VGM Group Stories of Opportunity Review of 2021

Stories of Opportunity 2021 YEAR IN REVIEW

Stories of Opportunity 2021

Empower Employee Owners to Impact the Business

Give Back to the Communities Where We Live

Simplify the Complexities of Doing Business

Support Healthcare Professionals

Improve Patients’ Quality of Life

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10

12

14

4

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Each one of us has an innate need to belong, to be part of something—our family, our tribe, our team.

When that something to which we belong is purposeful and is making a difference in the world, then our personal, professional, and emotional selves are in alignment.

Welcome to the VGM Opportunities Report. VGM is a company, yes, but also a family. A few things to know about us: • We are 100% owned by our employees through our employee stock ownership plan (ESOP).

Each person who works at VGM owns a small portion of our company.

• The work we do each day is meaningful and impactful. We make a big difference in the lives of our customers. We lead the way in the industries in which we operate.

• Belonging is at the core of our company. We are intentional about creating a sense of belonging in our employee owners and even our customers. It feels good to belong.

As you peruse this report, you will learn about our people, our culture, the way we do things, and the impact we have on lives and communities. You’ll see this all through stories that illustrate the five reasons we do business: • Empowering employee owners to impact the business • Making a difference in our communities • Simplifying the complexities of doing business • Supporting healthcare professionals • Improving patients’ quality of life If you are already part of our VGM family, thank you for making that choice. If you are considering joining our VGM family, please know you will be welcome here, you will find a home here, and you will be given the chance to thrive. If you’re simply interested in our company from a distance, thank you for checking us out.

Mike Mallaro

CEO, VGM Group, Inc.

Empower Employee Owners to Im Employee ownership is at the core of everything we do at the VGM Group.

New programs, customer relationships, and excellent patient care can all be achieved by one employee going above and beyond.

Employee Owners’ Annual Update Goes Virtual 2021 was another year focused on keeping our employee owners safe at home. Our biggest annual company event had to go virtual. It was a huge undertaking by key employee owners who enhanced their presentation skills, delivered ESOP information that was easy to understand, and mastered the technology of a top-notch live broadcast. Shout out to Mandi Joyner, Jenna McKinley, Lucy Choplin, Mike McGill, Matt Miller, Mike Thuesen, Thomas Benjamin, Jason Fliehler, and Madison Sallee—a cross-divisional team of VGM & Associates, HOMELINK, Corporate Accounting, and Moxie, who came together to make this virtual event impactful for all.

Watch Andrew Billerbeck, VGM Fulfillment, on What Employee Ownership Means to Him which aired in the 2021 Annual Update.

Kelsey Wedemeier: Passionate About Problem-Solving Kelsey taught herself programming and rebuilt HOMELINK’s Tally system for improved efficiency. This is one of the reasons she was the 2020 Van G. Miller Employee Owner of the Year.

Learn more about Kelsey’s impact on the business here.

mpact the Business

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Greg Packer Breaks Down Silos and Builds Bridges VGM is made of many business units, and when you’re deep into your own work, it can be hard to see opportunities. Greg Packer’s spirit of connectivity was instrumental in creating valuable new relationships across VGM businesses in 2021.

According to Greg, it takes just one person to understand what VGM offers to create valuable partnerships. Such was the case when he referred his vendor partner, MK Battery, to Moxie. “ Regardless of your position in VGM, everyone is empowered to make an impact—as long as you care as much as an owner.

The ESOP gives us that ownership attitude,” Greg said. “It’s what inspires us all to do our best, every day. But none of it is possible without relationships based on respect and cooperation.”

Thank You VGM Shared Services The individuals who work in VGM’s shared services help keep our business moving forward. From keeping our network secure and making sure we Accounting all get paid to crafting communications and literally keeping the lights on, our Facilities, Information Services, Accounting, Human Capital, Management, and Moxie divisions are comprised of employee owners who work behind the Facilities scenes to make positive Information impacts every day.

Services

Human Capital Management

Moxie

Empower Employee Owners to Im

A Journey Through VGM To know VGM is to love us, and in 2021, a team of employee owners brought the VGM story to life. The new VGM Journey immerses visitors into our reasons for doing business with interactive graphics and storytelling.

Homemade cookies and personal connection with engaging journey guides make for a delightful experience while getting to know us. In fact, the journey guides tried out and were specifically selected for their experiential flare.

Tony Luetkehans, Lori Stewart, Mike McGill, and Beth Cox Hollingsworth along with the inaugural journey guides pictured on the left were all heavily involved in the efforts to bring this journey to life.

mpact the Business

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Jess Rindels was selected as the 2021 Iowa/Nebraska ESOP Chapter Employee Owner of the Year!

Watch her reaction.

Don’t Take Our Word for It We’re happy to toot our own horn, but when others recognize the impact of our employee owners, it makes everything worthwhile. Here’s what we won in ’21.

