Communications Handbook

Ben Venue Laboratories, Inc.

is committed to providing
best-practice communications
that will ensure all employees
stay connected and engaged to
achieve our Extreme Potential.

Introduction

Table of Contents

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Welcome to Ben Venue Laboratories!

Ben Venue Laboratories (BVL) places a high priority on its communication

programs and tools to ensure all employees stay connected and engaged
with our business objectives, mission and vision. We have a clear vision of
our road ahead and are focused on delivering results that will help us
achieve greatness as an organizationmaking a difference in the world
around us. Our mission is simple: To provide our customers with
pharmaceutical products that improve peoples health and quality of life. It
is up to each of us to embrace our vision and mission and contribute to
achieving great success in the future.

BVL has an incredibly diverse group of talent, making this company an

outstanding place to work. Because we have so many different backgrounds,
thoughts and ideas among our employees, effective communication at every
level is critical. I encourage you to regularly share your thoughts with one
another and our management team.

We use a variety of communication tools to make sure we reach all employees throughout the business.
BVL is committed to continually evaluating and upgrading these tools in an effort to ensure information
is delivered quickly and professionally.

In the pages of this handbook you will learn about the many methods through which we communicate at
BVL. It may seem overwhelming now, but as you get into your daily routine you will find these
communication tools become a vital part of your day.

I am so glad you have chosen BVL as the next step on your career path. It is the employees that make BVL
a great company. My team and I are committed to driving a culture of communication and transparency
utilizing the resources at hand. In turn, I ask you to utilize these resources to their fullest capacity and
proactively stay engaged.
My door is always open to your suggestions. You can e-mail, call or stop by my office any time. I look
forward to meeting you and wish you all the best in your new position!
Warm Regards,

Our Vi sion

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Th e BVL Int ran et : BV Lne t

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Y ou r V o ic e

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BV Lin k Ne wsl e tt er

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C on ne ct Vi si on

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B I Co nn ec t Pu bl ic at io n
Bi -we ek ly E -mai l
As kL e a de rsh ip !

O th er Fo rum s

G e t I nvo lve d : BVL Te am s

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Jason Kurtz

Quick Tip: Boehringer Ingelheim is Ben Venues Parent Company.

The name is pronounced (Bear-ing-ger Ingel-hime)

Our Vision

Your Voice

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Reaching Our Extreme Potential

For BVL, Extreme Potential is about setting high expectations for ourselves and our company, achieving our vision for
the future and being a strong and respected competitor. To do this requires that we focus on four critical areas:
marketplace excellence, people excellence, operational excellence and financial excellence.

Marketplace Excellence

as the most respected, reliable and consistent provider

of sterile pharmaceutical products in the CMO and
Multisource business in the world
having a thorough understanding of the competitive
landscape
with excellence in customer relationship management
both internal and external

Operational Excellence

... providing technical excellence and support for the

successful development and manufacturing of
differentiated products
as a globally compliant facility with a Right First Time
culture
building quality into products and processes through
integrated systems
as a leader in product life-cycle management
manufacturing excellence

Be Part of the Solution

At BVL we embrace the thoughts and ideas of our employees. Whether you have a new idea, see a way to
improve an existing process or have a concern regarding our compliance, there are many ways to be heard!

Your Voice

Contact Your
Supervisor/Manager
Speak with HR or a
Member of Senior
Management
AskLeadership!

People Excellence

as a leading organization for attracting, developing

and retaining top talent
with best-in-class training for a workforce that places
us at the leading edge of technical competence
with a Lead & Learn / inclusive culture that permeates
the organization and customer relationships
as a performance-driven culture that drives
accountability and rewards top performance

Financial Excellence

meeting or exceeding budget commitments to sustain

long-term growth and profitability
with our Contract and Bedford businesses annual
growth exceeding respective markets

Face to Face

Speak up! It is always preferred that employees bring

their thoughts, concerns and / or feedback to their
supervisor, manager or senior leader as the first step.
Employees can also speak with a member of the
Human Resources Department or the Senior
Leadership Team.

