Letters From Lisa – June/July 2022

It has been said, your business is only as great as your people. Having the right people, in the right seats, doing the right things plays a huge role in the overall success of any business operation.

The right people are employees who share your company’s core values and help to support a culture based on those values. The right seat means that an employee is operating within their area of greatest skill and passion within an organization, says Jim Collins in his book, “Good to Great.”

To take that a step further, we don’t just want to be great. We want to WOW!

At BioZyme, we have invested heavily in our team over the last few years to be committed to excellence or more simply put, to be WOWing. We take a simplified approach that is built on the below hierarchy:

Know You

One cannot be WOWing until one looks in the mirror. At BioZyme, we use a cool tool called the Culture Index to help our team know who they and those around them are. The Culture Index is a scientific approach to the “right people, right seats” concept. Culture Index allows leaders to understand the unique needs of each employee in the organization, communicate effectively and inspire peak performance. It allows people to flourish by leveraging their strengths rather than mitigating their weaknesses.

Know Us

Much has been written about shared understanding, a state of organizational nirvana where every person has clarity on the big picture, knows how his or her own puzzle piece fits in and acts accordingly. At BioZyme, we work hard at this using B4 (an internal website focused on the big picture), Yammer (a business version of Facebook for puzzle piece sharing), monthly “big picture” snack & learns, the B4 quarterly newsletter (yes, it is in print), quarterly President “big picture” updates and regular documented team huddles for constant puzzle working. These communication tools help share information from all corners of the company. While the center of the puzzle is often the focus, corners and borders are essential.

Know the Job

Knowing one’s job is an important part of the BioZyme hierarchy. In short, a job description is a written statement that describes the duties, responsibilities and reporting relationships of a particular job. Job descriptions are useful communication tools to tell employees exactly what tasks you expect them to perform. Without such clear communication, employees may not perform to expectation, and then everyone is disappointed. At BioZyme, we review job descriptions regularly. It is a huge task, but it has been well worth it. We have found that most of the challenges we run into on a personnel level come back to the job description being unclear or the person being unsure of what the bullets in their job description mean.

Know Your Work

Performance reviews are awkward. They’re biased. Performance reviews are old fashioned, but they are still one of the most important tasks for an organization to be WOWing. To be effective, performance reviews must be done regularly to recognize and reward. At BioZyme, our Know Your Work initiative translates back to our performance review process. Our reviews are a direct tie back to the job description in an approach we have titled CONNECT. To connect means to join together to provide communication. These communications are held as a conversation that each employee has at least quarterly with their manager. In the process, each role grades themselves on their job description bullets. Their manager does the same and then the two sit down together, review and discuss any scoring differences. In the end, either the job description is updated to be more accurate or there is a discussion to outline what improvements need to be made.

Bottom line – to be WOWing one must know. To know means having the right people, in the right seats, doing the right things so they can play a huge role in the overall success of the business.

Meet the BioZyme Family

Team: Marketing Team

Leaders: Jodi Eineichner and Macall Compton

Number of people currently on your team: 11

Key Responsibilities: To create awareness and customer demand for BioZyme brands and drive those new and existing customers to dealers and distributors in their area to buy the products that help their animals perform.

List of each team members and the role they play at BioZyme:

Jodi Eineichner – Interim Director of Strategic Marketing

The Director of Strategic Marketing is responsible for overall strategy, planning and development for all BioZyme marketing activities. Jodi works directly with the marketing and sales teams to create a unified message across all brands and expand BioZyme’s market exposure and brand reputation and recognition by identifying, evaluating, recommending and implementing new strategies and initiatives.

Macall Compton – Senior Manager of Marketing Operations

Macall is responsible for the daily operation of the marketing team as it relates to all marketing activities, including organization, planning, execution, monitoring and delivery on time and within budget.

Jamie Beatty – Marketing Design Coordinator

Jamie creates graphics for print and digital content for the company and across all brands. From the VISION newsletter to banners, postcards and web graphics, Jamie is the creative mind behind a majority of the design work.

Mackinze Gray – Website & Digital Marketing Manager & assists with Vitalize K9

Mackinze helps manage the websites across all brands. From uploading content to making sure the content that is on the site is current, she is your point of contact for all things digital. She is also a member of the Merchandise Team and helps coordinate with the brand managers to create fun, new merch to help promote our brands. On top of that, she has recently started helping our Vitalize Brand Manager create content for our Vitalize K9 brand.