2021

IMCA Awards (VGM Insurance collaboration with Moxie and Forbin)

Meet your Journey Guides (L-R): Heather Johnson, Molly Chicchelly, Ben Showalter, Drew Aalderks, Jill Westrum and Amanda Nugent.

AACE (Annual Awards for Communication Excellence) National Award for Crisis Communication during pandemic

Diversity, Equity, a Diversity demographics tracking and measurement

Corporate/Recruiting Roles by Gender

Targeted diversity recruitment initiated in Waterloo, Nashville, and Phoenix Recruiting partnerships with area high schools, colleges, and organizations that support people with barriers to employment

Workforce

35%

33%

34%

33%

35% 65%

33% 67%

34% 66%

33% 67%

65% 2018

67% 2019

66% 2020

67% 2021

2018

2019

2020

2021

Leadership 53%

Floating holiday policy instituted DEI policies added to employee owner handbook

44%

47%

53%

56%

44%

47%

56%

43%

41%

57%

43%

41%

57%

59% 59%

2018

2019

2020

2021

2018

2019 Male

2020 Female

2021

Male

Female

DEI at VGM video created

Roles by Race/Ethnicity Workforce

Education

633

DEI Intranet Page Views

163

DEI Resource Library Views DEI Holiday Guide, published July 12, 2021

100% NEW

8%

12%

14%

8%

12%

14%

12% 12%

92%

88%

86%

92% 2018

88% 2019

86% 2020

2021 88%

2018 2%

2019 3%

2020 4%

2021 5%

2%

3%

4%

98%

97%

98% 2018

97% 2019

2018

White 2019 White

Non-White

Participation by VGM Leaders in DEI Training Sessions

Leadership

88%

5%

96%

95%

96% 2020

95% 2021

Non-White 2020

2021

Promotions by Gender

37%

DEI Courses for All Employee Owners

63%

DEI courses 2,217 Total completed

has successfully completed these courses

Partnerships African-American Males Achieving Success (AAMAS) Friends of Disabled Adults & Children (FODAC)

Friends of the Family House of Hope Inclusion Connection

North Star Community Services One City United Waterloo Schools Career Center

Events/Community

Black History Month Virtual Event: Mayors’ Forum: One Community Against Racism— Feb. 24, 2021

Cedar Valley Economic Diversity and Inclusion Summit

24/7 Black Leadership Advancement Consortium

Sponsor

In 2021, we made strides toward creating a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace. The infographic on the left shows progress made as VGM has taken steps to diversify employees and leadership, educate employee owners about important DEI topics, and partner with local organizations.

Our DEI efforts also led to the launch of the VGM DEI Committee which is comprised of employee owners who meet monthly to help educate and gather volunteers for outreach opportunities. Thus far, these opportunities have included sponsored volunteering on MLK Day for employee owners nationwide and engaging with the community at Cedar Valley Pridefest.

DEI work is an ongoing effort. We know there is much work to be done, but we are here to do it.

Every employee owner is part of this journey, and every step is a step in the right direction.

Male Female

• Microaggressions • Unconscious Bias • Workplace Diversity

More than 70% of our workforce

Toward a More Diverse, Equitable, and Inclusive Workplace

Cedar Valley PrideFest

Sponsor

VGM Leadership Town Hall Guest Interview: Steve Osunsami, Senior National Correspondent, ABC News, known for award-winning coverage of social justice issues—August 4, 2021

Jenna McKinley: ESOP Communications Champion Jenna McKinley co-hosted one of VGM’s biggest events in 2021: the Employee Owners’ Annual Update. The professionally produced show was formatted like a talk or game show and livestreamed to employee owners around the country. Jenna is a member of the LGBTQ+ community and has always felt welcome in the VGM family. Read her story here.

and Inclusion

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Brooke Kraft, talent acquisition specialist, served on the planning committee of the Cedar Valley Economic Diversity and Inclusion Summit, held in October. She also was a panelist at the event, discussing what VGM is doing to advance DEI.

The VGM DEI Committee made a big impression at Cedar Valley Pridefest by handing out VGM rainbow flags with flashing lights, along with VGM recruitment information. Here, Amanda Nugent and Allie Schaffer, both from VGM Fulfillment, show them off.

Give Back to the Communities Wh VGM is proud to be part of the communities where we live, and when we as employee owners attend community events and see VGM supporting the event, that makes us proud too.

In 2021, our Be the Change initiative provided major financial and volunteer support that allowed RAGBRAI to stop in Waterloo. RAGBRAI is a bike ride across Iowa, where cyclists make their way across the state experiencing hometown hospitality like spaghetti dinners, freshly baked pie, and lake swims.

