UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
SCHEDULE 14A
Proxy Statement Pursuant to Section 14(a)
of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
(Amendment No. )
Filed by the Registrant x☒
Filed by a Party other than the Registrant ¨☐
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| ☐ | Preliminary Proxy Statement | ☐ | Confidential, for Use of the Commission Only (as | ||
| ☒ | Definitive Proxy Statement | permitted by Rule 14a-6(e)(2)) | |||
| ☐ | Definitive Additional Materials | ||||
| ☐ | Soliciting Material Pursuant to §240.14a-12 |
ULTRALIFE CORPORATION
(Name of Registrant as Specified In Its Charter)
(Name of Person(s) Filing Proxy Statement, if other than the Registrant)
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ULTRALIFE CORPORATION | |
2000 Technology Parkway | |
Newark, New York 14513 |
June 3, 2019
ULTRALIFE CORPORATION
2000 Technology Parkway
Newark, New York 14513
April 22, 2016
To Our Shareholders:
You
On behalf of the Board of Directors of Ultralife Corporation (the “Company”) you are cordially invited to attend the 20162019 Annual Meeting of Shareholders of Ultralife Corporationthe Company on Wednesday, June 1, 2016July 24, 2019 at 11:009:30 A.M. local time at the Hilton Chicago O’Hare Airport, O’Hare International Airport, Chicago, IL 60666.Sugar Land Marriott Town Square, 16090 City Walk, Sugar Land, TX 77479.
This year, we are again providing our proxy materials overon the Internet. Accordingly, we are mailing to many of our shareholders a Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials (the “Notice”) instead of a paper copy of our Proxy Statement and our 20152018 Annual Report to Shareholders. The Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials contains instructions about how to access those documents and vote online. The Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials also contains instructions about how each of our shareholders can also receive a paper copy of our proxy materials, including the Proxy Statement, our 20152018 Annual Report to Shareholders and a form of proxy card or voting instruction card. By taking advantage of the Securities and Exchange Commission Rules permitting this distribution process, wethe Company will not only conserve natural resources, but we will also reduce our costs of printing and distributing proxy materials.
Your continued interest in the Company is greatly appreciated. We look forward to a productive annual meeting.
Very truly yours, | |||
| |||
Michael D. Popielec, | |||
President and Chief Executive Officer |
ULTRALIFE CORPORATION |
2000 Technology Parkway |
Newark, New York 14513 |
NOTICE OF ANNUAL MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS |
JULY 24, 2019 |
ULTRALIFE CORPORATION
2000 Technology Parkway
Newark, New York 14513
NOTICE OF ANNUAL MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS
JUNE 1, 2016
Notice is hereby given that the 20162019 Annual Meeting of Shareholders of Ultralife Corporation will be held on Wednesday, June 1, 2016July 24, 2019 at 11:009:30 A.M. local time at the Hilton Chicago O’Hare Airport, O’Hare International Airport, Chicago, IL 60666Sugar Land Marriott Town Square, 16090 City Walk, Sugar Land, TX 77479 for the following purposes:
1. | To elect six directors for a term of one year and until their successors are duly elected and qualified; |
2. | To ratify the selection of Freed Maxick CPAs, P.C. as our independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending December 31, |
3. | To transact such other business as may properly come before the meeting and any adjournments thereof. |
Only shareholders of record of our common stock, par value $.10 per share, at the close of business on April 5, 2016May 28, 2019 are entitled to receive notice of, and to vote at and attend our Annual Meeting. Your vote is important. Whether or not you plan to attend our Annual Meeting, we hope that you will vote as soon as possible. If you received only a Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials (the “Notice”) by mail, you may vote your shares at the Internet site address listed on your Notice of Internet Availability.Notice. You may also request a paper copy of our proxy materials by visiting the Internet site address listed on yourthe Notice, of Internet Availability, by calling the toll-free number or by sending an e-mail to the e-mail address listed on your Notice of Internet Availability.the Notice. If you received a paper copy of the proxy materials by mail, you may vote your shares by proxy by doing any one of the following: vote at the Internet site address listed on your proxy or voting instruction card; call the toll-free number listed on your proxy or voting instruction card; or sign, date and return in the pre-addressed envelope provided the enclosed proxy or voting instruction card.card in the pre-addressed envelope provided.
By Order of the Board of Directors | |||
| |||
Bradford T. Whitmore, | |||
Chair of the Board of Directors |
Dated: June 3, 2019
Dated: April 22, 2016
| ||||
1 | ||||
Quorum | 2 | |||
Vote Required | 2 | |||
Abstentions | 3 | |||
Broker Voting | 3 | |||
3 | ||||
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE | 6 | |||
| 6 | |||
7 | ||||
Shareholder Recommendations and Standards for Director Nominations | 8 | |||
8 | ||||
8 | ||||
8 | ||||
| 9 | |||
Related Party Transactions | 9 | |||
Risk Management | 9 | |||
| 9 | |||
Annual Retainers | 10 | |||
Director Compensation Table | 10 | |||
EXECUTIVE OFFICERS | 11 | |||
| ||||
12 | ||||
| 12 | |||
| 13 | |||
15 | ||||
Employment Arrangements | 16 | |||
| 17 | |||
17 | ||||
Proposal 2 Ratify the selection of our independent registered public accounting firm | 18 | |||
Principal Accountant Fees and Services | 18 | |||
19 | ||||
| 20 | |||
20 | ||||
21 | ||||
SECTION | 21 | |||
Submission of Shareholder Proposals | 22 |
IMPORTANT |
REGARDLESS OF WHETHER YOU PLAN TO ATTEND THE MEETING, WE ENCOURAGE THEIR BROKER REGARDING HOW TO VOTE. YOUR BROKER CANNOT VOTE YOUR SHARES FOR DIRECTOR NOMINEES, UNLESS YOU PROVIDE YOUR BROKER WITH VOTING INSTRUCTIONS. SEE “BROKER VOTING” FOR MORE INFORMATION. |
|
2000 Technology Parkway |
Newark, New York 14513 |
(315) 332-7100 |
Proxy Statement |
Annual Meeting of Shareholders |
TO BE HELD ON JULY 24, 2019 |
IMPORTANT
REGARDLESS OF WHETHER YOU PLAN TO ATTEND THE MEETING, WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO VOTE IN ANY OF THE MANNERS DESCRIBED IN THIS PROXY STATEMENT. WE ALSO ENCOURAGE BENEFICIAL OWNERS TO FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS PROVIDED BY YOUR BROKER REGARDING HOW TO VOTE. YOUR BROKER CANNOT VOTE YOUR SHARES FOR DIRECTOR NOMINEES OR PROPOSAL 2 UNLESS YOU PROVIDE YOUR BROKER WITH VOTING INSTRUCTIONS. SEE “BROKER VOTING” FOR MORE INFORMATION.
ULTRALIFE CORPORATION
2000 Technology Parkway
Newark, New York 14513
(315) 332-7100
PROXY STATEMENT
ANNUAL MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS
JUNE 1, 2016
INFORMATION CONCERNING SOLICITATION AND VOTING
We are furnishing this proxy statement to our shareholders in connection with our Board of Directors’ solicitation of proxies for use at our 20162019 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, which we refer to in this proxy statement as the Meeting, to be held on Wednesday, June 1, 2016,July 24, 2019, at 11:009:30 A.M. local time and at any adjournments or postponements thereof. The Meeting will be held at the Hilton Chicago O’Hare Airport, O’Hare International Airport, Chicago, IL 60666.Sugar Land Marriott Town Square, 16090 City Walk, Sugar Land, TX 77479.
In accordance with rules and regulations adopted by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), instead of mailing a printed copy of our proxy materials to each shareholder of record, we are now furnishing proxy materials to our shareholders on the Internet. If you received only a Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials (the “Notice”) by mail, you will not receive a printed copy of the proxy materials unless you request a copy. Instead, the Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials will instruct you how to access and review the proxy materials overon the Internet. The Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials will also instruct you as to how you may submit your proxy or voting instruction card over the Internet. If you received only a Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials by mail and would like to receive a printed copy of our proxy materials, please follow the instructions for requesting those materials included in the Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials.Notice.
The Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials iswas first being sent to our shareholders on or about April 22, 2016June 3, 2019 and our proxy materials arewere first being made available to our shareholders on or about April 22, 2016.June 3, 2019.
You may vote by proxy or in person at the Meeting. If you received only athe Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials by mail, you may vote your shares online by proxy at the Internet site address listed on your Notice of Internet Availability. You may also request a paper copy of our proxy materials by (i) visiting the Internet site address, (ii) calling the toll-free number or (iii) by sending an email to the email address listed on your Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials.the Notice. If you received a paper copy of the proxy materials by mail, you may vote your shares by proxy by doing any one of the following: vote at the Internet site address listed on your proxy or voting instruction card; call the toll-free number listed on your proxy or voting instruction card; or mail your signed and dated proxy
or voting instruction card to our tabulator in the self-addressed envelope provided. Even if you plan to attend the Meeting in person, we recommend that you vote by proxy prior to the Meeting. You can always change your vote as described below.
When a proxy card is returned properly signed and dated, the shares represented thereby will be voted in accordance with the shareholder’s directions. If the proxy is signed, dated and returned without choices having been specified, the shares will be votedFOR the election of each director-nominee named therein andFOR the other proposals identified therein.
You may receive more than one Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials or more than one paper copy of the proxy materials, including multiple paper copies of this proxy statement and multiple proxy or voting instruction cards, depending on how you hold your shares. For example, if you hold your shares in more than one brokerage account, you may receive a separate Notice, of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials, a separate e-mail or a separate voting instruction card for each brokerage account in which you hold your shares. If you are a shareholder of record and your shares are registered in more than one name, you may receive more than one Notice, of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials, more than one e-mail or more than one proxy card. To vote all of your shares by proxy, you must (i) vote at the Internet site address listed on yourthe Notice, of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials, proxy or voting instruction card;card, (ii) call the toll-free number listed on your proxy or voting instruction card;card, or (iii) sign, date and return each proxy card and voting instruction card that you receive.
If for any reason any of the nominees for election as directors become unavailable for election, the holders of the proxies will exercise discretionary authority to vote for substitute nominees proposed by our Board of Directors. A shareholder has the right to revoke a previously granted proxy at any time before it is voted by filing with our Corporate Secretary a written notice of revocation, or a duly executed later-dated proxy, or by requesting return of the proxy and voting in person at the Meeting.
We will bear the cost of soliciting proxies. In addition to the solicitation of proxies by use of the mails, some of our officers, directors and regular employees, without extra remuneration, may solicit proxies personally or by telephone, email or similar transmission. We have not engaged a proxy solicitation firm, but we may decide to retain the services of a proxy solicitation firm in the future if we believe it is appropriate under the circumstances. In those situations where the beneficial owner of shares is not the record holder, we will reimburse record holders for reasonable expenses in forwarding proxies and proxy soliciting material to the beneficial owners of the shares.
Only shareholders of record at the close of business on April 5, 2016May 28, 2019 are entitled to notice of, and to vote at, the Meeting. As of April 5, 2016,May 28, 2019, there were 15,326,23915,738,768 shares of our common stock, par value $.10 per share, issued and outstanding, each entitled to one vote per share at the Meeting.
Quorum
A majority of the outstanding shares of our common stock, represented in person or by proxy at the Meeting, will constitute a quorum with respect to the voting of proposals submitted to the shareholders, as described in this proxy statement. For purposes of determining whether a quorum is present, shareholders of record who are present at the Meeting in person or by proxy are considered to be present at the Meeting.
The table below showsdescribes the vote required at the Meeting to approve each of the proposals described in this proxy statement, assuming the presence of a quorum:
Proposal | Vote Required | ||||
1. | Election of directors | Plurality of the shares present in person or by proxy at the Meeting and entitled to vote | |||
2. | Ratification of the selection of Freed Maxick CPAs, P.C. as our independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending December 31, | Majority of the shares present in person or by proxy at the Meeting and entitled to vote* |
* The selection of Freed Maxick CPAs, P.C. is being presented to our shareholders for ratification. The Audit and Finance Committee will consider the outcome of this vote when selecting our independent registered public accounting firm for this and subsequent fiscal years but may, in its discretion, determine to maintain its selection of Freed Maxick CPAs, P.C.