Shelia Grobosky – Marketing Brand Manager – Dealers & Public Relations Coordinator

Shelia wears two hats–marketing our products and services directly to the dealers as well as serving as the Public Relations Coordinator. She is responsible for writing a majority of the content on the website, writes and distributes press release to the media and edits content for the entire team.

Wyatt Marshall – Event Manager & Texas Sales Specialist

Wyatt helps our Brand Managers at events promote the brand and projects we have while attending the event. He is also tasked with helping promote our Vitalize brand in Texas and creating opportunities there to grow our sales.

Brand Managers

Brand Managers listen to customers and followers to create content and deliverables to drive engagement. Through strategic content creation, the Marketing Brand Manager will engage brand followers in-person, through strategic relationships and across social media channels to increase brand awareness and ultimately sales. The Marketing Brand Manager will know how to implement strategies (both paid and organic) for events, key relationships and on the appropriate social platforms, and work with the Digital Marketing Coordinator to utilize analytics to understand performance to optimize and adjust moving forward.Brand Managers are passionate and familiar with their species and/or area of expertise. They also work closely with their counterpart in Business Development and Sales.

Samantha Albers – Marketing Brand Manager-Small Livestock (DuraFerm and Backyard Boost)

Hayley Keck – Marketing Brand Manager – Companion

Kylie Patterson – Marketing Brand Manager – Show

Ellie Sennett – Marketing Brand Manager – Vita Charge

Katelyn Williams – Marketing Brand Manager – Beef

How does your team deliver “care that comes full circle” for BioZyme Customers:

The Marketing Team helps with “care that comes full circle” in a few ways. The largest being with our Sure Champ brand. We have our internship program that helps our Marketing Brand Manager for Show attend several events and run our booths as well as come up with content to share on social and our websites, our leadership program that helps train students to become better leaders before they enter the workforce, and the Sure Champ in the Classroom program that offers content for 4-H and FFA leaders to use to help educate the youth. On top of that we want to bring that “care that comes full circle” message to all of the brands and start creating new opportunities to really help especially in these times of need. If you have any ideas of projects, we could implement to help promote this BioZyme, message please reach out to mmaddox@biozymeinc.com.

SUPERIOR GENETICS DESERVE SUPERIOR NUTRITION

Genetics are just part of the equation. Your sheep and goat customers have likely studied long and hard to make breeding decisions, but you will want to help them ensure those decisions stick with nutrition from DuraFerm®. DuraFerm is a line of vitamin and mineral supplements for small ruminants with the Amaferm® advantage to increase fertility and conception rates resulting in more live lambs and kids, and ultimately more profit potential. When used at least 30 days prior to parturition through breeding, the formula supports quick repair of the reproductive tract, faster breed back and increased milk production for lamb and kid vigor and growth potential.

Get ‘em Bred, Keep ‘em Bred

With summer temperatures flaring up, you’ll want to be sure to promote DuraFerm Sheep Concept•Aid® HEAT®, which is especially beneficial to combat the challenges of getting ewes bred in the summer. The combination of Amaferm, the HEAT package and garlic, considered a natural insect deterrent should make this product an easy sell, especially as mosquitoes are carriers of the Cache Valley Virus. Many producers experienced detrimental effects of CVV in their 2022 lamb crop due to the excessive mosquito exposure during breeding and gestation.

Aborted fetuses, stillborn or abnormally formed lambs are all signs of CVV. The loss of a healthy lamb or kid is a financial loss for producers. Preventing mosquitoes through breeding and the first 60 days of gestation is the most effective way to prevent CVV. The garlic in the HEAT mineral is one way to prevent mosquito bites. Also encourage your producers to spray for mosquitoes and keep standing water away from their females as much as possible.

DURAFERM FOR GOATS

In addition to the three products for sheep, DuraFerm comes specially formulated in two products for goats as well. Both the DuraFerm Goat Concept•Aid and DuraFerm Goat Concept•Aid Protein Tub offer the same breeding support and Amaferm advantage as all Concept•Aid products. The Protein Tub adds 20% natural protein, especially beneficial for A.I. and E.T. programs.

