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That's the sound of hail, one of Jeff Simmons' earliest memories. It wiped out the great crop on his family's farm in Upstate New York. Life on the farm shaped Jeff Simmons, led him to a career that fit perfectly with his passion for nature and animals. For us, it's in the center of our business. It's about animals. Healthy animals are essential. We at Elanco are part of a coalition – farmers, veterinarians, and many others – that believe healthy animals are the X factor, the unexpected, game-changing variable that will unlock solutions. Elanco Animal Health president and CEO Jeff Simmons on bridging the gap between what consumers want, what animals need, and preserving the environment. Get to know him on this edition of the Business and Beyond podcast.
Hello and welcome to the Business and Beyond podcast presented by PNC. I'm Gary Dick. Jeff Simmons' affinity for animals really goes back to his days growing up on his parents' farm in the Finger Lakes region of Upstate New York. Family started out on the dairy side of farming but switched to growing grapes, which helped create juices, jams, and jellies for one of the most recognizable brands in the country, Welch's. Simmons took his passion for animals and nature to Cornell University, where he majored in business administration, management, and agriculture. He eventually wound up in Indiana at Elanco Animal Health, where he spent the past decade as president and CEO. During his tenure, the company has quadrupled in size, completed nearly 15 acquisitions, and built five new businesses. And I'm pleased to be joined on the podcast this week by Elanco CEO Jeff Simmons. Jeff, really appreciate you taking the time to join us. How are you?
I am great, Gary. Thank you. Thanks for all you do for Indiana business and making us all better leaders.
Well, I appreciate that very much. And to say you've had a lot going on at Elanco is an understatement over the past couple of years. Just an amazing string of things happening at Elanco with huge impact obviously on the company but also on the state of Indiana. First of all, hopefully we're coming out of this pandemic now. How have you and the company, in your view, fared through this very challenging period of the pandemic?
Yeah, I think a couple things. I mean, we're going to look back on this as historical. From a leadership perspective, we went into it leaning into it. We locked down the Bayer deal and the financing for the deal literally days before COVID hit us, and so we had to do the industry's largest acquisition, converging these two companies and bringing them together virtually. I told you that was impossible. I think the second thing though is we saw – and you saw this too, Gary – the impact that animals have. We have a slogan that says 'By making animals' lives better, we make life better.' We saw meat cases empty when COVID hit, we saw animal shelters empty – everybody got a dog or got a second dog or a cat. And so we all at Elanco saw the importance of what we do when the world had its back to the wall. Animals matter, protein and pets matter. Food and companionship enrich life. We saw it, and I think it refired us in our why as we leaned into this pandemic, having to pull off what seemed like an impossible putting Bayer and Elanco together. And I can say it's done. We're standing this thing up and we're winning. We're turning in a very good year.
Yeah. You know, so many people know the Elanco name here in Indiana, but I don't know if people truly appreciate what Elanco has become, especially with this Bayer acquisition. Give people an idea of what was created, what has been created now by that combination, and what Elanco is today.
Yeah. So, you know, a real credit – I always start with Eli Lilly. It's in our name: Elanco stands for Eli Lilly and Company. We wouldn't be where we are. They believed in us back in that time when we became a business unit, 2007 or so, and the journey began. And we started Lilly Companion Animal Care with Prozac as a drug that helped with separation anxiety in dogs. So Lilly. And then our people – I just mentioned our people are passionate, Gary. These are people that love livestock, love pets, veterinarians, farm backgrounded people. The depth of wanting to be here, this is their company and these are their customers. I think those are the key ingredients. So what we've done with Bayer and Elanco is we've got one of the only companies in the world that can reach the world's animals. Elanco over 150 countries, 19 species of animals that we're making their lives better. Cats and dogs are obvious, but how about tilapia in China, the water buffalo in India, salmon in Chile, to cats in Seattle – we cover the gamut. And by doing that, what do we do? And what we're going to do on the west side of Indianapolis with this new headquarters is it's going to be a campus for us and our partners, as we call it the epicenter to where we then can reach the world's animals. So if you have a new product or you have a device or you're in telemedicine, we can help you with SAP, regulatory, sales, supply chain, reach the world's animals.