Abstentions
Shares that abstain from voting on one or more proposals to be acted on at the Meeting are considered to be present for the purpose of determining whether a quorum exists. Abstentions will have no effect on the election of directors; however, abstentions will have the effect of voting against the other proposal set forth in this proxy statement, because abstentions are deemed to be present and entitled to vote but do not count toward the affirmative vote required to approve the proposal.
Broker Voting
If you own your shares through a broker and do not provide your broker with specific voting instructions, your broker will have the discretion under the rules governing brokers who havehold record ownership of shares that they hold in street name for their clients to vote your shares on routine matters but not otherwise. The only proposal being submitted to the shareholders whichthat is considered routine and as to which brokers may exercise discretion to vote is Proposal 2 concerning ratification of the selection of our independent registered public accounting firm. Brokers will not be permitted to vote shares they hold as nominee in their discretion infor the election of directors.If you want your shares held in your broker account to be counted in the election of directors,directors and/or proposal 2,you must provide instructions to your broker on how to vote your shares.
A broker non-vote occurs when shares held by a broker are not voted on a non-routine proposal because the broker has not received voting instructions from the beneficial owner and the broker lacks discretionary authority to vote the shares in the absence of such instructions. Shares subject to broker non-votes are considered to be present for the purpose of determining whether a quorum exists and thus count towards satisfying the quorum requirement, but are not counted for purposes of determining the number of shares entitled to vote on non-routine matters. A broker non-vote will have no effect on the election of directors or on the approval of anthe advisory resolution on executive compensation since, with respect to non-routine matters, shares representing broker non-votes will not be counted for purposes of determining the number of shares entitled to vote on such proposals.
ELECTION OF DIRECTORS
Our Board of Directors currently has six directors, each of whom has been nominated to serve for an additional one-year term. If elected, each director standing for election shall serve until the next annual meeting of shareholders and until his or her successor shall have been duly elected and qualified. The names of, and certain information with respect to, the persons nominated for election as directors are presented below.
Name | Age | |||||
| Present Principal Occupation, Employment History and Expertise | |||||
Steven M. Anderson | 62 | Brigadier General (Ret.) Anderson has been a director of the Company since April 13, 2010. General (Ret.) Anderson |
Name | Age | |||||
| Present Principal Occupation, Employment History and Expertise | |||||
Michael D. Popielec | 57 | Mr. Popielec has served as our President and Chief Executive Officer and as a director of the Company since December 30, 2010. Mr. Popielec has 30 years experience in growing domestic and international industrial businesses. Prior to joining us, Mr. Popielec operated his own management consulting business in 2009 to 2010 and was Group President, Applied Technologies in 2008 and 2009 and Group President, Diversified Components from 2005 to 2007 at Carlisle Companies, Inc., a $2.5 billion diversified global manufacturer. Prior to that, from 2003 to 2005, he held various positions, including Chief Operating Officer, Americas, for Danka Business Systems, PLC. From 1985 to 2002, Mr. Popielec held positions of increasing responsibility at General Electric Company, culminating in his serving as a GE corporate officer and as President and Chief Executive Officer of GE Power Controls, the European arm of GE Industrial Systems. Mr. Popielec has a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Michigan State University. Mr. Popielec has been nominated for re-election to our Board of Directors because of his operations expertise and his experience in growing domestic and international industrial businesses. | ||||
Thomas L. Saeli | 62 | Mr. Saeli has been a director of the Company since March 5, 2010. Since |
Name | Age | |||||
| Present Principal Occupation, Employment History and Expertise | |||||
Robert W. Shaw II | 62 | Mr. Shaw has been a director of the Company since June 8, 2010. Currently he is on the board of directors | ||||
Ranjit C. Singh | 66 | Mr. Singh has been a director of the Company since August 2000, and served as Chair of our Board of Directors from December 2001 to June 2007. Mr. Singh is currently the Chief Executive Officer of CSR Consulting Group, which provides business and technology consulting services, a position that he has held since 2008. He previously served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Aptara, a content outsourcing services company, from February 2003 until July 2008. From February 2002 to February 2003, Mr. Singh served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Reliacast Inc., a video streaming software and services company. Prior to that, he was President and Chief Operating Officer of ContentGuard, which develops and markets digital property rights software. Before joining ContentGuard earlier in 2000, Mr. Singh worked for Xerox as a corporate Senior Vice President with various responsibilities related to its software businesses. Mr. Singh joined Xerox in 1997, having been employed by Citibank where he was Vice President of Global Distributed Computing. Mr. Singh has been nominated for re-election to our Board of Directors because of his experience as an executive of growing technology-based companies, his familiarity with international operations and his expertise in mergers and acquisitions. |
Name | Age | |||||
| Present Principal Occupation, Employment History and Expertise | |||||
Bradford T. Whitmore | 61 | Mr. Whitmore has been a director of the Company since June 2007 and Chair of our Board of Directors since March 2010. Since 1985, he has been the Managing Partner of Grace Brothers |
Our Board of Directors has approved the above-named nominees for directors. Our Board of Directors recommends a voteFOR each of these nominees. Unless otherwise directed on your proxy, your shares will be votedFOR each of the above-named nominees for directors.
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
General
Pursuant to the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware the state in which we were organized, and our By-laws, our business, property and affairs are managed under the direction of our Board of Directors. Members of our Board of Directors are kept informed of Company business through regular discussions with our President and Chief Executive Officer and our Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer and Treasurer,Secretary, by reviewing materials provided to them by the Company’s management and by participating in meetings of the Board and its committees.
Our Board of Directors has determined that all but one of our directors, Michael D. Popielec, who serves as our President and Chief Executive Officer, are “independent” for purposes of NASDAQ listing standards applicable to the Corporate Development and Governance Committee and the Compensation and Management Committee. In addition, our Board of Directors has determined that all but two of our Directors, Michael D. Popielec and Bradford T. Whitmore, our Board Chair, are independent for purposes of NASDAQ listing standards applicable to the Audit and Finance Committee. We believe that the segregation of the roles of Board Chair from that of the President and Chief Executive Officer ensures better overall governance of our Company and provides meaningful checks and balances regarding our overall performance. This structure allows our President and Chief Executive Officer to focus on our business while the Board Chair leads our Board of Directors in establishing corporate policy and enhancing our governance structure and practices.
Our Board of Directors has three standing committees: an Audit and Finance Committee, a Corporate Development and Governance Committee, and a Compensation and Management Committee. During 2015,2018, our Board of Directors held sevenfour meetings and the committees of our Board of Directors held a total of twentyfifteen meetings. During 2015,2018, Bradford T. Whitmore served as our Board Chair. As Board Chair, Mr. Whitmore served as a non-voting ex-officio member of all of our Board committees. Each director attended at least 75% of the aggregate of: (1) the total number of meetings of the Board; and (2) the total number of meetings held by all committees of the Board on which he or she served.
Our Board of Directors has adopted a charter for each of the three standing committees that addresses the composition and function of each committee and has also adopted Corporate Governance Principles that address the composition and function of the Board of Directors. These charters and Corporate Governance Principles are available on our website athttp://investor.ultralifecorporation.com under the subheading “Corporate Governance.” Pursuant to our Corporate Governance Principles, it is our policy that directors retire from service at the annual meeting following their 70th birthday.
Our Board of Directors has determined that all of the directors who serve on these committees are “independent” for purposes of NASDAQ listing standards, and that the members of the Audit and Finance Committee are also “independent” for purposes of Section 10A(m)(3) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, which we refer to in this proxy statement as the Exchange Act. Our Board of Directors based these determinations primarily on a review of the responses of the directors to questions regarding employment, compensation history, affiliations and family and other relationships, and on follow-up discussions.discussions with directors.
Committees of the Board of Directors
The composition and the functions of our three standing committees of our Board of Directors are set forth below. Our Board of Directors will meet subsequent to the Meeting to appoint members of the committees and designate Chairs of those committees from among those individuals elected at the Meeting to serve on our Board of Directors until the 20172020 Annual Meeting of Shareholders.
The current members of the Audit and Finance Committee are Thomas L. Saeli (Chair), Steven M. Anderson and Robert W. Shaw II.Ranjit C. Singh. This committee selects our independent registered public accounting firm subject to ratification of our full Board of Directors, and has oversight responsibility for reviewing the scope and results of the independent registered public accounting firm’s annual audit of our financial statements and the quality and integrity of those financial statements. Further, the committee reviews the qualifications and independence of the independent registered public accounting firm, and meets with our Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, our Corporate Controller and the independent registered public accounting firm to review matters relating to internal accounting controls, our accounting practices and procedures and other matters relating to our financial condition.condition, and has the power to engage outside counsel and other outside experts. The committee also reviews and monitors areas of financial and cybersecurity risk that could have a material impact on our Company. The Audit and Finance Committee met eightfive times during 2015.2018.
Our Board of Directors has determined that each of the members of the Audit and Finance Committee is “financially literate” in accordance with NASDAQ listing standards. In addition, our Board of Directors has determined that Mr. Saeli qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert” as defined in Item 407(d)(5) of Regulation S-K.
Corporate Development and Governance Committee
The current members of the Corporate Development and Governance Committee are Robert W. Shaw IIRanjit C. Singh (Chair), Steven M. Anderson and Ranjit C. Singh.Robert W. Shaw II. This committee works with management to develop corporate strategy and to identify and evaluate acquisition opportunities, reviews the performance and compensation of our directors annually, makes recommendations to our Board of Directors for membership and committee assignments and for the compensation of our directors, and manages the annual evaluation of the performance of our President and Chief Executive Officer and our Board Chair. The Corporate Development and Governance Committee met eightfour times during 2015.
The Corporate Development and Governance Committee identifies potential nominees for director based on its own research for appropriate candidates as well as on recommendations received by directors or from shareholders as described below. The Corporate Development and Governance Committee mayhas the authority to retain an executive search firm to assist in the identification of potential director nominees. The evaluation process and the factors considered in undertaking that evaluation are set forth under the caption “Shareholder Recommendations and Standards for Director Nominations” below.
The Corporate Development and Governance Committee also has overall responsibility for assessing and managing our exposure to risks associated with the conduct of our business.
Compensation and Management Committee
The current members of the Compensation and Management Committee are Ranjit C. SinghRobert W. Shaw II (Chair), Steven M. Anderson and Thomas L. Saeli. The Compensation and Management Committee has ultimate responsibility for determining the compensation of officers elected by our Board of Directors, granting stock options and restricted stockother equity awards and otherwise administering our equity compensation plans, and approving and administering any other compensation plans or agreements. The Compensation and Management Committee has the authority to retain outside experts in making compensation determinations. Our 2014 Long-Term Incentive Plan (“2014 LTIP”), is administered by the Compensation and Management Committee. The Compensation and Management Committee met foursix times during 2015.2018.
Shareholder Recommendations and Standards for Director Nominations
As noted above, the Corporate Development and Governance Committee considers and establishes procedures regarding recommendations for nomination to our Board of Directors, including nominations submitted by shareholders. Such recommendations, if any, should be sent to Corporate Secretary, Attn: Philip A. Fain, Ultralife Corporation, 2000 Technology Parkway, Newark, New York 14513. Any recommendations submitted to the Corporate Secretary should be in writing and should include any material the shareholder considers appropriate in support of that recommendation, but must include the information that would be required under the rules of the SEC in a proxy statement soliciting proxies for the election of such candidate and a signed consent of the candidate to serve as a director, should he or she be elected. The Corporate Development and Governance Committee evaluates all potential candidates in the same manner, regardless of the source of the recommendation.
Based on the information provided to the Corporate Development and Governance Committee with respect to director candidates, the Corporate Development and Governance Committee will make an initial determination whether to conduct a full evaluation of a candidate. The Corporate Development and Governance Committee considers the composition and size of the existing Board of Directors, along with other factors, in making its determination to conduct a full evaluation of a candidate. As part of the full evaluation process, the Corporate Development and Governance Committee may conduct interviews, obtain additional background information and conduct reference checks of candidates. The Corporate Development and Governance Committee may also ask the candidate to meet with management and other members of our Board of Directors. In evaluating a candidate, our Board of Directors, with the assistance of the Corporate Development and Governance Committee, takes into account a variety of factors as described in our Corporate Governance Principles, including the particular experience, attributes and skills that would qualify the candidate to serve as a director. The criteria for selection to our Board of Directors include character and leadership skills; general business acumen and executive experience; knowledge of strategy, finance and relations between business and government; and internal business operations – all to ensure an active Board of Directors whose members work well together and possess the collective knowledge and expertise required to meaningfully contribute as directors. Our Corporate Development and Governance Committee reviews the qualifications of director candidates with those of our current directors to augment and complement the skill sets of our current Board members. We believe that it is important for our Board of Directors to be comprised of individuals with diverse backgrounds, skills and experiences. Although we do not have a formal diversity policy and identify qualified potential candidates without regard to any particular classification, we believe that possessing a breadth of experience and qualifications, as our Board does, promotes Board diversity.