ALBERS NAMED MARKETING BRAND MANAGER – SMALL LIVESTOCK

Samantha “Sam” Albers is the new Marketing Brand Manager – Small Livestock. In her role, she will focus her efforts on specifically marketing the brands of DuraFerm and Backyard Boost to sheep, goat and poultry producers nationwide.

Albers brings a strategic and creative mindset to BioZyme, as well as a well-rounded livestock background. She most recently worked at Hereford Publications Inc., for nearly four years where she collaborated with breeders to plan their marketing campaigns and sale books. She also coordinated the HPI social media accounts. She is a graduate of Kansas State University with a bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Communications and Journalism with a minor in Animal Science. She also attended Allen County Community College and was on the livestock judging team there. She was active in 4-H and FFA, and she showed sheep, goats, cattle, pigs, dogs and rabbits. Albers, a Kansas native, works from her home office in Lawson, Missouri. She enjoys photography as a hobby. She also likes cooking and creating recipes, just another creative outlet for her.

Two Minutes in June

Summer is here, and although fuel prices typically increase due to seasonal travels, they have been steadily on the rise all of 2022. As dealers, you are well aware of the freight fees and challenges associated with increased fuel prices. However, it is no time to despair. And it is definitely not time to let your customers cut back on their mineral inputs. 

John Jeffrey, BioZyme ® Beef Business Development Manager, offers an interesting perspective, as he spoke of a fuel comparison app he recently used to make sure he could find the best product available to optimize his fuel mileage before filling up. 

“Cows are like tractors or trucks. We want to get the best mileage and the most miles per gallon out of them, so we need to invest a little more up front to get the good stuff to them. Plan ahead for success and manage your herd or operation like you would your summer vacation and know where to get the best fuel along your trip,” he said. 

When input prices are at their highest is when the prebiotic Amaferm® offers the greatest value. Amaferm is designed to enhance digestibility by amplifying the nutrient supply for maximum performance. It is research-proven to increase intake, digestion and absorption. Therefore, adding Amaferm to the diet either directly or through one of the mineral programs BioZyme offers is a great way to help make sure that your livestock continue to perform to their highest. 

“Cutting input costs isn’t always the key to profitability. We sell pounds, and performance pays,” Jeffrey said. 

Bird Flu Numbers Slow Down 

Although the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) has proven fatal to nearly 38 million birds in domestic flocks across the U.S. since early February, the USDA data suggest the threat is fading. A viral disease that spreads best in cold conditions, bird flu typically dissipates with the arrival of consistently warm weather. 

Nutrition Company Gives Back to its Customers

Working in agriculture is a natural gamble. Producers take a chance every day with the markets, weather, breeding and feeding decisions. Since we know that livestock producers are natural risk takers, BioZyme® Inc., makers of Vita Ferm® and Gain Smart® nutrition products, want to reward that risk this summer with a Lucky 7 Promotion. 

This promotion is one way to show livestock producers that we understand the challenges they are facing during these unprecedented times, and we care. For each of 7 weeks this summer, 77 winning tokens will randomly be placed into bags of product manufactured in the Saint Joseph, Missouri-plant. The “lucky” winners will receive prizes that range from caps to gift cards to $777 cash. Seven weeks x 77 tokens each week means 539 prizes.  

“Our company motto is ‘care that comes full circle,’ and this is 100% the reason we are doing this for our customers,” said Lisa Norton, BioZyme President and COO. “It’s a way to give back to producers who are feeling the effects of market volatility and supply chain instability.”  

Starting June 1, the 7 products below will have a special “Lucky 7” sticker on the outside of the bag. These specially-marked bags may contain a winning token:  

  • VitaFerm® Concept•Aid® 5/S HEAT® 
  • VitaFerm® HEAT® 
  • VitaFerm Conserve® Garlic 
  • Gain Smart® Stocker HEAT® 
  • VitaFerm® Concept•Aid® 5/S with ClariFly® 
  • VitaFerm® HEAT® CTC 3G 
  • VitaFerm® Concept•Aid® 5/S HEAT® with ClariFly® 

The tokens are biodegradable and will not hurt the livestock if ingested or the environment if not found when pouring out the mineral.  

