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November 14, 2007
Present:

The meeting began at 6:40 p.m. with a welcome from Jen Schauble.

Personnel Update: Jen Schauble introduced Ted Dolan, the new Lonza Riverside plant manager.

Ted gave the CAP a brief bio: He received a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemical Engineering from Notre Dame University, a Master of Business Administration in Production Management and Finance from St. Joseph’s University, and an Executive Management degree in Lean Manufacturing from the University of Michigan. He was previously employed by Johnson Matthey for the last 24 years, is married and has 3 daughters.

Business Update: Ted Dolan gave the CAP a business update. The plant is operating at 97% capacity utilization, which should ideally be around 85%. Lonza has entered into a Strategic Charter with Merck; Lonza is one of four vendors who have attained this status. Currently, the site is not profitable, although the site is full through 2009.

Hiring Update: Ted Dolan presented a hiring update for Lonza Riverside. There are currently 195 full time, permanent employees on site. The current openings are as follows: 1 Product Manager, 1 Operations Director, 1 HR Manager, 1 Quality Director, 3 QA Specialists, 3 QC Chemists, and 1 Production Chemist. Lonza uses a variety of recruiting methods, including employee referrals, newspaper advertisements, and on line advertisements. Lonza prefers candidates who have cGMP and/or manufacturing experience.

PCIC Security Seminar & Exercise: Jen Schauble gave the CAP the details regarding an upcoming PCIC (Pennsylvania Chemical Industry Council) Security Seminar and Exercise that she and Don Hoffman will be attending on December 13, 2007. A tabletop exercise will be conducted, and speakers will be presenting details on upcoming security legislation and regulations, workplace violence, and background screening of employees.

Site Security Enhancements: Past practice at Lonza Riverside has been that uniformed employees were not required to wear their employee ID badges while in uniform. This policy has been revised; now all employees must wear their ID badges while on site at all times. Lonza Riverside is also considering adding random bag and car checks upon exiting the facility; the feasibility of this is currently being determined.

DHS Top Screen Survey: The Department of Homeland Security released Appendix A on November 2, 2007. Once the appendix, which contains a list of chemicals along with a threshold quantity for each, is published in the Federal Register, Lonza Riverside will have 60 days to do the required Top Screen Survey. Once the surveys are complete, each facility will be put into their applicable tier. The anti-terrorism standard establishes risk-based performance standards, and requires covered facilities to prepare Security Vulnerability Assessments, and develop/implement Site Security Plans. Lonza Riverside uses approximately 20 chemicals that are in Appendix A.

4-Command System: Don Hoffman introduced the 4-Command system to the CAP. The goal of the system is to quickly assess the impact of an incident, identify additional resources needed and provide their contact information, document standard responses to incidents, use as a teaching tool for standard responses, capture new knowledge as it becomes available, provide relevant documents and recommendations during responses, and record actions taken during a response.

Wishing you all a happy holiday season, and the CAP will reconvene in 2008!

February 28, 2007
Present:

Click here to view the Powerpoint presentation from the February 28 CAP meeting. (117k)

The meeting began at 6:30 p.m. with a welcome from Jen Schauble.

Personnel Update: Jen Schauble informed the CAP that as of 3/1/07, Tim Harrigan has transitioned to the role of Business Sector Controller for the Bioscience Business Sector of Lonza. Lonza Riverside is being led provisionally by John Belvedere.

John has been at the Riverside site for 22 years; his most recent role was as Production Operations Director. John graduated from St. Joseph’s University with a degree in Chemistry, and is the father of three.

Business Update: John Belvedere gave the CAP a business update. The plant is currently full; we are looking for ways to open capacity. Lonza Switzerland will be sending over employees to help in the short-term; Lonza Riverside is looking to fill positions permanently. The plant is looking to continue to grow with regard to new business opportunities.

Hiring Update: Rosemary Jenkins presented a hiring update for Lonza Riverside. There are currently 178 employees on site; the goal by the end of 2007 is to have 185 employees on site. The current openings are as follows: four Chemical Operators, one Product Manager, one Regulatory Specialist, one Operations Leader, one Shift Supervisor, one Production Chemist, one QC Validation Specialist, and one QC Shift Chemist. Lonza uses a variety of recruiting methods, including employee referrals, newspaper advertisements, and on line advertisements. Lonza prefers candidates who have cGMP and/or manufacturing experience.

C-TPAT Application: Don Hoffman gave an overview of the C-TPAT (Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism) program. It is a voluntary program that is the result of an initiative to build cooperative relationships that strengthen and improve overall international supply chain and US Border Security. Lonza, Inc. has elected to join this program which involves the complete supply chain of materials imported into the US. Lonza, once their application is approved, will need to follow specific criteria to keep their certification and will be encouraged to do business only with other C-TPAT members. The criteria to keep the certification includes Point of Origin, Container Security, Container Inspection, Physical Access Controls, Information Technology Security, Personnel Security, Procedural Security, and Security Training/Threat Awareness. Benefits of this voluntary program include enhancing employee/community safety and customer security, in addition to increasing the reliability of receiving the proper material on time and uncompromised.

Les Glauner suggested running a drill with local authorities that encompasses security and hazardous materials, for instance, receiving a suspicious package on site. The CAP agreed this would be a worthwhile effort, and Don Hoffman will work towards this goal.

Safety Milestone: Sam Miriello told the CAP that the site achieved their goal of working 1,000,000 man hours without a Days Away from Work Injury.

New Business: Richard Dougert presented a traffic plan that is going to be presented shortly to the Upper Merion Township Board of Supervisors that will open Renaissance Boulevard to Yerkes. The CAP reviewed the plans and the map provided; the Gulph Mills Civic Association would welcome corporate support when this plan is presented to the township for approval.

Les Glauner told the CAP that there will be two opportunities for Lonza to provide financial support: The Montgomery County Child Advocacy Center is being built in East Norriton to provide a centralized location where abused children can be examined and interviewed; also, the Upper Merion Police Department is forming The Upper Merion Police Association. One of the goals of the Association will be to give back to the community by supporting local sports teams, etc.

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