Our policy is that all of the directors, absent special circumstances, should participate in our Annual Meeting of Shareholders, either in attendanceperson or telephonically. All directors attendedparticipated in last year’s Annual Meeting of Shareholders as it was followed by a scheduled Board Meeting.Shareholders.
Executive Sessions
Our Corporate Governance Principles require our independent directors to meet in executive session regularly by requiring them to have at least four regularly scheduled meetings per year without management present. Our independent directors met in executive session sevenfour times during 2015.2018. In addition, our standing committees meet in executive session on a regular basis.
Communicating with the Board of Directors
Shareholders interested in communicating directly with our Board of Directors as a group or individually may do so in writing to our Corporate Secretary, Attn. Philip A. Fain, Ultralife Corporation, 2000 Technology Parkway, Newark, New York 14513. The Corporate Secretary will review all such correspondence and forward to our Board of Directors a summary of that correspondence and copies of any correspondence that, in his opinion, deals with the functions of the Board of Directors or that he otherwise determines requires their attention. Directors may at any time review a log of all correspondence received by us that isare addressed to members of the Board of Directors and request copies of any such correspondence. Any concerns relating to accounting, internal controls or auditing matters will be brought to the attention of the Audit and Finance Committee and handled in accordance with the procedures established by the Audit and Finance Committee with respect to such matters.
Code of Ethics
We have a Code of Ethics applicable to all employees, including our Principal Executive Officer and our Principal Financial Officer (who is also our Principal Accounting Officer)executive officers and all members of our Board of Directors. Our Code of Ethics incorporates the elements of a code of ethics specified in Item 406 of Regulation S-K and also complies with NASDAQ requirements for a code of conduct. Shareholders can find a link to this Code of Ethics on our website athttp://investor.ultralifecorporation.com under the subheading “Corporate Governance.”
Our Code of Ethics emphasizes our commitment to conducting business in a legal and ethical manner and encourages prompt and confidential reporting of any suspected violations of law or the Code of Ethics. As part of our Code of Ethics, directors and employees are expected to make business decisions and to take actions based upon the best interests of our Company and not based upon personal relationships or benefits. In conjunction with our Code of Ethics, our General Counsel conducts an annual training session with our Board of Directors with emphasis on all facets of compliance with new and existing regulations and best practices. Any potential conflict of interest, and any transaction or relationship involving our officers or directors that could give rise to a conflict of interest, must be reviewed and resolved by our Corporate Development and Governance Committee.
Related Party Transactions
We have adopted written policies and procedures for the review and approval or ratification of any “related party transaction,” as defined by Regulation S-K, Item 404. The policy provides that each related party transaction must be reviewed by our Audit and Finance Committee. The Audit and Finance Committee reviews the relevant facts and circumstances of the transaction, including if the transaction is on terms comparable to those that could be obtained in arms-length dealings with an unrelated third party and the extent of the related party’s interest in the transaction, taking into account the conflicts of interest and corporate opportunity provisions of our Code of Ethics, and either recommends that the Board of
Directors approve or disapprove the related party transaction. We will disclose all related party transactions, as required, in our filings with the SEC. To our knowledge, noNo reportable transaction existedtransactions occurred during 2015,2018 and 2017, and there are currently no such proposed transactions.
Risk Management
Our management team is responsible for assisting the Corporate Development and Governance Committee in its assessment of our exposure to risks associated with the conduct of business. We have an enterprise risk management process to identify, assess and manage the most significant risks facing our company.Company. Our Corporate Development and Governance Committee has overall responsibility to review management’s risk management process, including the policies and guidelines used by management to identify, assess and manage our exposure to risk. Our Audit and Finance Committee has oversight responsibility for financial risks and other risks that could have a material impact on our Company. Our management reviews these financial risks with our Audit and Finance Committee regularly and reviews the risk management process, as it affects financial risks, with our Audit and Finance Committee on an on-going basis.
DIRECTOR COMPENSATION
We presently use cash compensation to attract and retain qualified candidates to serve on our Board of Directors. Our practice is to survey our peer group companies every three to four yearsperiodically to ascertain whether our overall director compensation is appropriate and balanced. If we perceive that there has been a major change in our Company or the market, we may reducealter the period of time between surveys. In setting director compensation, we consider the amount of time that directors spend fulfilling their duties to us, the skill-level required by members of our Board of Directors, and, based on an independent review by our external compensation consultant, Grahall & Associates, and other publicly available director compensation data, the compensation paid to directors in similar sized organizations in our industry. Our program is designed to deliver annual director compensation at the median levels of director compensation for companies in similar industries and of similar size. As our directors are elected annually in June of each year, ourOur annual director compensation period runs from July 1 to June 30.
Annual Retainers
Each non-employee director will receive an annual cash retainer of $60,000,$68,000, except for the Board Chair, who will receive an annual cash retainer of $90,000$100,000 for the period July 1, 20152018 through June 30, 2016.2019. Each non-employee director received an annual cash retainer of $65,000, except for the Board Chair, who received an annual cash retainer of $95,000 for the period July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2018. These retainers are paid quarterly in cash. In addition, each director who is a member of a Board committee receives an additional cash retainer for such committee service. Annual retainers for Board committee service as summarized infor the tables below.
For the Periodperiods July 1, 20142017 to June 30, 2015
Annual Retainer for Committee Members | Annual Retainer for Committee Chair | |||||||
Audit and Finance Committee | $ | 6,750 | $ | 16,750 | ||||
Compensation and Management Committee | $ | 5,250 | $ | 13,250 | ||||
Corporate Development and Governance Committee | $ | 6,750 | $ | 16,750 |
For the Period2018 and July 1, 20152018 to June 30, 20162019 were the same as follows:
Annual Retainer for Committee Members | Annual Retainer for Committee Chair | |||||||||
Annual Retainer for | Annual Retainer for | |||||||||
Audit and Finance Committee | $ | 6,750 | $ | 16,750 | $6,750 | $16,750 | ||||
Compensation and Management Committee | $ | 5,250 | $ | 13,250 | $5,250 | $13,250 | ||||
Corporate Development and Governance Committee | $ | 6,750 | $ | 16,750 | $6,750 | $16,750 |
Annual retainers for both committee members and committee chairs are paid quarterly in cash. For Board and committee service during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015,2018, we paid our non-employee directors an aggregate $414,268.$447,768.
During 2014, the Compensation and Management Committee approved that in lieu of quarterly stock payments due directors on November 14, 2014, February 13, 2015 and May 15, 2015 more particularly described in the discussion below under “Directors’ Stock-Based Incentive Compensation and to be consistent with the overall objectives of our Share Repurchase Program, we would pay our directors in cash rather than in shares of our common stock. For each director other than the Board Chair, this would mean an additional $10,000 of cash compensation in lieu of shares of common stock valued at $10,000, and for the Board Chair an additional $16,500 of cash compensation in lieu of shares of common stock valued at $16,500 for each of these installments. The total amount of the cash and stock retainers paid to the directors for the period July 1, 2014 through June 30, 2015 is identical to the cash retainers to be paid to the directors for the period July 1, 2015 through June 30, 2016.
Directors’ Stock-Based Incentive Compensation
Initially, our 2014 – 2015 equity compensation program for directors provided each director with an annual award of fully-vested restricted shares of our common stock. The aggregate value of the award for eachOur non-employee director was $40,000 and the aggregate value of the award for the Board Chair was $66,000. Our directors are elected annually in June of each year. Accordingly, these grants of common stock to our current directors were scheduled to be issued in four equal installments on August 15, 2014, November 14, 2014, February 13, 2015 and May 15, 2015. In order to receive an installment of common stock, a director must be a current member of our Board of Directors on the scheduled installment payment date. To determine the number of shares of common stock to be awarded, the value of each quarterly award, which is $10,000 for each director other than the Board Chair and $16,500 for the Board Chair, was divided by the volume weighted average price (“VWAP”) of the common stock on the trading day prior to the grant date of the award. On August 15, 2014, each incumbent non-employee director other than the Board Chair received 3,012 shares of common stock and the Board Chair received 4,970 shares of common stock.
On October 29, 2014, the Compensation and Management Committee approved that in lieu of quarterly stock awards due directors on November 14, 2014, February 13, 2015 and May 15, 2015, the Company would pay our directors in cash rather than in awards of shares of our common stock. The Compensation and Management Committee took this action to be consistent with the overall objectives of our Share Repurchase Program. For each director other than the Board Chair, this would mean an additional $10,000 of cash compensation in lieu of shares of common stock valued at $10,000, and for the Board Chair an additional $16,500 of cash compensation in lieu of shares of common stock valued at $16,500 for each of these installments.
Our directors have stock ownership guidelines whichthat require them to maintain ownership of at least $40,000 of the Companyour common stock. Newly elected directors have two years from their election to the Board to achieve the stock ownership requirement. Currently, all of our non-employee directors meet the stock ownership guidelines. Refer to the Executive Officer Compensation section contained herein for stock ownership guidelines for our executive officers.
Director Compensation for 2015Table
The table below summarizes the compensation paid by us to our non-employee directors for their service during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015.2018.
Name | Fees Earned or Paid in Cash ($) | Stock Awards ($) | Option Awards ($) | Non-Equity Incentive Plan Compensation | Change in Pension Value and Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Earnings | All Other Compensation ($) | Total ($) | Fees Earned or Paid in Cash ($) | Stock Awards ($) | Option Awards ($) | Non- Equity Incentive Plan Compensation | Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Earnings | All Other Compensation ($) | Total ($) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
(1) | (2) | (3) | (4) | (5) | (6) | (2) | (3) | (4) | (5) | (6) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Steven. M. Anderson | 78,756 | — | — | — | — | — | 78,756 | Steven. M. Anderson | 85,256 | - | - | - | - | - | 85,256 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Thomas L. Saeli | 82,004 | — | — | — | — | — | 82,004 | 88,504 | - | - | - | - | - | 88,504 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Robert W. Shaw II | 83,504 | — | — | — | — | — | 83,504 | 86,504 | - | - | - | - | - | 86,504 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ranjit C. Singh | 80,004 | — | — | — | — | — | 80,004 | 90,004 | - | - | - | - | - | 90,004 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bradford T. Whitmore | 90,000 | — | — | — | — | — | 90,000 | Bradford T. Whitmore | 97,500 | - | - | - | - | - | 97,500 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 447,768 | - | - | - | - | - | 447,768 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
414,268 | — | — | — | — | — | 414,268 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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(1) | Michael D. Popielec, our President and Chief Executive Officer, is ineligible to receive compensation for his service as a director because he is also an |
(2) | There were no stock awards granted to our non-employee directors during 2018 or outstanding at December 31, 2018. |
(3) | There were no option awards granted to our non-employee |
(4) | There was no non-equity incentive plan compensation paid to our non-employee directors for the fiscal year ended December 31, |
(5) | There were no deferred compensation earnings for our non-employee |
(6) | There was no other compensation paid to our non-employee |
We are currently considered a “smaller reporting company” for purposes of the SEC’s executive compensation and other disclosures. As such, we have opted to take advantage of the scaled disclosure requirements afforded to smaller reporting companies and, therefore, have provided more limited (or, in some cases, eliminated) disclosures. The executive compensation disclosures that follow comply with the SEC’s executive compensation disclosure rules for smaller reporting companies and therefore are generally more narrow in scope than the executive compensation disclosures and Compensation Discussion and Analysis that we have included in proxy statements prior to our classification as a smaller reporting company.