Winning tokens must be claimed via the Lucky 7 website https://biozymeinc.com/lucky7 to receive a prize. Each winning token depicts the specific prize won and the corresponding prize number.  All prizes must be redeemed by Dec. 30, 2022. 

“My late husband Bob always loved to give back. As we continue to give back, we honor Bob, honor the company he loved and the customers he cared so much for,” she said. Bob Norton, CEO, unexpectedly passed away in April.  

For a full list of rules and eligibility for the BioZyme Lucky 7 promotion, visit: https://biozymeinc.com/lucky7.  

CHANGES COMING IN JUNE 2022 Known at this Date

LUCKY 7 PROMOTION KICKS OFF JUNE 1

The BioZyme leadership realizes the challenges facing production agriculture; therefore, the company is offering a promotion this summer to give back to producers, as way to demonstrate “care that comes full circle.” Starting June 1, the 7 products below will have a special “Lucky 7” sticker on the outside of the bag. These specially-marked bags may contain a winning token:

  • VitaFerm® Concept•Aid® 5/S HEAT®
  • VitaFerm® HEAT®
  • VitaFerm Conserve® Garlic
  • Gain Smart® Stocker HEAT®
  • VitaFerm® Concept•Aid® 5/S with ClariFly®
  • VitaFerm® HEAT® CTC 3G
  • VitaFerm® Concept•Aid® 5/S HEAT® with ClariFly®

For each of 7 weeks this summer, 77 winning tokens will randomly be placed into bags of product manufactured in the Saint Joseph, Missouri-plant. The “lucky” winners will receive prizes that range from caps to gift cards to $777 cash. Seven weeks x 77 tokens each week means 539 prizes. The tokens are biodegradable and will not hurt the livestock if ingested or the environment if not found when pouring out the mineral.

Winning tokens must be claimed via the Lucky 7 website https://biozymeinc.com/lucky7 to receive a prize. Each winning token depicts the specific prize won and the corresponding prize number. All prizes must be redeemed by Dec. 20, 2022.

VITA CHARGE CATTLE DRENCH TEST MARKET

Beginning in June, a 32 oz. Vita Charge® Cattle Drench will be available through select Sullivan’s Supply mobile locations. We intend to use the next couple months and the Junior Nationals to test this product in the show market and adjust, as necessary. If the sales support it, the product will be added to the price list later this summer.

SHIPPING & PRICING

In April, BioZyme made the following changes due to extremely volatile supply chain, highly fluctuating market pricing and fuel surcharges:

  • Beginning with all orders placed April 4, a ship date of 3 days will be automatic; extended requested ship dates will not be available.
  • Any order for a custom requires a call to the Outreach Support Center (ORSC) to request a price. These requests will take a minimum of 24-hours to be processed and confirmed.
  • A SCMV (Supply Chain Market Volatility) charge will be listed as a separate item on the invoice. The rate for the SCMV charge will be evaluated weekly and adjusted with the fluctuating market, so you are not paying a fixed rate if the cost goes down. By utilizing this charge, rather than raising product pricing for the entire month, allows us to follow the lows in the market and pass the value on to you.

Please reach out to your Area Sales Manager for more information.

EMPLOYEE CHANGES

  • Ellie Sennett is the Marketing Brand Manager- Vita Charge.
  • We have three Sure Champ Summer Interns: John Hogberg, Jacob Johnson and Garrett Maloney.

Carrie’s Animal Health Relies on Word – of – Mouth Marketing

Carrie Brewton is no stranger to the cattle business, and she knows the importance of keeping cattle healthy and performing. She and her family have always provided mineral for their herd in north central Louisiana. However, challenges in getting their mineral combined with SuperiorLivestock partnering with VitaFerm® and Gain Smart® in their value-added programs, made it easier for her family to change up mineral brands.

Although her family wasn’t unhappy with the mineral they had been using on their cow-calf operation, it kept getting more challenging to get product and keep it stocked. When Superior partnered with the BioZyme® brands, and John Jeffrey talked to them about the Amaferm® advantage, it seemed like an straight forward decision to add to their mineral program.

