are:

1) I will put others’ needs first. Am I anticipating what my team or customers need? Do I wait to be told?.

2) I will assume good intent. Am I jumping to conclusions about my teammates’ motivations?

3) I will look for the good in others and the weakness within myself. Am I aware of my own mistakes? Am I forgiving of others?

4) I will not ask others to do something I am not willing to do myself. Am I aware of the impact that my requests have on others?

5) I will be humble and practice gratitude. Am I willing to admit I am wrong? Am I appreciative of others?

6) I will choose honesty over harmony. Can I respectfully provide constructive feedback without fear of being disliked?

Practicing these behaviors is not always easy. It requires constant reflection on our part, and the willingness to change when what we do is not working. A culture of love and respect grows on the contributions and mutual help provided by each of its members.

We look forward to partnering with each of you in support of an organizational culture that attracts and retains the best talent, makes everyone a winner, and allows each of us to reach our highest career potential!

New Year, New Focus!

Liese Teneyuca-Arias | Senior Manager, Human Resources

The beginning of a new year is a great time to gear up, refocus, or start fresh on your retirement savings and planning. Take time for your future!

Our 401(k) plan is with Fidelity Investments . BBG has partnered with Fidelity Investments and with Pensionmark to help employees with their financial planning needs. Both companies have representatives available to help you plan and save for retirement.

You have several avenues to help you accomplish this effort:

• Visit the Fidelity site at netbenefits.com/atwork or 401k.com

• Contact the Fidelity Retirement Service Center at 800-343-0860 or 800-294-4015 or Pensionmark at 888-736-4015 .

• Schedule a one-on-one free and confidential visit with one of our Fidelity representatives or our Pensionmark representatives. Click here to Schedule a call.

• Join in on webinars from Fidelity and Pensionmark. You can find them and register in the “What’s Happening” section on One BBG’s homepage.

You have several avenues to help you accomplish this effort:

• BBG matches 100% of the first 1% of pay you contribute and 50% of the next 5% of your pretax contributions.

• BBG will also make a profit-sharing contribution to your 401(k) plan account equal to 2.5% of your eligible salary after one year of employment.

• BBG has an automatic enrollment in the 401(k) plan at a contribution rate of 6% of your pretax eligible earnings with an automatic increase contribution rate by 1% on an annual basis until the maximum percent of 8% is reached. You can always contribute at a rate that is more or less by contacting Fidelity directly.

You have several avenues to help you accomplish this effort:

Remember to also designate your 401(k) beneficiary! Help Fidelity know who you would like as a beneficiary of your funds. It only takes a few minutes and is very important to have in place. To your financial well-being in 2023 and beyond!

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BBG and SA WORX: A growing partnership

Sonja Martinez | Learning & Development Program Manager I

Over the past several years, BioBridge Global and its subsidiaries have had the opportunity to partner with SA WORX.

The role of SA WORX is to ensure employers collaborate and engage with talent still in the classroom, which will provide career awareness to students and a solid talent pipeline for employers.

In February of 2022, we participated in the Junior Achievement and SA WORX Virtual Career Job Shadow Day. This event gave 11th and 12th-grade students from across the community the opportunity to experience our company’s culture and values while exposing them to career opportunities and pathways in our diverse industry and the types of technical and marketable skills they will need for our workplace.

In July of 2022, we participated in the SA WORX sixweek summer internship program, which allowed us another chance to support our community and provide local youth (16-19 years old) with meaningful careerbuilding experiences.

On Sept. 9, 2022, BioBridge Global was recognized by the SA WORX Industry Advisory Council and the team at Greater SATX for two reasons. First, our continued commitment to participate in their 2022 programs, and second, the positive feedback from students as they now have a better understanding of what it takes to be successful in the workplace.

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Benefits crossword

2.

SUBSIDIARIES:

Upcoming Sixty-Second Survey will ask you to come full Cerkl

• When you want to receive those emails

• How often you want to receive them

Your feedback also will make a difference in what items you see in an expanding circle of information, which will include:

• A smart phone app for IOS and Android with optional push notifications

• A mobile-friendly news hub

• An all-organization channel in Teams (when Teams is rolled out later this year)

• One BBG

• The digital sign system

For the last several months, we’ve been asking for a minute of your time to fill out the SixtySecond Survey.

And from the Corporate Cup to your food preferences in the BBG canteens, you’ve responded. A lot of your feedback has been put to work, so thanks for the help.

And while it may look a little different, your responses to an upoming Sixty-Second Survey

will make a big difference at work. It will be coming from our new internal communications partner, Cerkl, which will be launching across the organization soon.

In the Cerkl Sixty-Second Survey, you’ll be asked:

• What kinds of organizational stories you would like to see in an email newsletter

Watch for a post on One BBG and an email about the Cerkl Sixty-Second Survey, and keep an eye on One BBG for more information about the Cerkl smart phone app. n

Social Engineering Red Flags

Cybercriminals have upped their game. Have you?

Look out for these red flags so you don’t fall for cybercriminals’ tricks.

Email Phishing

Email Phishing is still the most common attack cybercriminals use to deceive people.

Before reacting always remember to check:

The subject line

To, From, and Reply to lines

Time and Date lines

Links and attachments

Urgency to action

QR Codes

QR code scams are on the rise and unfortunately here to stay. These codes can be linked to malicious websites and download spyware on your devices.

Be sure to:

Avoid scanning codes without knowledge of their origin.

Red flags are everywhere. You just need to know how to spot them. Remember to stop, look, and think before taking any action!

Ransomware

Cybercriminals will attach ransomware, a type of malware, to links and attachments found in emails that will lock users out of their own system if clicked on.

Remember:

Don’t pay that ransom! Paying the ransom does not guarantee you will receive your data back.

Always double-check any links or attachments found in emails.

Social Media

Oversharing on social media has made cybercriminal’s attacks more effective since the attacks can be more tailored to potential victims.

Be wary of:

Profiles with model-like photos

Profiles with few connections

Generic profile information

Direct messages posing as government officials or copyright violations

So long to 2022, welcome 2023

Holiday: Gloria Boyd and Libby Lavoie got in some shopping at the in-person BBG Marketplace during the holiday party.

Reunion: Uvalde shooting survivor Mayah Zamora met three of her blood donors at the Heroes in Arms anniversary and was reunited with one of her doctors. From left, donor Larry Whatley, Mayah, donor Sylvia Enriquez, donor Adrianna Garcia and Dr. Ronald M. Stewart.

MLK Day March: The first official event of the Connecting Hearts community outreach program was the annual MLK Day March in January.

UPCOMING EVENTS

• March 29: Non-Field Field Day, Donor Pavilion Auditorium

• June 3: Corporate Cup Field Day, University of the Incarnate Word

Wear Red Day: Dondra Giles and Vanessa Rodriguez got into the spirit for Go Red for Women in February.

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