Introduction
This proxy statement provides information about the compensation programs for those individuals we have identified as our Principal Executive Officer and Principal Financial Officer (together, for purposes of this section, our “Named Executive Officers”) as well as our next most highly compensated employee, John Stephen Heir (“Mr. Heir”) for 2015 in accordance with the executive compensation disclosure rules and regulations of the SEC for smaller reporting companies. This proxy includes our compensation philosophy and the objectives of our executive rewards program, descriptions of each of the key elements of our executive rewards program and the basis for the compensation decisions we made during 2015.
Our Named Executive Officers for 2015 are:
Our next most high compensated employee for 2015 is:EXECUTIVE OFFICERS
Compensation Overview
The Compensation and Management Committee engaged an independent executive compensation consulting firm, Grahall & Associates, to work with senior management and the Compensation and Management Committee (the “Compensation Committee”) to establish an executive total rewards strategy, which was implemented in 2012. Grahall & Associates looked at the competitiveness of our pay practices by making peer group comparisons. They augmented the core peer group that we had used in the past with several additional organizations as some of the organizations in our original peer group were removed due to M&A activity. In addition to the core peer group analysis, they also provided analysis on a large sample of general technology organizations. Grahall & Associates presented several different potential reward strategies to the Compensation Committee for consideration.
The basic premise of Grahall & Associates’ proposal was that compensation must be tied to overall business strategy and must be amended to align with changes in business strategy over time. The program that has been implemented more effectively allocates the scarce resources that we have across competing needs than did our previous program. It recognizes that when resources are tight, resource allocation needs to be more precisely targeted. This structure is designed to increase our ability to recruit for key competitive advantage positions, motivate core executives to reposition our company and promote the retention of high performers who can impact our business going forward.
Our executive rewards program was designedofficers are appointed annually by our Compensation Committee to align the interests of our Named Executive Officers and other highly compensated employees, including Mr. Heir, with those of our shareholders by rewarding performance that enhances the long-term objective of increasing shareholder value, significantly grows the business, and executes our business strategy. Our executive rewards program is designed to motivate our executives, including our Named Executive Officers and other highly compensated employees, to achieve strong financial, operational and strategic performance and to provide a link between the amounts earned by our executives and the creation of shareholder value. The Committee establishes specific annual, long-term and strategic goals and rewards for Named Executive Officers and other highly compensated employees for performance that meets or exceeds those goals. In addition, we expect our Named Executive Officers and other highly compensated employees to work toward achievement of these goals while maintaining the highest ethical standards.
The key components of our executive rewards program for our Named Executive Officers and other highly compensated employees are base salary, an annual short-term incentive plan (“STIP”) and a long-term incentive plan (“LTIP”), combined with health and welfare benefits, retirement benefits, limited perquisites (for Named Executive Officers only) and other benefits. We seek to ensure that total executive compensation is aligned with corporate performance and the creation of shareholder value by placing an appropriate portion of an executive’s total compensation at risk, based on financial and non-financial performance measures and subject to the achievement of corporate and individual performance goals.
Our executive rewards program is structured to attract, retain and motivate talented individuals, and to incentivize them to achieve our business strategy with strong financial, operational and strategic performance. In particular:
To this end, the Compensation Committee reviews our executive total rewards program annually to assess if we are achieving our business strategy, if we are able to attract and retain talented executives, and to ensure that the total compensation paid to our executives, including our Named Executive Officers and other highly compensated employees, is reasonable, competitive and appropriately performance-based. The Compensation Committee also ensures that our total compensation is linked to the degree to which we meet our annual financial and non-financial goals and, longer term, to our success in improving shareholder return. Our President and CEO makes recommendations with respect to the awards of the other Named Executive Officer and other highly compensated employees, and the Compensation Committee determines the actual awards of the Named Executive Officers.
Our fiscal 2014 financial performance, our 2015 annual operating plan, and the individual performance of our Named Executive Officers and other highly compensated employees, served as key factors in making compensation decisions for 2015.
We continued the linkage between our STIP awards and achievement of annual corporate financial targets in 2015, reflecting our pay for performance philosophy. As a result, for 2015 corporate operating profit and corporate revenue were the key metrics for our Named Executive Officer annual cash incentive awards under the STIP. For Mr. Heir, the key metrics for incentive awards under the STIP were corporate operating profit and revenues from the Battery & Energy Products segment. Corporate operating profit of $3.75 million comprised 70% of the STIP weighting and corporate revenue of $80.3 million comprised the remaining 30% of the STIP weighting for our Named Executive Officers. Corporate operating profit of $3.75 million comprised 70% of the STIP weighting and Battery & Energy Products revenue of $60.5 million comprised the remaining 30% of the STIP for Mr. Heir. The threshold levels of performance provided under the STIP utilizing these metrics were met in 2015, and therefore, short-term annual cash incentive awards were paid to our Named Executive Officers and Mr. Heir for 2015 in March 2016.
Long-term equity incentive compensation continued to make up a significant portion of the compensation for each of our Named Executive Officers and other highly compensated employees. Awards are determined individually and are based on the relative criticality of the position and the Named Executive Officer’s and other highly compensated employees’ ability to implement changes designed to promote future growth.
Base Salary
Our President & CEO reviews the performance of the other Named Executive Officer and other highly compensated employees and then recommends base salary adjustments, if any, to the Compensation Committee. In turn, the Compensation Committee reviews, adjusts where appropriate and approves the base salary adjustments, if any, based upon the determination of the Compensation Committee. In our Board’s executive session, the Committee reviews and recommends to the full Board any base salary adjustment for our President & CEO. If changes to base salaries are recommended and approved, the changes in base salary are made to be effective for a period ranging from twelve to fifteen months from the date of the last increase based upon an executive’s performance.
The Compensation Committee typically reviews base salary levels from the core peer group and the technology peer group on an annual or semi-annual basis. The Committee has endeavored to better align executive salaries with the market, moving them between the 25th and the 50th percentile of our peer group, since base salaries for our executive officers have traditionally been significantly below market norms for comparable companies. In addition to looking at the peer group data, salaries for our Named Executive Officers are determined based upon the following factors:
In March 2015, the Compensation Committee approved a base salary increase to Mr. Fain of 5.0% ($286,650 to $300,976). The merit increase was approved by the Committee based on Company and individual performance. Other than this adjustment, no changes were made to the base salaries of our Named Executive Officers during 2015.
Short-Term Incentive Plan 2015
Typically, our Compensation Committee establishes a short-term incentive plan each fiscal year, which provides the Named Executive Officers an opportunity to receive an annual cash payment in addition to their base salaries. The short-term incentive plan is designed to place “at risk” a significant portion of the annual total cash compensation of the Named Executive Officers by linking the amount of compensation that can be achieved under the plan with our financial performance. We believe that the STIP is a key component of maintaining a competitive executive compensation program because it motivates our Named Executive Officers to achieve our short-term financial and strategic objectives while making progress toward our longer term growth. Based on our total rewards strategy, those Named Executive Officers and other executives who, by virtue of their position in the Company, had the
opportunity to make an immediate short term impact on the business and were instrumental in driving our operating results had more of their pay at risk in the STIP. These individuals also were tasked with balancing short-term results and decisions with creating long term value.
President & CEO
Mr. Popielec was eligible to receive an annual cash bonus in accordance with the 2015 Executive STIP if the Company met or exceeded certain performance metrics that were to be agreed upon no later than January 31, 2015. In 2015, the STIP target for Mr. Popielec was 75% of his base salary, and his bonus was based on meeting pre-established 2015 operating profit and corporate revenue goals. The STIP was structured with 70% of the weighting of the bonus based on 2015 operating profit goal of $3.75 million and 30% of the weighting of the bonus based on 2015 corporate revenue goal of $80.3 million. Achievement of less than 75% of the operating profit goal or less than 89% of the corporate revenue goal resulted in no bonus being paid with respect to that metric. Achievement of 75% to 100% of the operating profit goal and achievement of 89% to 100% of the corporate revenue goal would result in a bonus range payout from 50% to 70% of the target bonus for the metric with respect to which the respective 75% to 100% or 89% to 100% performance was achieved. Payout of 100% of the target bonus under the plan would be achieved by exceeding the operating profit goal by 27% and the corporate revenue goal by 7%. Achievement of over 127% to 160% of the operating profit goal and over 107% to 118% of the corporate revenue goal would result in a bonus payout ranging from 100% to 150% of the target bonus with respect to the metric for which such performance level had been achieved. Mr. Popielec was eligible for a partial payment under the plan if one of the two metrics was achieved. Payout under the plan is capped at 150% of the target bonus. Based on our 2015 financial performance, Mr. Popielec earned a STIP bonus of $236,455 which was paid in March 2016.
Other Named Executive Officers and Mr. Heir
Based in part on the recommendation from the President & CEO, the Compensation Committee establishes threshold, target and maximum bonus levels for each Named Executive Officer and Mr. Heir, which is expressed as a percentage of their base salary. The percentages are determined by the position of the Named Executive Officer and Mr. Heir within the organization and based upon the review of peer data. In 2015, the target for Mr. Fain was 45% of base salary and the target for Mr. Heir was 40% of his base salary. For our Other Named Executive Officer, the threshold level for 2015 was the minimum level of performance required before any amount would be earned under the STIP, which is 75% of the Company performance goal of operating profit and 89% of corporate revenue. For Mr. Heir, the minimum level of performance required before any amount would be earned under the STIP, is 75% of the Company performance goal of operating profit and 91% of revenues from the Battery & Energy Products Segment. The Compensation Committee also establishes a maximum bonus level under the STIP. For 2015, that maximum bonus level was 150% of the target bonus level.
Generally, the Compensation Committee sets the target bonus level such that, assuming achievement of the corporate financial metrics, the combined base salary and annual STIP opportunity for our Named Executive Officers will be at or near the 50th percentile for comparable executives at the companies in our peer group. The President and CEO establishes Mr. Heir’s base salary and STIP opportunity with approval by the Compensation Committee.
In establishing the 2015 total rewards strategy, the Compensation Committee approved the President & CEO’s recommendation that all Named Executive Officers would have their STIP based on our operating profit and corporate revenue goals. The STIP potential for 2015 was based on a percentage of the Other Named Executive Officer’s base salary and the base salary of Mr. Heir. The two metrics used for computation of the 2015 bonus for the Other Named Executive Officers were Company operating profit and corporate revenue, with 70% of the weighting of the bonus based on 2015 operating profit target of $3.75 million and 30% of the weighting of the bonus based on 2015 corporate revenue target of $80.3 million. For Mr. Heir, the two metrics used were Company operating profit and Battery &
Energy Products segment revenues with the same weighting as for the Named Executive Officers. Achievement of these metrics in 2015 would result in a 70% payout of the percentage of the base salaries for the Other Named Executive Officer and for Mr. Heir.
Achievement of less than 75% of the bonus plan metric of operating profit goal and less than 89% of corporate revenue goal resulted in no bonus being paid to the Named Executive Officers for that metric. Achievement of 75% to 100% of the bonus plan metrics of operating profit goal and 89% to 100% of the corporate revenue goal would result in a bonus range payout to the Named Executive Officers from 50% to 70% of the target bonus for that metric. Payout of 100% of the target bonus under the plan would be achieved by exceeding the operating profit goal by 27% and exceeding the corporate revenue goal by 7%. Satisfaction of over 127% to 160% of the bonus plan metrics of operating profit and over 107% to 118% of corporate revenue goals would result in a bonus range payout of 100% to 150% of the target bonus for that metric. Named Executive Officers were eligible for a partial payment under the plan if one of the two metrics was achieved. Payout under the plan is capped at 150% of the target bonus. While the decisions to make STIP payouts as well as the amounts earned under the STIP are made at the sole discretion of the Compensation Committee, in making such determinations, the Compensation Committee considers the recommendations from our President & CEO for all other Named Executive Officers. The conditions described above were identical for Mr. Heir based on his specific metrics, except for the entry point for the revenues from Battery & Energy Products bonus metric which was 91%. Based on our financial performance in 2015, the Other Named Executive Officer earned a STIP bonus of $87,738 and Mr. Heir earned a bonus of $70,012, both of which were paid in March 2016.