Carrie’s Animal Health is a family-owned business near Clarence, Louisiana, with the primary customers being Carrie’s dad, brother and brother-in-law. The news of positive results they have experienced had spread to others in their area, and Carrie’s business has branched out to others. She said the products work and help with weight gain and overall health.

“I really like the Vita Charge® products we use. We get in quite a few yearlings and have been successful when we start them off with that product,” Carrie said.

Carrie’s primary customer base is comprised of cow-calf producers who feed the Concept•Aid® products. She also sells Gain Smart and Vita Charge–a winning combination for weaning and backgrounding calves prior to selling them on Superior.

With her dad, brother and brother-in-law all working as Superior Reps, it made sense to promote, use and sell a nutritional product that Superior recommends and partners with. Carrie and her family are glad she made the decision to sell BioZyme. And they are thankful for the positive results that others are having too. Carrie’s Animal Health is one dealer that shows the value of word-of-mouth marketing.

Meet the BioZyme Family

Team: Quality

Leader: Theron Cooper

Number of people currently on your team: 8

List of each team member and role they play at BioZyme:

Lori Cruz – Quality Manager Lori leads the quality aspects ensuring that the facility is compliant with cGMP practices and maintains OMRI, SFSF, FAMI-QS quality systems. She ensures accurate and properly documented records are maintained for all certification audits.

Ryan Hoefling – Senior Manager of Sampling and Testing. Ryan oversees the sampling and testing of BioZyme products. Ryan ensures the analytical equipment is calibrated and reporting accurate results. In addition, he coordinates testing results with process continuous improvement opportunities and assists in production processes such as fermentation. Ryan also focuses on knowledge development of new products with improved properties and their uses.

Kelsey Goforth – Lab Manager Kelsey assists in the collaboration of the fermentation and production process by preparing the AO inoculant for the fermenters at the Easton facility. She also conducts microbial screenings to ensure the inoculant and fermentation batches are free of contaminating organisms.

Jakey Lian – Sampling and Testing Manager Jakey is the Sampling and Testing Manager at Stockyards and conducts sampling, testing, and inspection of all inbound materials and finished products manufactured by BioZyme. In addition, he maintains and manages the retention of samples.

Kelly Cortez – Housekeeping Manager Kelly manages the housekeeping staff and implements the overall house keeping plan of the facilities in accordance with the BioZyme weekly Norty Score card evaluations and the related SOP’s and checklists.

Sam Fones – Sanitation Specialist Stockyards – (Front) Sam conducts housekeeping and sanitation tasks at the Stockyards Front Warehouse zones and keeps our front warehouse areas clean and orderly.

Jordan Ide – Sanitation and Utilities Operator – (Easton) Jordan conducts housekeeping and sanitation tasks to keep the Easton facility clean and orderly. In addition, Jordan assists the night fermentation operations.

Theron Cooper – Director of Quality Theron is responsible for establishing quality, testing and reliability standards and ensuring they are implemented across the Supply Chain.

How does your team help with “Care that comes full circle” for BioZyme customers:

The Quality Team helps with “Care that comes full circle” for BioZyme customers by helping the broader BioZyme Team in the production of Safe, Accurate Products with reliable and proven performance that our customers can rely on.

TELL EVERYONE: 4 WAYS TO SUPPORT YOUTH THIS SUMMER

Summer is just around the corner. For young people involved in livestock projects, summer is a busy time of the year through many parts of the country. Jackpots, county and state fairs, along with junior nationals make summer an active time for young livestock enthusiast.

Since youth make up the future of the industry and future spokes people for the livestock industry, it is important to support them and their endeavors as much as we can. Here are four simple ways to support the youth in your community this summer.

Show and Nutrition Clinic

Getting both the animals and exhibitors prepared for the showring and hopefully the backdrop doesn’t happen overnight. Many young people look to their local feed store or nutrition source as an expert for all things. So, with this in mind, why not host a fitting, showing and nutrition clinic. If you are not comfortable talking about all subjects, collaborate with others in your community. You can provide information about feed, water and overall health. Someone else can detail the fine points of skin and hair care and halter breaking. Finally, another person can demonstrate proper show-day prep with fitting and showmanship techniques.