E-mail Joshua Marks, BVL

Compliance Officer, or call him at x3324
or 24/7 at 216.233.6866

In addition, employees may contact BVL Compliance

Officer Joshua Marks at any time.

BI Compliance help line Web site or call

1.800.958.9704

Anonymous Forums

BVL Anonymous Submission Form

Imagine BVL...

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AskLeadership!

Linked from the BVLnet home page,

AskLeadership! connects employees directly with
members of the senior leadership team. Employees
can direct their ideas, comments and / or feedback to
a member of senior leadership and will receive a
response within seven days.

Many submissions are posted on BVLnet for other

employees to learn from. Through AskLeadership!,
many great ideas have been shared and we continue
to make progress in expanding communication at
every level of the organization. Get to know your
senior leaders through this forum today!

Anonymous feedback should be considered as a last

resort; however, if you would like to anonymously
contact senior leadership, we have several forums
available to accomplish this. From the BVLnet home
page, employees will find the Anonymous Submission
Form, compliance e-mail address and the telephone
number for the BI Compliance help line.
Regardless of the anonymous forum utilized, you can
rest assured that your personal information will be
kept in the strictest confidence.
It is important to note that senior leadership is unable
to respond to information received through any of the
anonymous forums. Should you wish to receive a
response, please be sure to use AskLeadership! or
speak directly with a member of HR or senior
leadership.

BVLnet Navigation

BVLnet Content

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Search & Find

Search and find information on BVLnet or any of the BI intranets.

This toolbar defaults to searching BVLnet unless you change the
radio button to search all intranets. Simply type your search word
in the field provided and click Go! Cant find what you are looking
for? Go to Advanced Search and try again.

Navigation Bar

Information on BVLnet is separated into

11 categories called topics. The items
that are most useful in performing dayto-day operations have been circled to
the right for easy reference. The other
topics provided are generally accessed
less or maintained outside of BVL
Communications & PR.

Quick Access Menu

Navigating the BI intranet can be overwhelming. The Quick Access

menu provides a method to find the most commonly accessed
items on BVLnet. The top three drop-down menus take you to
various BI external and internal Web sites. The bottom three are
specific to BVL employees. They include Quick Links to the most
commonly used pages, HR links and Web Applications.

US & Global News

BVL News

This section is published by Boehringer

Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Public
Affairs and Communications and
provides BI employees across the US
with information on company and
industry news, events and business
updates.

The BVL News column contains information specific to BVL

employees and is published by the BVL Communications & PR
Department. Our news is divided into two categories: BVL
Bulletins and Organizational Announcements. BVL Bulletins cover
items such as corporate policy changes, compliance updates,
Quicken Loans Arena raffle winners, safety tips and more.
Organizational Announcements provide information about new
hires, employee transfers or departures or departmental
restructuring. Be sure to check this section daily to ensure you
catch all the latest news!

Your Voice
Compliance is vitally important to BI /
BVL. There are several forums through
which you can share concerns,
suggestions and / or feedback. Your
Voice is on the home page to ensure
you are able to find this information any
time you need it. You are encouraged
to ask questions and seek guidance
when uncertain about a task or practice,
whether you do so through a direct or
anonymous forum. Compliance is
critical to our success!

ConnectVision

In addition to the nearly 20 monitors throughout

the facility and our standard desktop screen saver,
ConnectVision is also on the BVLnet home page.
You can watch the slides as they play or manually
scroll through them at your own speed by clicking
the arrows at the bottom of the slide.

Lead & Learn

Our Lead & Learn principles are the

values by which we work. Under this
section of the home page you will
find Lead & Learn materials as well
items that exhibit Lead & Learn in
action, such as AskLeadership! or
the Climate Survey results. Every
employee is encouraged to be a
leader Lead & Learn!

Quick Poll

Quick Poll has quickly become a must click for many employees.
Displayed just above the BVL News section, Quick Poll provides
employees an opportunity to give their opinion or simply test their
knowledge. After answering the poll, a summary of how other
colleagues have answered is provided. Information received from
Quick Poll gives the site a handle on how employees generally feel
about a wide-range of important topics or initiatives.