Long-Term Incentive Compensation
Long-Term Equity Incentive Compensation – Other Named Executive Officer and Mr. Heir
We use equity awards to motivate our Named Executive Officers and other highly compensated employees to increase the long-term value of our common stock and, thereby, align the interests of our Named Executive Officers and other highly compensated employees with those of our shareholders. Long-term equity incentive awards are intended to further our success by ensuring that sustainable value creation is a significant factor to the amount of total compensation which our Named Executive Officers and other highly compensated employees may receive. We believe that linking long-term compensation to sustained value creation helps retain executives over time.
Long-term equity incentive compensation may consist of equity such as awards of stock options, performance vested restricted shares and time vested restricted shares that vest over a multi-year period. This design approach helps align the interests of our Named Executive Officers and other highly compensated employees with those of our shareholders by linking the compensation of our Named Executive Officers and other highly compensated employees to long-term increases in the value of equity instruments. We use stock options as one of our long-term incentives because, in addition to providing our executive officers with the opportunity to develop a stock ownership stake in our company, they result in compensation only to the extent that the market price of our common stock increases over the term of the stock option.
The size and form of these equity awards for the other Named Executive Officer was determined by the Compensation Committee in consultation with the President & CEO. In March 2015, the Compensation Committee, based on recommendation of the President & CEO, awarded Mr. Fain with 30,000 stock options. The size of Mr. Heir’s equity awards is determined by the President and CEO and requires the approval of the Compensation Committee. In March 2015, the Committee approved the recommended award of 20,000 stock options for Mr. Heir.
Long-Term Equity Incentive Compensation – President & CEO
Long-term equity incentive compensation is a significant component of the compensation package of our President & CEO. Under his employment agreement, Mr. Popielec received the following options to purchase shares of our common stock:
Date of Grant | Number of Shares | Exercise Price | Vesting Schedule | |||||||
December 30, 2010 | 50,000 | $ | 6.4218 | Twenty five percent of the shares will vest on each of the four anniversaries of the date of grant. | ||||||
January 3, 2011 | 50,000 | $ | 6.5820 | Twenty five percent of the shares will vest on each of December 30, 2011, December 30, 2012, December 30, 2013 and December 30, 2014. |
Mr. Popielec also received three additional stock option awards, each of which was conditioned upon shareholder approval of our Restated 2004 LTIP at our 2011 annual meeting. This approval was obtained at our 2011 annual meeting. As detailed below, most of these stock option awards were granted with an exercise price substantially above the grant date fair market value of our common stock.
Date of Grant | Number of Shares | Exercise Price | Vesting Schedule | |||||||
December 30, 2010 | 250,000 | $ | 6.4218 | Options to purchase twenty-five percent of the shares will vest on each of the four anniversaries of the date of grant. | ||||||
December 30, 2010 | 200,000 | $ | 10.00 | Vesting of options to purchase begins on the date our stock first reaches a closing price equal to the exercise price for 15 trading days in a 30 trading-day period, with such vesting in equal amounts over the four anniversary dates of that date. | ||||||
December 30, 2010 | 200,000 | $ | 15.00 | Vesting of options to purchase begins on the date our stock first reaches a closing price equal to the exercise price for 15 trading days in a 30 trading-day period, with such vesting in equal amounts over the four anniversary dates of that date. |
On January 29, 2013, our Board of Directors, on recommendation of our Compensation Committee, granted 120,000 restricted stock units (RSU’s) to our President & Chief Executive Officer, Michael D. Popielec, which grant was approved by our shareholders at our June 4, 2013 Annual Meeting. These RSU’s vest and will convert to shares of our common stock as follows:Directors. Our executive officers for fiscal 2018 were:
● | Michael D. Popielec, President and Chief Executive Officer |
● | Philip A. Fain, Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer and Secretary |
There were no other individuals who meet the definition of |
The 30,000 shares of the Company’s common stock described in (1) above were issued on January 1, 2014, the 30,000 shares of the Company’s common stock described in (3) above were issued on January 1, 2015, and the 60,000 shares of the Company common stock described in (2) and (4) above were issued on October 8, 2015.
On March 3, 2015 and on March 5, 2015, our Board of Directors, on recommendation of our Compensation Committee, granted 40,000 and 20,000 stock options pursuant to our shareholder approved 2014 LTIP, respectively, to Mr. Popielec.
We provide to all active employees a tax-qualified 401(k) plan that provides for both employer and employee contributions. Under this plan, employees may defer a portion of their base salary to the plan up to annual IRS limits. We provide a company match of 50% of an employee’s deferrals, up to a maximum of 4% of the employee’s annual salary.
Perquisites and Other Personal Benefits
We provide our Named Executive Officers with perquisites and other personal benefits that we and the Compensation Committee believe are reasonable and consistent with the objectives of our overall compensation program to better enable us to attract and retain superior employees for key positions. The Compensation Committee periodically reviews the levels of perquisites and other personal benefits provided to our Named Executive Officers to determine if they remain at appropriate levels. Mr. Heir does not receive perquisites.
The aggregate incremental costs of the personal benefits provided to our Named Executive Officers are included in the “All Other Compensation” column of the 2015 Summary Compensation Table.
Stock Ownership and Retention Guidelines
In order to better align the interests of executive officers and shareholders, the Compensation Committee implemented stock ownership and retention requirements for executive officers. The stock ownership requirements for executive officers are as follows:Officer.
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For 2015, the Compensation Committee established the presumed share price, which is to be used for purposes of determining the minimum number of shares to be owned by the executive officers. This presumed price was $3.67 per share, which was based on the Volume Weighted Average Price (“VWAP”), calculated as an amount equal to the sum of all dollars traded for every transaction in our common stock for the two-year period ended December 31, 2014 divided by the total shares traded for such two-year period. Each year the Compensation Committee will establish a new price per share to be used to determine the minimum number of shares required to be held which price per share will be based on the VWAP of our common stock for the preceding two-year period. Executive officers have three
years from the date of hire to achieve the required holdings, which are based on the price per share as calculated above. Additionally, there are shareholding requirements which require that until the share ownership guidelines are met, executive officers are prohibited from disposing of more than 50% of vested shares received from restricted share grants (on an after tax basis) and 50% of shares received on exercise of stock options. Shares owned by an executive, as well as shares underlying awards of stock options and restricted stock are treated as owned by the executive for purposes of determining whether required ownership has been achieved. All Named Executive Officers have met their applicable stock ownership requirement. There are no stock ownership requirements for other highly compensated employees.
Deductibility of Executive Compensation
As part of its responsibility, the Compensation Committee reviews and considers the deductibility of executive compensation under Section 162(m) of the Code which provides that unless we comply with certain shareholder approval procedures, we may not deduct compensation of more than $1,000,000 that is paid to certain individuals. We believe that compensation paid under our executive compensation plans is fully deductible for federal income tax purposes. However, the Compensation Committee may in the future approve compensation that will not meet these requirements in order to ensure competitive levels of total compensation for our executive officers.
Accounting for Stock-Based Compensation
Beginning on January 1, 2006, we began accounting for stock-based payments, including stock options and restricted stock awards, in accordance with the requirements of SFAS 123(R), now referred to as ASC 718.
2015 Summary Compensation Table
The following table sets forth information concerning the compensation awarded to, paid to or earned by the Named Executive Officers and Mr. Heir for all services in all capacities to us and our subsidiaries during 2014 and 2015:
Name and Principal Position | Year | Salary ($) | Bonus (S) (1)(2)(3) | RSU/Option Awards ($) (4)(5)(6)(7) | All Other Compensation ($)(8) | Total ($) | ||||||||||||||||||
Michael D. Popielec | 2015 | 505,401 | 0 | 581,325 | 32,098 | 1,118,824 | ||||||||||||||||||
President and Chief Executive Officer | 2014 | 481,331 | 0 | 104,700 | 30,073 | 616,104 | ||||||||||||||||||
Philip A. Fain | 2015 | 303,737 | 0 | 69,600 | 24,063 | 397,400 | ||||||||||||||||||
Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer and Secretary | 2014 | 279,826 | 0 | 112,000 | 21,967 | 413,793 | ||||||||||||||||||
J. Stephen Heir | 2015 | 226,598 | 0 | 52,400 | 0 | 278,998 | ||||||||||||||||||
President, Battery & Energy Products | 2014 | 211,699 | 31,500 | 32,000 | 0 | 275,199 |
401(k) Plan Employer Match ($) | Other Benefits (a) ($) | Total ($) | ||||||||||
Michael D. Popielec | 5,200 | 26,898 | 32,098 | |||||||||
Philip A. Fain | 5,300 | 18,763 | 24,063 |
On December 6, 2010, in connection with entering into an employment agreement with Mr. Popielec, effective December 30, 2010, Mr. Popielec became our President and Chief Executive Officer.
We set Mr. Popielec’s annual base salary at $450,000 subject to adjustment. Mr. Popielec is also eligible to receive an annual cash bonus under our short-term cash bonus incentive plan if we exceed certain quantitative and qualitative performance metrics to be agreed upon and approved by the Compensation Committee no later than January 31 of the year for which the bonus applies. The bonus goals and payout ranges for 2015 are set forth on Page 17 for Mr. Popielec.
Mr. Popielec is also a participant in our Restated 2004 LTIP and 2014 LTIP. Pursuant to the terms of his employment agreement, Mr. Popielec was granted options to purchase shares of our common stock. Certain of the options granted on December 30, 2010 were conditional and were subject to shareholder approval to increase the number of shares available under our Restated 2004 LTIP. Shareholder approval was obtained in June 2011.
Mr. Popielec is also entitled to receive the retirement benefits, perquisites and other personal benefits described in this proxy statement under the sections entitled “Retirement Benefits” and “Perquisites and Other Personal Benefits”.
The employment agreement provides that Mr. Popielec’s employment is “at will.” Mr. Popielec is entitled to certain severance benefits if we terminate his employment without Business Reasons or a Constructive Termination occurs (as those terms are defined in the employment agreement), including (i) salary continuation for a period of 12 months following the termination date; (ii) a pro rata amount (calculated on a per diem basis) of the full-year bonus which Mr. Popielec would have earned for the calendar year in which the termination of employment occurs; (iii) acceleration of vesting of all outstanding stock options and other equity awards, subject to the provision, however, that the acceleration shall not apply to the extent that the outstanding options and equity awards would otherwise have vested more than 18 months after the date of termination; (iv) continuation of health benefits for Mr. Popielec, his spouse and any dependent children for a period of 12 months after the termination date followed by 18 months of executive-paid COBRA eligibility. In addition, if we terminate the employment of Mr. Popielec within 12 months following the occurrence of a Change in Control, without Business Reasons or if a Constructive Termination occurs (as those terms are defined in the employment agreement), then Mr. Popielec shall be entitled to receive a lump sum payment equal to (i) any earned but unpaid salary, any unpaid bonus from the prior year plus an amount equal to 18 months of his base salary as then in effect, payable immediately upon the termination date; (ii) one and one-half times his target bonus for the calendar year in which the termination date occurs; (iii) acceleration of vesting of all outstanding stock options, all such options to remain exercisable for 18 months following the termination date, or through the original expiration date of the stock options, if earlier; (iv) continuation of health benefits for Mr. Popielec, his spouse and any dependent children for a period of 24 months after the termination date. To the extent the vesting and/or accelerated payment of outstanding stock options would subject Mr. Popielec to the imposition of tax and/or penalties under Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code (the “Code”), the vesting and/or payment of such stock options and other equity shall be delayed to the extent necessary to avoid the imposition of such tax and/or penalties. The employment agreement also provides for the continuation of certain benefits in the event Mr. Popielec’s employment is terminated for Disability (as defined in the employment agreement) or by his death. Mr. Popielec has also executed an Employee Confidentiality Non-Disclosure, Non-Compete, Non-Disparagement and Assignment Agreement in our standard form.
We do not have an employment agreement with Mr. Fain or with any of our highly compensated employees.
Outstanding Equity Awards at December 31, 2015
The following table sets forth information concerning the number of shares underlying exercisable and non-exercisable options and stock awards outstanding at December 31, 2015 for our Named Executive Officers.