Special thanks to the efforts of our VGM RAGBRAI Committee (Miranda Murphy of VGM & Associates, Joshua Schneiderman of Forbin, Kelsi Millermon of HOMELINK, and Vince Jenness, now retired from Fulfillment) for bringing together our employees and the community to make Waterloo the favorite RAGBRAI stop in 2021!

RAGBRAI by the Numbers VGM Employee Owner Volunteers: 200 Riders from Iowa and Around the World:

15,000+

VGM’s Sponsorship Contribution:

$30,000

Economic Impact in Waterloo: $2,400,0

here We Live

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#vgmlove

000

We contribute to many more organizations, too!

Click to see the full list.

Simplify the Complexities of Doing At VGM, we are continuously evolving to fulfill our customer needs. Our objective is to help business customers simplify the complexities of their day-to-day work, so they can focus on what matters most to them - their patients or customers.

Cultivating the Customer Experience – VGM Insurance VGM Insurance is eager to enhance the customer experience, so they took inventive steps to refocus their time and build convenience for customers and partners.

Incorporating Robotic Process Automation Part of enhancing the customer experience is streamlining some processes so you can focus your efforts where they can make the most impact. To help take some menial data entry tasks off their team’s plate, VGM Insurance worked with VGM IT and its Robotic Process Automation (RPA). This gave back 10 hours per week to our employee owners, allowing them to focus on their customers and partners.

Deciphering Data with VGM IT and Forbin The team has also upped their data and analytics game to learn more about their customers and performance. They brought in VGM IT to help enhance reports in Tableau. They engaged with VGM Forbin to better track digital trends. And they’ve continued their efforts with Net Promotor Score (NPS).

All this allows the team to learn what’s working, and what’s not, so they can continuously improve.

Enhancing Digital Experience with Portal Perfection VGM Insurance was also in deep collaboration with VGM Forbin and VGM IT through most of 2021 to develop their custom Customer Portal, a game-changing platform that provides seamless and intuitive access to online self-service policy servicing for their commercial customers, agents, and brokers across the U.S.

g Business

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Leaning Into Logistics – VGM Fulfillment We saw a need to help simplify and streamline picking, packing, and shipping for CPAP providers. So, through the years, we built and expanded VGM Fulfillment. VGM Fulfillment stocks the supply, and providers don’t pay for the order until it’s shipped. The first package may have been shipped out of a garage. But today, VGM Fulfillment’s network of four facilities in Waterloo, IA, Nashville, TN, Phoenix, AZ, and Shiremanstown, PA, ensures most orders reach the patient’s doorstep in less than three days.

And with an order fill rate of 99.18% and an error rate of just 0.15%, providers can trust their patients will get the supplies they need, when they need them.

The Power of Partnership – Redstone Content Solutions

Redstone Content Solutions— a leading Oracle content management implementation company—joined the VGM family of businesses in January 2021. Like VGM, Redstone believes connections create growth and opportunity. That belief, coupled with their commitment to customer satisfaction, earned them the designation of Preferred Partner for Oracle’s CX Marketing. It’s a distinction shared by only 19 other companies in the world, and a distinction that requires every single employee owner on the team offering memorable, meaningful service, every single day.

Building a true partnership takes hard work, but it’s some of the most rewarding work you can do.

Congratulations to the Redstone team.

We’re honored you’re part of the VGM family.

Support Healthcare Professionals We believe professionals in post-acute healthcare are unsung heroes that make it possible for patients to live comfortably at home longer. We’re committed to supporting these professionals with valuable business resources and opportunities.

Deepening Relationships Through Heartland Conference VGM’s annual Heartland Conference returned for its 20th celebration of the VGM healthcare community by welcoming nearly 1,000 guests to Waterloo for three days of networking and education. “ This year’s event was filled with its own challenges and hurdles for the team to overcome as we planned and safely executed a large in-person event during a pandemic. The event was a huge success after having a year virtual and bringing people back into Waterloo,” said Sarah Conger, conference chairperson and pillar for Heartland 2021.

Heartland Conference event is like none other in the industry. It allows healthcare providers from around the country the opportunity to gather, learn, and connect with the experts on matters that are important to their business. The conference is run entirely by VGM employee owners, many of whom get to step out of their day-to-day to offer friendly in-person service like registering attendees or handing out freshly baked cookies.

To ensure an impactful experience, the Heartland planning committee established a well-trained COVID-19 response team to ensure the health and safety of everyone involved. Precautions included moving all social events to outdoor spaces, requiring masks while indoors, running conference transportation at 75% capacity, as well a virtual conference offering, Heartland At Home. During the conference, members complied without incident. One member noted he felt it was important to protect their community. No cases or outbreaks were reported after the conference.

Heartland Happenings Another new feature of Heartland was the Heartland Happenings.

Watch now to be brought back to the fun and excitement of Heartland 2021.