Yeah, it is an amazing story. You mentioned this new campus, which I think the word transformational sometimes is overused, but I think this development in the old GM Stamping Plant site along the White River, west side of downtown Indianapolis, has the opportunity to transform that area. Jeff, talk about this investment. As I remember, about a $300 million announcement, global headquarters along the banks of the White River, a campus. Give us the thumbnail description of what ultimately this is going to look like.
Yeah, well, credit to the state and the city, the mayor and the governor and all the officials and the leaders, private, nonprofit. Look, we went to other states, we went to other places, we spent days touring, and it made me a very proud Hoosier to say, look, this is a state that wants to work together and is determined to make our state not only a great place to work and a state that does work – I think is our slogan – but one that actually collaborates and is determined to be a leader. And they saw and they caught the vision of being a leader in animals. We want to be one of the cornerstones in this city with healthcare and with sports and everything else; we want animals to be that. And so on the west side, the vision is we want to transform it. If you fly over Indianapolis, there's not a whole lot. I was at the zoo yesterday meeting with the president of the zoo, talking with Robert about what we're going to do on the west side of Indianapolis. We're going to build a campus; it's going to be a post-COVID campus, a destination for all employees all over the world. Whether it's Fishers or Muncie, it's better to come to the campus. So a lot of open space, not just laboratories and administrative, but it's going to be places where we can create an experience for employees and for customers. And we're going to bring a lot of the major animal conventions and customer events to Indianapolis as well, and combine it with the complements of a convention city that Indianapolis has.
Yeah, and you touched on it there, but so much of the focus and so much of this campus is about the need to attract and keep talent, right?
It is. And you know, some of that comes with why come to Indianapolis. You know all the great things: if you want rural America, in 20 minutes you can be in rural America and have a barn and horses; you can be on downtown Indianapolis Fountain Square, Mass Ave – we've got a lot of employees there, or in one of the great suburbs. That's one. But look at all the partnerships from IU and Purdue to the great partnership with CICP, Mitch Frazier and AgriNovus. The ability to bring this together. And then, lastly, if we employed, if all the employees voted, they would have picked this site versus others because of the community on the west side. We want to join the community, we want to be part of it. That community is connected to that GM Stamping Plant; we want to replace that, but what we want to do is create, continue to keep the connection that they have with the 400 or so neighbors that we now have on the west side.
Yeah, and your investment too, as you talked about it, goes beyond Indianapolis and to other areas of the state. Actually my hometown of Clinton, Indiana – I know they're very excited about that with the Elanco operation that's there.
Yeah, we have one of the largest facilities and again, I think one of the lead employers in Vermillion County, as well as we have been in Hancock, and so we'll continue to do that and continue to build as we grow, and even look at ways to bring manufacturing and other things more and more to the state.
Yeah. As you look, Jeff, I know you're very passionate about efforts in the need to feed the world and the challenges that face the globe going forward. And you really feel, I know, that Elanco is and will continue to play a key role in that, but you think Indiana is really positioned to play a key role in that whole equation of feeding the globe.
Yes, I do. And I just recently had an engagement with both the governor as well as Secretary Chambers, our economic secretary, with a strong vision, his five E's. When I think about entrepreneurship and energy and engagement, I'll just give you a couple examples. You highlighted in the opening what I call the triangle of opportunity: give consumers what they want, give animals what they need, and use less environment. In the center of that is the Elanco livestock side business model. So how do we continue? We've helped bring 25 candidates into our pipeline to remove human-use antibiotics for growth promotion in animals. We've been a leader; we spoke at the White House in 2012, and I can say we've helped do that. At the same time, when a consumer wants something or it's been labeled that way, it doesn't necessarily mean the animal. Healthy animals make great healthy food. So the importance of being able to bring vaccines and enzymes or non-human antibiotics by animal in a very prudent way by veterinarians to keep animals healthy. The last thing I'm most excited about, that our team – Colleen Decker in Communications, a lot of others on our science side – is how we can reduce methane. That's the way we can cool the climate. Greenhouse gases: carbon and methane. Carbon lasts a thousand years, that's fine for the long term, but how we cool the climate in the next nine years is actually making animals healthy, impacting and reducing methane from animals. Farmers can get credits from other industries and make money. There are dairy farmers in Indiana today making as much off the environment from credits and reducing methane as they are on milk. So watch our industry help cool the climate this decade. We can take you to farms today in Indiana that are already doing that. We will help lead and drive for our customers in that direction.