Option Awards | Stock Awards | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Name | Number of Securities Underlying Unexercised Options (#) Exercisable | Number of Securities Underlying Unexercised Options (#) Unexercisable | Equity Incentive Plan Awards: Number of Securities Underlying Unexercised Unearned Options (#) | Option Exercise Price ($) | Option Expiration Date | Number of Shares or Units of Stock that Have Not Vested (#) | Market Value of Shares or Units of Stock that Have Not Vested ($) | Equity Incentive Plan Awards; Number of Unearned Shares, Units or Other Rights that Have Not Vested (#) | Equity Incentive Plan Awards; Market or Payout Value of Unearned Shares, Units or Other Rights that Have Not Vested ($) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Michael D. Popielec | 50,000 | 0 | 0 | 6.4218 | 12/30/2017 | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
250,000 | 0 | 0 | 6.4218 | 12/30/2017 | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
50,000 | 0 | 0 | 6.5820 | 12/30/2017 | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
0 | 200,000 | (1) | 200,000 | (1) | 10.0000 | 1/24/2019 | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
0 | 200,000 | (2) | 200,000 | (2) | 15.0000 | 1/14/2020 | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
0 | 40,000 | (3) | 40,000 | (3) | 3.7100 | 3/3/2022 | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
0 | 20,000 | (4) | 20,000 | (4) | 3.7900 | 3/5/2022 | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Philip A. Fain | 7,976 | 0 | 0 | 12.1848 | 1/14/2016 | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
33,000 | 0 | 0 | 3.9085 | 12/4/2016 | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
25,000 | 0 | 0 | 6.9061 | 12/3/2017 | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
50,000 | 0 | 0 | 4.4218 | 12/9/2018 | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
20,000 | 0 | 0 | 3.9797 | 1/3/2019 | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
23,334 | 46,666 | (5) | 46,666 | (5) | 3.9384 | 3/4/2021 | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
0 | 30,000 | (6) | 30,000 | (6) | 3.7100 | 3/3/2022 | — | — | — | — |
Retirement Benefits and Potential Payments upon Termination or Change in Control
The only arrangement that we maintain that provides for retirement benefits is our tax-qualified defined contribution 401(k) plan. The material terms of our tax-qualified defined contribution 401(k) plan are summarized above under the heading “Retirement Benefits.”
All of the potential payments and benefits payable by us to those of our Named Executive Officers who were employed by us during 2015 in the event of various scenarios involving either a termination of employment and/or change in control are determined pursuant to the employment agreement with Mr. Popielec or the Restated 2004 LTIP. The employment agreement with Mr. Popielec is summarized above under the heading “Employment Arrangements.” We do not have an employment agreement with Mr. Fain or Mr. Heir. Under the award, agreements issued under the Restated 2004 LTIP and 2014 LTIP, outstanding unvested stock options, shares of restricted stock and restricted stock units immediately vest upon the occurrence of a “Change in Control.”
RATIFY THE SELECTION OF OUR INDEPENDENT
REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
The firm of Bonadio & Co., LLP served as our independent registered public accounting firm for the years ended December 31, 2014 and 2015.
Our Audit and Finance Committee has selected Freed Maxick CPAs P.C. to serve as our independent registered public accounting firm for 2016. This selection will be presented to our shareholders for their ratification at the Meeting. Our Board of Directors recommends a vote in favor of the proposal to ratify this selection, and the persons named in the enclosed proxy (unless otherwise instructed therein) will vote such proxiesFOR this proposal. If the shareholders do not ratify this selection, the Audit and Finance Committee will seek to identify and address the reason or reasons why the shareholders did not ratify the committee’s selection and will consider such reason or reasons in selecting an independent registered public accounting firm for 2016.
We have been advised by Freed Maxick CPAs, P.C. that they will have a representative present at the Meeting who will be available to respond to appropriate questions. In addition, we intend to give such representative an opportunity to make any statements if they should so desire.
Principal Accountant Fees and Services
Aggregate fees for professional services rendered for us by Bonadio, & Co., LLP for 2014 and 2015 were:
Bonadio & Co., LLP | ||||||||
2014 | 2015 | |||||||
Audit Fees | $ | 177,000 | $ | 200,000 | ||||
Audit – Related Fees | 9,500 | 13,750 | ||||||
Tax Fees | 38,850 | 24,375 | ||||||
All Other Fees | 0 | 0 | ||||||
|
|
|
| |||||
Total | $ | 225,350 | $ | 238,125 |
Audit fees for 2014 and 2015, respectively, were for professional services rendered for the audits of our consolidated financial statements, reviews of our quarterly consolidated financial statements, consents and assistance with review of documents filed with the SEC.
Audit-related fees in 2014 and 2015, respectively, were for the audit of our 401(k) defined contribution plan for the years ended December 31, 2013 and December 31, 2014. Also included in the audit-related fees in 2015 was an amount related to a review of our S-8 Filing and included in the audit-related fees in 2014 was an amount relating to a review and discussion of our accounting for the relocation of our China facility.
Tax fees relate to corporate and expatriate tax compliance, including the preparation of tax returns and claims for refund, tax planning, tax advice.
Our Audit and Finance Committee has not adopted pre-approval policies and procedures for audit and non-audit services. Although no pre-approval policy was in effect, all audit, audit-related and permitted non-audit services for which Bonadio & Co., LLP were engaged were reviewed and approved prior to the commencement of the services by our Audit and Finance Committee in compliance with applicable SEC requirements.
REPORT OF THE AUDIT AND FINANCE COMMITTEE
The duties and responsibilities of the Audit and Finance Committee are set forth in our Audit and Finance Committee Charter, a copy of which is available on our website athttp://investor.ultralifecorporation.com under the subheading “Corporate Governance.” Among other things, the Audit and Finance Committee reviews the adequacy of our system of internal control regarding financial reporting, disclosure controls and procedures and preparing our consolidated financial statements. In addition, the Audit and Finance Committee recommends to our Board of Directors that our audited financial statements be included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K, approves our quarterly filings on Form 10-Q and selects the independent registered public accounting firm to audit our books and records.
The Audit and Finance Committee has:
The Audit and Finance Committee met with our independent accountants with and without management present and discussed with them the results of their examinations, their evaluations of our internal control over financial reporting, our disclosure controls and procedures and the quality of our financial reporting. Based on the review and discussions referred to above, the Audit and Finance Committee concluded that Bonadio & Co., LLP is independent and recommended to the Board of Directors that the audited financial statements be included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015 for filing with the SEC.
The Audit and Finance Committee:
Thomas L. Saeli, Chair
Steven M. Anderson
Robert W. Shaw II
Our Board of Directors does not intend to present, and has not been informed that any other person intends to present, any matters for action at the Meeting other than those specifically referred to in this proxy statement. If any other matters properly come before the Meeting, it is intended that the holders of the proxies will act in respect thereof in accordance with their best judgment.
Other than for Mr. Popielec, whose information is set forth with the other directors standing for election, the names of, and certain information with respect to Philip A. Fain, our other executive officers areofficer, is presented below.
Name | Age | Present Principal Occupation and Employment History | ||
Philip A. Fain | 64 | Mr. Fain was named Chief Financial Officer in November 2009, Treasurer in December 2009 and Corporate Secretary in April 2013. He previously served as Vice President of Business Development, having joined us in February 2008. Prior to joining us, he was Managing Partner of CXO on the GO, LLC, a management-consulting firm, which he co-founded in November 2003 and which we retained in connection with our acquisition activity. Prior to founding CXO on the GO, LLC, Mr. Fain served as Vice President of Finance - RayBan Sunoptics for Luxottica, SpA. Prior to the acquisition of Bausch & Lomb’s global eyewear business by Luxottica, Mr. Fain served as Bausch & Lomb’s Senior Vice President Finance - Global Eyewear from 1997 to 1999 and as Vice President and Controller for the US Sunglass business from 1993 to 1996. In these roles, he led the process to acquire some of the World’s most sought after sunglass companies and brands for Bausch & Lomb. From 1983 to 1993, Mr. Fain served in various positions with Bausch & Lomb including executive positions in corporate accounting, finance and audit. Mr. Fain began his career as a CPA and consultant with Arthur Andersen & Co. in 1977. He received his B.A. in Economics from the University of Rochester and an MBA from the William E. Simon Graduate School of Business Administration of the University of Rochester. |
Executive OFFICER compensation
This proxy statement provides certain information relating to the compensation of our named executive officers. We have determined that Messrs. Popielec and Fain were our only named executive officers for 2018.
As a smaller reporting company under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, we are providing executive compensation information in accordance with the scaled disclosure requirements of Regulation S-K. As a result, Compensation Disclosure and Analysis (“CD&A”) and certain other disclosures are not included.
Summary Compensation Table
The following table sets forth information concerning the compensation earned by or awarded to our executive officers for their services in all capacities to us during 2018 and 2017:
Salary ($) | Bonus ($) | Stock | Option | All Other Compensation ($) | Total ($) | |||||||||
Name and Principal Position | Year | (1) | (2) | (3) | (4) | (5) |
| |||||||
Michael D. Popielec, | 2018 |
| 513,080 |
| 70,350 |
| - |
| 353,841 |
| 18,446 |
| 955,717 | |
President and Chief Executive Officer |
| 2017 |
| 504,150 |
| 393,671 |
| - |
| 193,410 |
| 20,046 |
| 1,111,277 |
Philip A. Fain, | 2018 |
| 326,814 |
| 29,874 |
| - |
| 85,733 |
| 10,179 |
| 452,600 | |
Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer and Secretary |
| 2017 |
| 319,512 |
| 167,170 |
| - |
| 50,080 |
| 9,559 |
| 546,321 |
(1) | Amounts shown represent base salary cash compensation paid during the respective years. Amounts may differ from amounts earned due to timing of payroll periods. Refer to the “Narrative to Summary Compensation Table” for further information. |
(2) | Amounts shown represent short-term incentive plan (“STIP”) cash awards earned during the respective years and paid in the subsequent year. Refer to the “Narrative to Summary Compensation Table” for further information. |
(3) | There were no stock awards other than stock options granted during fiscal years 2018 and 2017. |
(4) | On July 25, 2018, the Company’s Board of Directors, at the recommendation of the Compensation and Management Committee and pursuant to the Company’s Amended and Restated 2004 Long-Term Incentive Plan (“2004 LTIP”), modified the option previously granted to Mr. Popielec to purchase 200,000 shares of our common stock at $10.00 per share, such that the option will fully vest immediately upon our common stock first reaching a closing price of $10.00 per share for 15 trading days in a 30 trading-day period. The option as previously granted provided for vesting in annual increments of 50,000 shares on each of the four anniversaries of the date our common stock first reached a closing price of $10.00 per share for 15 trading days in a 30 trading-day period. The option became fully vested during the third quarter 2018 subsequent to modification and expires December 30, 2020. Pursuant to Accounting Standards Codification Topic 718, Compensation – Stock Compensation (ASC 718), the transaction was accounted for as an equity award modification. The amount shown for 2018 for Mr. Popielec includes $182,375 which represents the incremental fair value of the modified award computed as of the modification date as the difference between the fair value of the modified award and the fair value of the original award immediately before it was modified. The incremental fair value was determined using a Monte Carlo simulation option-pricing model consistent with the valuation methodology used to value and recognize the original award. |
On April 19, 2017, the Company’s Board of Directors, at the recommendation of the Compensation and Management Committee and pursuant to the Company’s 2004 LTIP, extended the expiration date from December 30, 2017 to December 30, 2020 of options previously granted (and fully vested at the time of modification) to Mr. Popielec to purchase an aggregate 300,000 shares of our common stock. Pursuant to ASC 718, the transaction was accounted for as an equity award modification. The amount shown for 2017 for Mr. Popielec represents the incremental fair value of the modified award computed as of the modification date as the difference between the fair value of the modified award and the fair value of the original award immediately before it was modified. All other amounts shown represent the aggregate grant date fair value of stock options awarded during the respective years computed in accordance with ASC 718. See the notes to our audited consolidated financial statements included in our Annual Reports on Form 10-K for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively, for the assumptions used in valuing these stock option awards in accordance with ASC 718. Refer to the “Narrative to Summary Compensation Table” for further information. |
(5) | Amounts shown as “All Other Compensation” consist of the following: |
| 401(k) Plan Employer Match ($) | Other Benefits (a) ($) | Total ($) | ||||
Michael D. Popielec | 2018 | 5,500 | 12,946 | 18,446 | |||
2017 | 5,300 | 14,746 | 20,046 | ||||
Philip A. Fain | 2018 | 5,500 | 4,679 | 10,179 | |||
2017 | 5,300 | 4,259 | 9,559 |
(a) | The “Other Benefits” column of the above table includes premiums paid for group medical and dental coverage and long-term care insurance, reimbursement for tax preparation and certain financial planning expenses. |
Narrative to Summary Compensation Table
Compensation Overview
Our executive compensation program is evaluated and approved each year by our Compensation and Management Committee. Annual total compensation for our executive officers is comprised of the following key components:
● | Base salary; |
● | Short-term incentive plan (“STIP”); |
● | Long-term incentive plan (“LTIP”); and |
● | Limited perquisites and other benefits. |
Our executive compensation program is structured to align the interests of our executive officers with those of our shareholders by rewarding performance that achieves successful execution of our business strategy, grows our business and increases shareholder value. Our executive compensation program is designed to incentivize our executive officers to achieve strong financial, operational and strategic performance and to provide a link between the compensation earned by our executives and the creation of long-term sustainable value. The Compensation and Management Committee establishes specific annual, long-term and strategic goals and seeks to reward our executive officers for performance that meets or exceeds those goals. In addition, we expect our executive officers to work toward achievement of these goals while maintaining the highest ethical standards.