BVLink Newsletter

BI Connect

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BVLink

insight, news & knowledge

An Internal Newsletter for Employees of Ben Venue Laboratories

Ben Venues Internal Newsletter

BVLink is BVLs primary internal
newsletter. Published several
times
a
year
by
the
Communications
and
PR
Department, this tool will help
you stay connected with our
business.
Showcased in every BVLink are
employees on the move,
departmental and companywide initiatives and issues that
BVL / BI is facing.
When you open up your first
issue of BVLink, expect to learn
something new.

Whats Inside:
~ Current Events
~ Important Initiative
Updates
~ Pharmaceutical News
~ BI and BVL News
~ Get to Know Others
~ New Policies and
Procedures
~ Construction Updates
~ Employees On the Move

BVLink is provided in a print

format as well as online. So
regardless of how you like to get
your news, we have an option
for you.

returning to an archived story or

topic. As a new employee, a
great way to catch up on BVL
news is by reading the old issues
of BVLink.

At times you will find a special

insert accompanying the issue.
Each insert spotlights a topic by
department, such as Benefits,
Legal, Communications, or
Environmental, Health & Safety.

Be on the lookout for the next

issue of BVLink. When a new
issue is released, be sure to pick
up a copy or take a look online.
The Communications and PR
Department will announce each
new issue through companywide messaging to make
everyone aware of the new
release.

Most articles are employeeinitiated and written.

This
grassroots approach allows
employees from all departments
an opportunity to participate in
this communication tool. The
Communications Team is always
interested in hearing your ideas
about potential articles to
feature in BVLink!
The most recent issue of BVLink
can generally be found in a BVL
news stand near you. News
stands have been placed
throughout the facility to ensure
all employees can find a copy of
BVLink at their convenience.
Past issues are maintained on
BVLnet for anyone interested in

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Boehringer Ingelheim
Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Ridgefield, Connecticut

BI Roxane laboratories, Inc.

& Roxane Laboratories, Inc.

Columbus, Ohio

Boehringer Ingelheim
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Public Affairs
and Communication Department
publishes a US newsletter titled BI
Connect throughout the year to all
sites. This publication contains
articles that relate to current issues
and events across the BI-US sites,
our employees or the
pharmaceutical industry in general.
Similar to BVLink, BI Connect can
be found in BVL news stands
around the site. Stop by and pick
one up today!

BI Vetmedica, Inc.

St. Joseph, Missouri

BI Chemicals, Inc.

Petersburg, Virginia

ConnectVision
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With so many employees continually on the go, ConnectVision uses modern

technology to keep employees connected regardless of where they are working
for the day. ConnectVision monitors have been placed in Break Rooms, the
BVL Cafe, Quality & Development Center, Treat Road Warehouse, Packaging,
Legal/Communications, HR, Phase V and the Learning & Development Center.

Visual Messaging

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Several Ways to Catch ConnectVision

BVLnet Home Page
You can access ConnectVision from the
BVLnet home page. Watch the slides in two
sizes and catch up on valuable information.
Use the Click to view large screen link to open
ConnectVision in a larger window.

All-Company Information
This information can be employee-centric, such as marriages, births or position
transfers / promotions, or site-specific, such as visitors, upcoming events, the
cafe menu. To have information posted, contact a member of the
Communications & PR Department.

Department Specific
Several of the monitors can be used to display department-specific information
at management discretion. Some of these departments include Packaging,
Warehouse and Legal/Communications.

Screen Saver
Every BVL computer should have the
ConnectVision screen saver loaded. So
whether you are caught on a conference call,
sitting at your desk eating lunch or simply have
down time, you can watch ConnectVision from
your screen saver and view the same
information playing throughout the facility.

External Information
ConnectVision can provide external information such as weather, date / time
and local, national or international news to keep you informed on external
conditions throughout the day.

Quick Tip: ConnectVision replaced TargetVision - You may still hear employees refer to the former name.