Yeah. What's the biggest challenge? I'm sure there are several, but in your view, as you look to the future, to doing the things you'd like to see happen at Elanco and elsewhere across the industry, what's the biggest challenge? Is there one that really stands out?
Plus a few. I think the first is people. Right people in the right place. This great resignation that's happening – I can live in Anderson, Indiana and work for someone in China. I think there's a new level field on talent, and the war on talent is a whole another game. So we've got to get right sized and get right people in right places and get the right talent to do what I just described. We've got lots of challenges like the environment and others that are big opportunities. It's all about people unlocking those opportunities and executing against them, bringing a new product, getting a supply chain. So I think the game changed the last 24 months in talent. The companies that can adapt and separate themselves and show a bigger purpose – that's the Elanco calling. We're going to cool the climate, we're going to help stop obesity with more protein in a more affordable way, and we're going to impact the anxiety that's rising in this world by companion pets living longer, healthier lives. So talent's one. Two, I think innovation matters. Regulatory bodies and bringing innovation, just like an Eli Lilly or a Cummins, just like us – you've got to innovate and stay ahead, have good IP, and innovate. Those would be two things. If we get the people right, we get the innovation right, the rest is an execution story.
You can tell Jeff Simmons is a very passionate guy about his business and about global affairs as well. Where did that passion come from? We'll talk a little bit about that – growing up in Upstate New York, his path to Elanco and Indiana – and much more when the Business and Beyond podcast returns.
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Welcome back to the Business and Beyond podcast presented by PNC. My guest this week is Jeff Simmons, president and CEO at Elanco Animal Health. And Jeff, so much going on with the company. I think your story is interesting. You've been with Elanco now for 32 years, three decades. You have seen and led amazing change at the company. Think back to your arrival here, because Elanco was a unit essentially of the Eli Lilly company. Think back to those early days and what it was like when you first arrived here.
Yeah, you know, I came here in April of 1989, a fresh graduate out of Cornell, a farm boy from Upstate New York. My dad always had a principle: for all of us kids, you had to leave the family business for two years. So through the interviewing process, I got selected to come to Indianapolis as a final candidate. I remember distinctly at a pay phone in the old Indianapolis Airport calling my dad after the interviews and recalling two things: first of all, it's not Elanco, it's Elanco. And then I said, 'Hey, they laugh a lot in the hallways and they talk like it's their own company.' I remember visiting that Lilly corporate site and the Elanco people – they loved what they do. Today, Gary, we call that culture. And the other is they would say 'my product and my customers and my.' Out of all the people I interviewed with – Welch's and Gallo and all these companies – I never saw that. Today, 32 years later, why I selected this company and why I'm here and why I love the people – they're my friends, deep friends – it's all about a culture. We don't take ourselves too seriously; there's humility. You keep the customer bigger than you, the cause, the company bigger than you. We don't need parking spots in parking garages and doors on our offices; stay small. And two, it's all about ownership – own this thing, own our destination, don't let the outside change faster than the inside. That was the story back in the 80s. I remember in the 1990s we had three big products – Brendan Fox was the president – and we were going to get three big products, and they didn't come: BST, Recombinant Dairy, and another compound. All of them didn't happen. I remember him standing up on a pedestal in the Lilly center with all of us sitting there and he said, 'We're going to grow this business. We're going to innovate without products.' And we grew that whole decade. It taught me that you can't be dependent on one thing, but the power of – what's changed the world? Can a small group of people change the world? Absolutely, it's the only thing that has. That's a lot of the story of Elanco and the blessing I've had to be able to work in that kind of culture.