Sponsor a Show

You probably get multiple calls through the year asking for show support. The best advice we can offer is to set some boundaries or you could be sponsoring literally every event in a six-county area. Your parameters can be driven by location, customer base, financial need or anything you choose. If you have one location in one county, perhaps you only sponsor shows in that county. If you have customers in multiple locations, maybe you choose to sponsor events where your customers are. Or perhaps you are the type of person that decides you will sponsor an event only if a young person solicits the sponsorship. Once you’ve decided what level you will serve as a sponsor at, decide how you will be a sponsor.

Will you give monetary support for prizes? Do you want a trade show booth? Do you want to sponsor back tags with your dealership name or Sure Champ® on them? Perhaps you want a banner in the showring. Maybe there is an advertisement opportunity or a combination of more than one available. Whatever you decide, be sure you get some company recognition.

Be a Buyer

Much like sponsoring a show or event, there are always ample opportunities to support livestock shows. First, you must know what your budget is and how you will divide it. Some sales want the buyer to actually purchase the animal; some offer just the premium, where you are buying the ribbon and recognition. Other sales ask for a donation and clump together people into buyers’ groups to support young people. One thing is certain. Most young people will always remember who purchased their animals, and their family is often going to support that business or group of businesses, so this is a great investment in youth with a rewarding ROI.

Be a Mentor

Every young person needs at least one solid mentor in his or her life. This chance to give back to a young person is an investment in time and will typically be the most rewarding. Is there someone in the area that is interested in sales or marketing? Do you raise a particular species and share that passion with some young 4-H or FFA member that could use some guidance? Reach out and offer your time and direction. Nothing is more valuable than having a respected figure in the community reach out to serve as a mentor. Who knows where this relationship could lead.

Supporting youth is a great marketing tool because they are the future. They are going to give you the recognition you deserve, and often the young people and their parents will turn into customers if they are not already. The support you give is just one way to show that you care, and that care does not go unnoticed.

How Should Your Customers #Preptowin This Summer?

SURE CHAMP + VITA CHARGE WILL HELP YOUR CUSTOMERS #PREPTOWIN

#PreptoWin applies to more than just the showring. As the makers of Sure Champ® and Vita Charge® products that help livestock exhibitors prepare their animals to excel during times of stress like traveling, being in different environments and climates and also times of transition, BioZyme® knows how important it is to help young people #PreptoWin in life as well.

This month we want to spotlight several products and programs available to exhibitors to help them move from the barn to the backdrop – and that backdrop might be with their winning animal or a winning speech.

#PREPTOWIN IN THE RING

Sure Champ is a line of livestock show supplements that work proactively to assist with the challenges created by the show environment. Sure Champ uses only the highest quality components and proprietary ingredients to generate high-yielding results.

#PREPTOWIN ON THE ROAD

Vita Charge is a perfect complement to the Sure Champ line prior to travel, when you’re on the show road and when you get back to your home barn. Vita Charge is a fast-acting, multi-species supplement for use during stressful times when livestock need protection or assistance in recovery. The products offer versatility in many forms making application easy, depending on what is best for your animal.

Vita Charge Liquid Boost, Vita Charge Gel, Vita Charge Clench Gel & Vita Charge Climate Control Gel

#PREPTOWIN IN LIFE

Sure Champ offers a variety of resources to help young people succeed outside of the showring as well. Sure Champ in the Classroom is an online portal for beginner and experienced exhibitors, parents and teachers to learn. It offers basic tips about animal selection, care, nutrition and preparation. It also provides blog posts about preparing a cover letter and resume, getting ready to give a speech and even offers several how-to videos for cattle and pig care. Of course, the Sure Champ Classroom is also home to the very popular “Mark That Card” series, providing judging classes, with placings, cuts and reasons.

#PREPTOWIN THIS SUMMER

It won’t be long, and our team will be hitting the road for its Sure Champ Summer Tour, where we are excited to work with several youth organizations across the country to support several Junior National Shows. This is a great way for us to engage and interact with the future.We also hire interns each summer to help us promote our products at the various events, just another way that we are giving young people an opportunity to explore a career path. This summer you can find us at:

•The Exposition – Des Moines, IA

•Maine/Chi Junior Nationals – Louisville, KY

•Charolais Junior Nationals – Grand Island, NE

•Simmental Junior Nationals – Madison, WI

•Hereford Junior Nationals – Louisville, KY