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

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Support Healthcare Professionals The Power of Partnership – VGM Education VGM Education continued to make big waves in the home health care education and compliance services community with a new contract with AdaptHealth, one of the nation’s largest HME providers. VGM Education is a provider of online education for thousands of health care providers throughout the country.

Their platform helps HME, rehabilitation, and nursing home professionals remain certified.

The addition of AdaptHealth increased their user base by more than 14,000 employees, contractors, and partners of AdaptHealth who use their system regularly. “We are also in the beginning stages of working with Adapt to create new internal training materials,” said Cindy Diehl Yang, president of VGM Education.

VGM Education also provided more than 1,175 attendees with access to conference courses during the height of the pandemic and offered support for the Iowa Assisted Living Association (IALA) and Leading Age Iowa (LAI)’s Medication Management programs.

Staying Informed and Connected – United Publications VGM’s media company United Publications Inc. (UPI), producer of the HME News publication, is dedicated to staying on top of postacute healthcare industry news and trends, and relaying complex information quickly and accurately. Readers have come to rely on the expertise of these journalists for decision-making and strategic planning to maintain a competitive edge in the HME industry.

UPI also produces Security Systems News, HME and security conferences, and most recently eMedia products focused on industry-specific news. They joined the VGM family of businesses in 2019 and are based in Yarmouth, Maine.

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Record-Breaking Savings for Clients – The van Halem Group Maintaining contracts with government payers such as Medicare is complicated. One mistake can cost healthcare companies substantial financial penalties that can ruin the business. With diligent determination and impeccable precision, The van Halem Group’s audit and compliance support solutions team, based in Atlanta, has saved millions of dollars in overpayments and claims denials for healthcare clients.

One of this year’s many success stories comes from a small, family-owned business that received an overpayment demand for about $40,000, which easily could have cost them their business. The van Halem Group’s expert team of seven employee owners was able to reduce the amount owed to zero.

The claims were reduced from

$10 million $1,000

to less than

for one client.

Perhaps the largest project by The van Halem Group to date culminated in 2021 with 63 of a client’s 66 claims overturned. The claims were reduced from $10 million to less than $1,000 for one client. “ The results this team delivers on a regular basis for our clients continue to amaze me. Our team is highly focused and puts our clients’ best interests in mind always,” said Wayne van Halem, founder and president of The van Halem Group.

“ The results this team delivers on a regular basis for our clients continue to amaze me. Our team is highly focused and puts our clients’ best interests in mind always.”

Improve Patients’ Quality of Life Most VGM businesses serve in some way to make life better for patients and their families. Even the divisions that don’t work directly with patients provide services that impact them indirectly.

What Patients and Caregivers Have to Say HOMELINK’s Janelle Frost is Wonderful, Patient, and Kind Fay was helping care for her elderly father, who needed new hearing aids. She asked Janelle to help her secure them through a program offered at HOMELINK. “ From day one, Janelle has been just absolutely wonderful, patient, and kind. I had a LOT of questions and Janelle always got back to me with all the details via email or voicemail. Yesterday my dad got fitted with his two new hearing aids and it was such a joy to see his eyes light up, smile so big, and tell us, ‘I can hear perfectly now!’ He was so happy and alert the rest of the day, too!” – Fay, HOMELINK/SummaCare patient

Jen Tournier Has Magic on Her Side Jen was working with a patient named Joyce to help her get a vehicle lift installed. Joyce had been trying to get this lift for 15 years, and when she spoke to Jen, she shared that she had recently lost her dog. Jen sent flowers to Joyce to help cheer her up while she waited for the lift, which was installed shortly after. Joyce sent Jen a photo of her and her dog, and a message of gratitude. “ You, young lady, have magic on your side.

You don’t have to believe me now but you will someday. Then you’ll remember me. I say this with a million happy tears. You’ve given my legs back to me. You can’t put a price on that. I love your kind soul. Thank you so very much my lady.”

– Joyce, HOMELINK/Travelers Insurance patient

“ You’ve given my legs back to me. You can’t put a price on that.”

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Jenni Tucker Helps Military Veteran One patient appreciated Jenni’s help so much, he sent her a Military Challenge Coin that he designed and created for veterans—even though Jenni has never served in the military. “ I just wanted to share a part of me with you to thank you for your help and to thank you for your service.” – HOMELINK/Summacare patient

“I just wanted to share a part of me with you to thank

you for your help and to thank you

for your service.”

Irma Muharemovic is an Angel Rhonda is an injured worker who was having a hard time getting the shower chair she needed, until Irma helped her. “ I don’t know how this angel was assigned to me but all I know is that Irma was diligent and thorough! She called me when she said she’d call. She hunted down my chair and its whereabouts and assured delivery by having a signature required by the delivery company. Irma stayed the course and for that, I am now in possession of said chair.” – Rhonda, HOMELINK/Hartford Insurance patient

2021 brought us new challenges.

But more importantly, it brought us together.

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