No matter how you access

ConnectVision, you are guaranteed to
stay well connected!

Bi-weekly Update

AskLeadership!

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Every week a great

deal of information is
pushed through our
various
communication
channels. The biweekly Ben VeNews
e-mail update is a
one-stop method for
spotlighting company
news or new items on
BVLnet. Make it a
habit to go through
each of these updates
and you will be
guaranteed to stay
connected with the
site and our business.

Did you know Ben VeNews was named by BVL employees?

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Communication is essential to understanding.

Questions and feedback help our Senior Leadership
Team understand what is most important to you. Sharing
your thoughts help ensure our continued success as we
strive to reach our Extreme Potential.

Through AskLeadership!, employees can send questions

directly to members of senior leadership. Simply send
an e-mail through the AskLeadership! page on BVLnet and the appropriate leader will
respond directly to you within seven days.
Many of the questions submitted will be posted anonymously to the AskLeadership!
Response Page for other employees to gain insight.
Never hesitate to reach out and AskLeadership!

Have Questions?

AskLeadership!

Other Forums

BVL Teams

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C.O.N.N.E.C.T. with Leadership

Every quarter employees have the opportunity to volunteer for C.O.N.N.E.C.T. with
Leadership. Over a meal with a senior leader, employees can share their thoughts, ideas
and concerns in a small-group setting. Once employees submit their interest through
BVLnet, they are randomly assigned to a member of the Senior
Leadership Team and invited to attend a meal.
The goal of these sessions is to create an environment
where employees of all departments and positions can
come together to discuss real issues. Out of each session,
great ideas are gathered, ideas are implemented and
change happensall because employees and senior
leadership come together.

C.O.N.N.E.C.T.

Communication

Open
Discussion

News

Networking

Employee Meetings
Every quarter, all-employee meetings are
held at various times during the day to
share a state-of-the-company address.
Common topics include upcoming events,
compliance, regulatory status, site metrics,
financial results, team updates and more!

Education Commitment
to BVL

Team
Building

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BVL has a history of working in short- and long-term groups to get results. In addition,
people join together in extra-curricular teams to help shape our culture and build morale
across the site. The efforts of these teams often fall outside the daily responsibilities of
an employees position. These opportunities allow employees to network with new
employees, use additional talents that may not be fully utilized in their position, or even
provide the opportunity to gain new skill sets.

After getting acclimated with BVL, employees are encouraged to find a group or team to
get involved with. There are many ways to learn about the groups available; however, if
you are having trouble picking a team or simply dont know how to begin, contact
Communications and PR for more information. Regardless of your interests, find a place
to Get Involved!

The Diversity Council

Works to build diversity and
inclusion into the fabric of
our work environment
through education,
communication and
celebration.
Lead & Learn Team
Creates connections
by inspiring and
enhancing Lead &
Learn awareness.
Expands employees
knowledge and the
application of our Lead
& Learn values.

Wellness Team
Educates and promotes
the importance of
making healthy choices
and making wellness
part of our lifestyle.

The Clean Team

Promotes a culture
that instills pride
through personal
accountability and
proper cleaning in all
areas.

Recycling Team
Continuously reviews
how BVL can reduce
while also maintaining
a low impact on the
environment by
minimizing waste and
recycling whenever
possible.

Record Awareness
Compliance Committee
Provides oversight and
guidance for the
implementation of the
annual BVL Records
Awareness Day activities.

Ben Venue Laboratories, Inc., is a subsidiary of Boehringer Ingelheim Corporation

based in Ridgefield, CT, and a member of the Boehringer Ingelheim group of
companies.
The Boehringer Ingelheim group is one of the worlds 20 leading pharmaceutical
companies. Headquartered in Ingelheim, Germany, it operates globally with 138
affiliates in 47 countries and 41,300 employees. Since it was founded in 1885, the
independent, family-owned company has been committed to researching,
developing, manufacturing and marketing novel products of high therapeutic
value for human and veterinary medicine.

2009 Ben Venue Laboratories, Inc.