Base Salary
The Compensation and Management Committee evaluates the performance of Mr. Popielec, our President and Chief Executive Officer, and presents its evaluation and recommendation for base salary adjustment, if any, to the Board of Directors for approval. Mr. Popielec evaluates the performance of Mr. Fain, our Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer and Secretary, and presents his evaluation and recommendation for a base salary adjustment, if any, to the Compensation and Management Committee, which, in turn, may recommend acceptance of or adjustment to such base salary recommendation to the Board of Directors. If adjustments to base salaries are recommended and approved, the adjustments are made to be effective for a period ranging from twelve to fifteen months from the date of the last salary adjustment.
In April 2018, the Board of Directors, at the recommendation of the Compensation and Management Committee, approved a base salary increase of 2.0% for Mr. Popielec ($506,150 to $516,273) and 2.0% for Mr. Fain ($322,405 to $328,848). The salary increases were approved by the Committee based on a number of factors including individual and Company performance.
In April 2017, the Board of Directors, at the recommendation of the Compensation and Management Committee, approved a base salary increase of 3.0% for Mr. Fain ($313,015 to $322,405). Other than these adjustments, no further changes were made to the base salaries of our executive officers during 2018 and 2017.
Short-Term Incentive Plan
Our Compensation Committee establishes a STIP each fiscal year to provide our executive officers an opportunity to earn an annual cash award in addition to their base salaries. The STIP is designed to place “at risk” a significant portion of the annual total cash compensation of our executive officers to incentivize them to achieve our short-term financial objectives while making progress toward our longer-term goals. Generally, the STIP target levels are set such that, assuming achievement of pre-established performance metrics, the combined annual base salary and STIP award for our executive officers will be at or near the 50th percentile for executive officers at the companies in our peer group.
For 2018, the STIP target bonus levels for Messrs. Popielec and Fain were 75% and 50% of their respective base salaries. The performance goals to be achieved to be awarded the STIP targeted bonus for 2018 were consolidated operating profit and revenue goals of $8.4 million and $93.5 million, respectively, as measured pursuant to generally accepted accounting standards. The STIP award was structured with a 70% weighting on the consolidated operating profit goal and a 30% weighting on the consolidated revenue goal. Achievement of less than 75% of the operating profit goal or less than 89% of the revenue goal would result in no award being earned with respect to that metric. Achievement of 75% to 100% of the operating profit goal and achievement of 89% to 100% of the revenue goal would result in an award ranging from 50% to 100% of the target award with respect to the metric for which such performance levels had been achieved. Achievement of over 100% to 125% of the operating profit goal and over 100% to 125% of the revenue goal would result in an award ranging from 101% to 150% of the target award with respect to the metric for which such performance levels had been achieved. Our executive officers were eligible for a partial award if one of the two metrics was achieved.
Based on our 2018 financial performance, Messrs. Popielec and Fain earned STP awards for 2018 of $70,350 and $29,874, respectively, which were paid in February 2019.
For 2017, the STIP target bonus levels for Messrs. Popielec and Fain were 75% and 50% of their respective base salaries. The performance goals to be achieved to be awarded the STIP targeted bonus for 2017 were consolidated operating profit and revenue goals of $6.0 million and $86.7 million, respectively, as measured pursuant to generally accepted accounting standards. The STIP award was structured with a 70% weighting on the consolidated operating profit goal and a 30% weighting on the consolidated revenue goal. Achievement of less than 75% of the operating profit goal or less than 95% of the revenue goal would result in no award being earned with respect to that metric. Achievement of 75% to 100% of the operating profit goal and achievement of 95% to 100% of the revenue goal would result in an award ranging from 50% to 100% of the target award with respect to the metric for which such performance levels had been achieved. Achievement of over 100% to 135% of the operating profit goal and over 100% to 125% of the revenue goal would result in an award ranging from 101% to 150% of the target award with respect to the metric for which such performance levels had been achieved. Our executive officers were eligible for a partial award if one of the two metrics was achieved.
Based on our 2017 financial performance, Messrs. Popielec and Fain earned STIP awards for 2017 of $393,671 and $167,170, respectively, which were paid in February 2018.
Long-Term Incentive Plan
Stock options and other equity awards are used to align the interests of our executive officers with those of our shareholders by incentivizing our executive officers to achieve long-term growth and sustainable shareholder value.
Refer to “Outstanding Equity Awards” below for stock options granted during 2018 and 2017. There were no other equity-based awards granted to our executive officers during 2018 and 2017.
Retirement Benefits
We provide a tax-qualified 401(k) plan to all active employees that provides for both employer and employee contributions. Under this plan, employees may contribute a portion of their eligible cash compensation to the plan. For 2018 and 2017, the Company matched 50% on the first 4% of an employee’s eligible contributions.
Perquisites and Other Personal Benefits
We provide our executive officers with certain perquisites and other personal benefits which are consistent with the objectives of our overall compensation program to better enable us to attract and retain superior employees for key positions. The Compensation and Management Committee periodically reviews the levels of such perquisites and other personal benefits to ensure they remain at appropriate levels. The aggregate incremental costs of the perquisites and other personal benefits provided to our executive officers are included in the “All Other Compensation” column of the Summary Compensation Table with components detailed in an accompanying note.
Outstanding Equity Awards
The following table sets forth information concerning the number of shares underlying exercisable and non-exercisable stock option awards outstanding at December 31, 2018 for our executive officers.
Equity Incentive | ||||||||||
Plan Awards: | ||||||||||
Number of | Number of | Number of | ||||||||
Securities | Securities | Securities | ||||||||
Underlying | Underlying | Underlying | ||||||||
Unexercised | Unexercised | Unexercised | Option | Option | ||||||
Options (#) | Options (#) | Options (#) | Exercise | Expiration | ||||||
Name | Exercisable | Unexercisable | Unearned | Price ($) | Date | |||||
Michael D. Popielec | 50,000 | - | - | 6.4218 | 12/30/2020 (1) | |||||
250,000 | - | - | 6.4218 | 12/30/2020 (1) | ||||||
200,000 | - | - | 10.0000 | 12/30/2020 | ||||||
- | - | 200,000 (2) | 15.0000 | 12/30/2020 | ||||||
40,000 | - | - | 3.7103 | 3/3/2022 | ||||||
20,000 | - | - | 3.7876 | 3/5/2022 | ||||||
26,667 | 13,333 (3) | - | 4.2902 | 6/1/2023 | ||||||
|
| - |
| 40,000 (4) |
| - |
| 9.8514 |
| 4/18/2025 |
Philip A. Fain | 70,000 | - | 3.9384 | 3/4/2021 | ||||||
30,000 | - | - | 3.7103 | 3/3/2022 | ||||||
13,334 | 6,666 (5) | - | 4.2902 | 6/1/2023 | ||||||
6,667 | 13,333 (6) | - | 5.7075 | 4/19/2024 | ||||||
|
| - |
| 20,000 (7) |
| - |
| 9.8514 |
| 4/18/2025 |
(1) | On April 19, 2017, our Board of Directors, on recommendation of the Compensation and Management Committee, extended the option expiration date from December 30, 2017 to December 30, 2020, pursuant to the Company’s 2004 LTIP. |
(2) | Stock option was granted to Mr. Popielec under the terms of his employment agreement and begins to vest on the date our common stock first reaches a closing price equal to the exercise price for 15 trading days in a 30-day trading period, with such vesting in equal amounts on the four anniversary dates of that date. Such option expires as of the later of December 30, 2017 and five years after the initial vesting commences, but in no event later than December 30, 2020. Such option had not vested as of December 31, 2018. |
(3) | On June 1, 2016, our Board of Directors, on recommendation of the Compensation and Management Committee, granted to Mr. Popielec the option to purchase 40,000 shares of our common stock. This option vested with respect to 13,334 shares, 13,333 shares and 13,333 shares on June 1, 2017, June 1, 2018, and June 1, 2019, respectively. |
(4) | On April 18, 2018, our Board of Directors, on recommendation of the Compensation and Management Committee, granted to Mr. Popielec the option to purchase 40,000 shares of our common stock. This option vested with respect to 13,334 shares on April 18, 2019 and will vest with respect to 13,333 shares and 13,333 shares on April 18, 2020 and April 18, 2021, respectively. |
(5) | On June 1, 2016, our Board of Directors, on recommendation of the Compensation and Management Committee, granted to Mr. Fain the option to purchase 20,000 shares of our common stock. This option vested with respect to 6,667 shares, 6,667 shares and 6,666 shares on June 1, 2017, June 1, 2018 and June 1, 2019, respectively. |
(6) | On April 19, 2017, our Board of Directors, on recommendation of the Compensation and Management Committee, granted to Mr. Fain the option to purchase 20,000 shares of our common stock. This option vested with respect to 6,667 shares and 6,667 shares on April 19, 2018 and April 19, 2019, respectively, and will vest with respect to 6,666 shares on April 19, 2020. |
(7) | On April 18, 2018, our Board of Directors, on recommendation of the Compensation and Management Committee, granted to Mr. Fain the option to purchase 20,000 shares of our common stock. This option vested with respect to 6,667 shares on April 18, 2019 and will vest with respect to 6,667 shares and 6,666 shares on April 18, 2020 and April 18, 2021, respectively. |
There were no other equity awards outstanding at December 31, 2018 for our executive officers.
Employment Arrangements
On December 6, 2010, the Company entered into an employment agreement with Mr. Popielec, providing that Mr. Popielec would become our President and Chief Executive Officer effective December 30, 2010. Mr. Popielec’s annual base salary was set at $450,000 subject to adjustment. Mr. Popielec is also eligible to receive an annual cash bonus under our short-term incentive plan if we meet or exceed certain quantitative and qualitative performance metrics to be agreed upon and approved by the Compensation Committee no later than January 31 of the year for which the bonus applies. The bonus goals and payout ranges for 2018 are set forth above beginning on Page 14.
Pursuant to the terms of his employment agreement, Mr. Popielec was granted options to purchase shares of our common stock. Certain of the options granted were conditional and subject to shareholder approval to increase the number of shares available under our 2004 LTIP. Shareholder approval of this increase was obtained in June 2011. All unexpired options awarded to Mr. Popielec pursuant to the terms of his employee agreement were outstanding as of December 31, 2018. Refer to the Outstanding Equity Awards section above beginning on Page 15.
Mr. Popielec is also entitled to receive the retirement benefits, perquisites and other personal benefits described in this proxy statement under the sections entitled “Retirement Benefits” and “Perquisites and Other Personal Benefits”.
