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n e w h a v e n b i z . c o m | D e c e m b e r 2 0 2 1 | n e w h a v e n B I Z 9 U.S. market, and we look forward to some international expansion. ere is a ton of research that will tell you that handwriting is still extremely important. e physical act of writing, especially at the youngest of ages, has cognitive benefits that can't be replicated on a screen. So that is definitely going to stay. ere is a desire to digital detox. We offer creative outlets, so you can do some adult coloring, you can do bullet journaling, you can just doodle like I do sometimes. You can write your wife a love letter like I did last night. But digital writing is here to stay, and that is one of the reasons we love Rocketbook so much. We allow people the experience of still physi- cally writing on a surface, and then they can digitize whatever they have written, drawn, made a list of and deal with it digitally. So it has charac- ter recognition. You can email it, text it, or load it into the cloud. at is just the beginning of our digital writing journey. I am really excited about how we can continue to build out in this growth sector. BIC launched a line of products made from at least 50 percent recycled plastics. How is the company focused on environmental issues? From the sustainability perspective, the tone at the top is extremely im- portant. Sustainability is very import- ant to me. When I took over in my leadership capacity, one of the things I did was I added sustainability as an organization value. We made some ambitious commit- ments to ourselves and our stakehold- ers. Our sustainability commitments are for 100% reusable, recyclable or compostable packaging by 2025, and 50% non-virgin [recycled] petroleum plastics in products by 2030. at is going to require quite a bit of adaptation internally and working with our suppliers to make sure we can meet that ambition, but I am con- fident. It involves a ton of research and development, working with new vendors, changing how we do things, while never, ever sacrificing the quali- ty, value and safety of our products. How successful have BIC's new product launches been? We also have a temporary tattoo business called BodyMark that we are very proud of and we think has great legs for the future. BodyMark is probably one of the key highlights of this year. It is driving a substantial amount of our growth both in the U.S. and globally. We launched a couple of creativity lines, with the biggest brand name being Intensity [coloring and marker] products. ey are designed to allow people to express their greatest cre- ativity, either through drawing, bullet journaling or other uses. We have added brand support and partnerships and digital campaigns behind that, to really connect those new products with the consumer in a way that is more augmented than we might have done in years past. We launched a product about a year ago called Easy Reach, with a campaign with Snoop Dogg and Martha Stewart. It has gone viral and done pretty well and has connected with youth in a very special way. Has the pandemic had any impact on the company? It has definitely taught us that we need to be agile and inventive and very determined in the face of challenges. Our team members didn't miss a beat. We pivoted to full online. It has allowed us to really challenge ourselves, on how we work and how we share information. I know we are never going back to what it was. I am thrilled with the hybrid working models we have instituted all over the world. It has actually allowed us to be more nimble. In the last two years, the lighter business has been, forgive the pun, completely on fire, linked to cocooning. People have been barbecuing more, they have candles at home and they are outdoors. How many employees/locations do you have in Connecticut now, and what's their focus? We have two locations, the Milford facility and our corporate headquarters in Shelton. As of September 2021, BIC has 409 employees in Connecticut. e Connecticut employees form three different groups. e first is the Milford manufacturing facility. ey make lighters. In our Shelton headquarters facility, you have two groups of people. One group is BIC North America, so they are focused on the commercial operations, the marketing, the sales and the supply chain of the U.S. business. And then you have our global team that runs the global business. About half of them are based here in the U.S. Our [international] corporate headquarters is in Clichy, France. To what extent is BIC committed to maintaining its Connecticut presence? We have been here 50 years, we have roots so deep I can't see them in the ground. I have four kids who go to Connecticut schools. My wife was born in Connecticut. I was born in Con- necticut. We love this state. Many manufacturers have had trou- ble finding enough employees. What about BIC? In general, labor markets have been very tough in the last two years for a va- riety of reasons. We offer a very compel- ling reason to join the organization. In our manufacturing locations, we have some very tenured people. You are talking about highly automated machinery that requires months, if not years, to be very skilled at run- ning. So we have a lot of training and development. We are always on the lookout for team members who want to join the organization. n Credit: Gerald Wenner Credit: Photos by Dex Credit: Gather New Haven Your Giving Your Way Taking your giving to the next level A donor advised fund at The Community Foundation is your personal account for charitable giving. It offers you the flexibility to pool and invest a variety of charitable assets and the convenience of supporting charitable organizations when and where you choose. Learn more at cfgnh.org/dafnow or call 203-777-7071. Credit: Gerald Wenner Credit: Photos by Dex Credit: Gather New Haven Your Giving Your Way Taking your giving to the next level A donor advised fund at The Community Foundation is your personal account for charitable giving. It offers you the flexibility to pool and invest a variety of charitable assets and the convenience of supporting charitable organizations when and where you choose. Learn more at cfgnh.org/dafnow or call 203-777-7071. Credit: Gerald Wenner Credit: Photos by Dex Your Giving Your Taking your giving to the A donor advised fund at The Community is your personal account for charitable It offers you the flexibility to pool and of charitable assets and the convenience charitable organizations when and where Learn more at cfgnh.org/dafnow or call 203-777-7071. Credit: Gerald Wenner Credit: Photos by Dex Credit: Gather New Haven Credit: Christina Sutton-Goubourn Your Giving Your Way BIC has hired high-profile celebs Martha Stewart and Snoop Dogg, to help market its new EZ Reach lighter products.

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