The employment agreement provides that Mr. Popielec’s employment is “at will.” Mr. Popielec is entitled to certain severance benefits if we terminate his employment without Business Reasons or a Constructive Termination occurs (as those terms are defined in the employment agreement), including (i) salary continuation for a period of 12 months following the termination date; (ii) a pro rata amount (calculated on a per diem basis) of the full-year bonus which Mr. Popielec would have earned for the calendar year in which the termination of employment occurs; (iii) acceleration of vesting of all outstanding stock options and other equity awards to the extent that the outstanding options and other equity awards would otherwise have vested no more than 18 months after the date of termination, and all such options and other equity awards shall remain exercisable for one year following the termination date or through the original expiration date, if earlier; (iv) continuation of health benefits for Mr. Popielec, his spouse and any dependent children for a period of 12 months after the termination date followed by 18 months of executive-paid COBRA eligibility. In addition, if we terminate the employment of Mr. Popielec within 12 months following the occurrence of a Change in Control, without Business Reasons or if a Constructive Termination occurs (as those terms are defined in the employment agreement), then Mr. Popielec shall be entitled to receive (i) any earned but unpaid salary, any unpaid bonus from the prior year plus an amount equal to 18 months of his base salary as then in effect, payable immediately upon the termination date; (ii) one and one-half times his target bonus for the calendar year in which the termination date occurs; (iii) acceleration of vesting of all outstanding stock options and other equity awards, which are to remain exercisable for 18 months following the termination date, or through the original expiration date, if earlier; (iv) continuation of health benefits for Mr. Popielec, his spouse and any dependent children for a period of 24 months after the termination date. To the extent the vesting and/or accelerated payment of outstanding stock options would subject Mr. Popielec to the imposition of tax and/or penalties under Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code (the “Code”), the vesting and/or payment of such stock options and other equity shall be delayed to the extent necessary to avoid the imposition of such tax and/or penalties. The employment agreement also provides for the continuation of certain benefits in the event Mr. Popielec’s employment is terminated for Disability (as defined in the employment agreement) or by his death. Mr. Popielec has also executed an Employee Confidentiality Non-Disclosure, Non-Compete, Non-Disparagement and Assignment Agreement in our standard form.
We do not have an employment agreement with Mr. Fain. Mr. Fain has executed an Employee Confidentiality Non-Disclosure, Non-Compete, Non-Disparagement and Assignment Agreement in our standard form.
Retirement Benefits and Potential Payments upon Termination or Change in Control
The only arrangement that we maintain that provides for retirement benefits is our tax-qualified defined contribution 401(k) plan. The material terms of our tax-qualified defined contribution 401(k) plan are summarized above under the heading “Retirement Benefits.”
All of the potential payments and benefits payable by us to those of our executive officers in the event of various circumstances involving either a termination of employment or change in control are determined pursuant to the employment agreement with Mr. Popielec or the 2004 LTIP and 2014 LTIP. The employment agreement with Mr. Popielec is summarized above under the heading “Employment Arrangements”. We do not have an employment agreement with Mr. Fain. On June 18, 2018, the Committee unanimously approved a resolution for full vesting of all outstanding unvested stock options and other equity awards upon the occurrence of a “Change in Control” (as defined by the 2004 LTIP and 2014 LTIP).
Stock Ownership Guidelines
In order to better align the interests of our executive officers and shareholders, the Compensation Committee implemented stock ownership requirements for our executive officers. The stock ownership requirements for our executive officers are as follows:
President & CEO | 1.00 times salary |
Chief Financial Officer | 0.50 times salary |
For 2018, the Compensation Committee established the presumed share price to be used for purposes of determining the minimum number of shares to be owned by the executive officers. This presumed price was $5.79 per share, which was based on the volume weighted average price (“VWAP”), calculated as an amount equal to the sum of the dollar value of every transaction in our common stock for the two-year period ended December 31, 2017 divided by the total shares traded for such two-year period. Each year the Compensation Committee will establish a new price per share to be used to determine the minimum number of shares required to be held which will be based on the VWAP of our common stock for the preceding two-year period. Executive officers have three years from the date of hire to achieve the required holdings, which are based on the price per share as calculated above. Additionally, our stock ownership policy requires that until the share ownership guidelines are met, executive officers are prohibited from disposing of more than 50% of vested shares received from restricted share grants (on an after tax basis) and 50% of shares received on exercise of stock options. Shares owned by an executive, as well as shares underlying awards of stock options and restricted stock are treated as owned by the executive for purposes of determining whether required ownership has been achieved. Our executive officers have met their respective stock ownership requirement.
Proposal 2
Ratify the selection of our independent
registered public accounting firm
The firm of Freed Maxick CPAs, P.C. (“Freed Maxick”) served as our independent registered public accounting firm for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2018.
The selection of Freed Maxick to serve as our independent registered public accounting firm for 2019 will be presented to our shareholders for ratification at the Meeting. Our Board of Directors recommends a vote in favor of the proposal to ratify this selection, and the persons named in the enclosed proxy (unless otherwise instructed therein) will vote such proxies FOR this proposal. If the shareholders do not ratify this selection, the Audit and Finance Committee will seek to identify and address the reason or reasons why the shareholders did not ratify the committee’s selection. The Audit and Finance Committee will consider such reason or reasons in selecting an independent registered public accounting firm for 2019, but retains discretion to select Freed Maxick.
We have been advised by Freed Maxick that they will have a representative available during the Meeting, either in person or telephonically, who will be available to respond to appropriate questions. In addition, we intend to give such representative an opportunity to make any statements if the representative should so desire.
Principal Accountant Fees and Services
Aggregate fees for professional services rendered for us for 2018 and 2017 were:
2018 | 2017 | |||||||
Audit Fees | $ | 387,489 | $ | 218,793 | ||||
Audit - Related Fees | 8,000 | 8,500 | ||||||
Tax Fees | 12,000 | - | ||||||
Total Fees | $ | 407,489 | $ | 227,293 |
Audit Fees
Audit fees were for professional services rendered for the audit of our consolidated financial statements and reviews of our quarterly consolidated financial statements. The 2018 fees were also attributable to the first year auditor attestation of our internal controls over financial reporting as a result of us achieving accelerated filer status in 2018.
Audit-Related Fees
Audit-related fees were for the annual audit of our 401(k) defined contribution plan.
Tax Fees
Tax fees related to tax compliance and consulting services.
Our Audit and Finance Committee has not adopted pre-approval policies and procedures for audit and non-audit services. Although no pre-approval policy was in effect, all audit, audit-related and permitted non-audit services for which our independent registered public accounting firm was engaged were reviewed and approved prior to the commencement of the services by our Audit and Finance Committee in compliance with applicable SEC requirements.
REPORT OF THE AUDIT AND FINANCE COMMITTEE
The duties and responsibilities of the Audit and Finance Committee are set forth in our Audit and Finance Committee Charter, a copy of which is available on our website at http://investor.ultralifecorporation.com under the subheading “Corporate Governance.” Among other things, the Audit and Finance Committee reviews the adequacy of our system of internal control regarding financial reporting, disclosure controls and procedures and preparing our consolidated financial statements. In addition, the Audit and Finance Committee recommends to our Board of Directors that our audited financial statements be included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K, approves our quarterly filings on Form 10-Q and selects the independent registered public accounting firm to audit our books and records.
The Audit and Finance Committee has:
● | Reviewed and discussed our audited financial statements for 2018 with our management and with Freed Maxick, our independent registered public accounting firm for 2018; |
● | Discussed with Freed Maxick, our independent registered public accounting firm for 2018, the matters required to be discussed by Auditing Standard No. 1301, Communications with Audit Committees, as adopted by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (“PCAOB”); and |
● | Received from Freed Maxick the written disclosures and the letter from Freed Maxick required by applicable requirements of the PCAOB regarding the independent registered public accounting firm’s communications with the Audit and Finance Committee concerning independence, and has discussed with Freed Maxick their independence. |
The Audit and Finance Committee met with our independent accountants with and without management present and discussed with them the results of their examinations, their evaluations of our internal control over financial reporting, our disclosure controls and procedures and the quality of our financial reporting. Based on the review and discussions referred to above, the Audit and Finance Committee concluded that Freed Maxick is independent and recommended to the Board of Directors that the audited financial statements be included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018 for filing with the SEC.
The Audit and Finance Committee:
Thomas L. Saeli, Chair
Steven M. Anderson
Ranjit C. Singh
Other Matters
Our Board of Directors does not intend to present, and has not been informed that any other person intends to present, any matters for action at the Meeting other than those specifically referred to in this proxy statement. If any other matters properly come before the Meeting, it is intended that the holders of the proxies will act in respect thereof in accordance with their best judgment.
SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS
The table below shows certain information regarding the beneficial ownership of shares of our common stock as of April 5, 2016May 28, 2019 by each person known by us to beneficially own more than five percent of the outstanding shares of our common stock, with percentages based on 15,325,58915,738,768 shares issued and outstanding.
Name and Address of Beneficial Owner | Number of Shares Beneficially Owned | Percent of Class Beneficially Owned | ||||||
Bradford T. Whitmore (1) | 5,165,137 | 33.7 | % | |||||
1560 Sherman Avenue, Suite 900 | ||||||||
Evanston, IL 60201 | ||||||||
NGP Energy Technology Partners II, L.P. (2) | 950,721 | 6.2 | % | |||||
1700 K Street NW, Suite 750 | ||||||||
Washington, D.C. 20006 |
Name and Address of Beneficial Owner | Number of Shares Beneficially Owned | Percent of Class | ||
Bradford T. Whitmore (1) | 5,363,073 | 34.1% | ||
1603 Orrington Avenue, Suite 900 | ||||
Evanston, IL 60201 |
(1) | Bradford T. Whitmore, individually and as |
SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF MANAGEMENT
The table below shows certain information regarding the beneficial ownership of shares of our common stock as of April 5, 2016May 28, 2019 by (1) each of our directors, (2) each of our Named Executive Officers (as defined under the heading “Executive Compensation”),executive officers, and (3) all of our directors and executive officers as a group.
Name of Beneficial Owner (1) | Number of Shares Beneficially Owned (1) | Percent of Class | ||
Steven M. Anderson | 18,500 | * | ||
Michael D. Popielec | 883,622 (3) | 1.7% | ||
Thomas L. Saeli | 60,446 | * | ||
Robert W. Shaw II | 53,500 | * | ||
Ranjit C. Singh | 79,801 | * | ||
Bradford T. Whitmore | 5,363,073 (4) | 34.1% | ||
Philip A. Fain | 232,230 (5) | * | ||
All Directors and Executive Officers as a group (7 persons) | 6,691,172 (6) | 37.7% |
*Less than 1% | ||||
(1) | Except as otherwise indicated, the shareholders named in this table have sole voting and investment power with respect to the shares of our common stock beneficially owned by them. The information provided in this table is based upon information provided to us by such shareholders. The table reports beneficial ownership for our directors and executive officers in accordance with Rule 13d-3 under the Exchange Act. This means all our securities over which directors and executive officers directly or indirectly have or share voting or investment power are listed as beneficially owned. The amounts also include shares that may be acquired by exercise of stock options prior to |
(2) | Based on |
(3) | The amount shown includes |
(4) | See “Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners” |
(5) | The amount shown includes |
(6) | The amount shown includes |
SECTION 16(a) BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP REPORTING COMPLIANCE
Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act requires our directors, executive officers and persons who own more than 10% of our common stock to file with the SEC initial reports of beneficial ownership and reports of changes in beneficial ownership of our common stock and our other equity securities. To our knowledge, based solely on the written representations of our directors and executive officers and the copies of such reports filed with the SEC during 2015,2018, all Section 16(a) filings applicable to our officers, directors and more than 10% beneficial owners were filed in a timely manner.
SUBMISSION OF SHAREHOLDER PROPOSALS
Submission of Shareholder Proposals
Under Rule 14a-8 of the Exchange Act, shareholder proposals intended for inclusion in the proxy statement for our 20162019 Annual Meeting of Shareholders must be submitted in writing to us to our Corporate Secretary (Attn: Philip A. Fain) at 2000 Technology Parkway, Newark, New York 14513, and must have been received by December 23, 2016.February 1, 2019.
Any shareholder proposal submitted for consideration at our 20162019 Annual Meeting of Shareholders butnot submitted for inclusion in the proxy statement for that meeting that is received by us after December 23, 2016February 1, 2019 will not be considered filed on a timely basis with us under Rule 14a-4(c)(1) of the Exchange Act. For such proposals that are not timely filed, we retain discretion to vote proxies we receive. For such proposals that are timely filed, we retain discretion to vote proxies we receive provided that we include in our proxy statement advice on the nature of the proposal and how we intend to exercise our voting discretionand the proponent of any such proposal does not issue its own proxy statement.
Our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015,2018 as amended, as filed with the SEC, is included in the 20152018 Annual Report to Shareholders which accompanies this proxy statement.
By Order of the Board of Directors | ||||||
Bradford T. Whitmore, | ||||||
Chair of the Board of Directors |
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