UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

 

SCHEDULE 14A

 

Proxy Statement Pursuant to Section 14(a) of the Securities

Securities Exchange Act of 1934

 

Filed by the registrantþFiled by a Party other than the Registrant¨

Filed by the registrant x

Filed by a Party other than the Registrant ¨

 

Check the appropriate box:

 

¨Preliminary Proxy Statement
¨Confidential, Forfor Use of the Commission Only (as permitted by Rule 14a-6(e)(2))
þxDefinitive Proxy Statementof the Commission Only
¨Definitive Additional Materials(as permitted by Rule
¨Soliciting Material under Rule 14a-1214a-6(e)(2))§ 240.14a-12

 

RESEARCH SOLUTIONS, INC.

(Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)

 

 (Name(Name of Person(s) Filing Proxy Statement, if Other Thanother than the Registrant)

 

Payment of Filing Fee (Check the appropriate box)all boxes that apply):

 

þxNo Fee Required
  
¨Fee computed on table below per Exchange Act Rules 14a-6(i)(4) and 0-11.

¨(1)Title of each class of securities to which transaction applies:____________________________________
(2)Aggregate number of securities to which transaction applies:___________________________________
(3)Per unit price or other underlying value of transaction computed pursuant to Exchange Act Rule 0-11:
__________________________________________________________________________________
(4)Proposed maximum aggregate value of transaction: ___________________________________________
(5)Total fee paid:_______________________________________________________________________

¨Fee paid previously with preliminary materials:materials
  
¨Check box if any part of the fee is offset as providedFee computed on table in exhibit required by Item 25(b) per Exchange Act Rule 0-11(a)(2)Rules 14a-6(i)(1) and identify the filing for which the offsetting fee was paid previously. Identify the previous filing by registration statement number, or the form or schedule and the date of its filing.0-11.

 

(1)Amount previously paid:___________________________________________________________
(2)Form, Schedule or Registration Statement no.: ___________________________________________
(3)Filing party:_____________________________________________________________________
(4)Date filed: ______________________________________________________________________

 

 

 

RESEARCH SOLUTIONS, INC.

15821 Ventura Boulevard, Suite 165

Encino, California 91436

(310) 477-0354

 

 

 

NOTICE OF ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS

To Be Held on November 21, 201714, 2023

 

 

 

TO THE STOCKHOLDERS OF RESEARCH SOLUTIONS, INC.:

 

You are cordially invited to attend the Annual Meeting of Stockholders of Research Solutions, Inc., a Nevada corporation (the “Company” or “our”), to be held on November 21, 2017,14, 2023, at 11:00 A.M. Pacific time, at our corporate headquarters, located at 1582115260 Ventura Boulevard, Suite 165, Encino,20th Floor, Sherman Oaks, California 91436.91403.

 

At the Annual Meeting, stockholders will be asked to consider and act upon the following matters:

 

1.To elect fiveElecting six members to our board of the Board of Directors;directors;

 

2.To ratifyRatifying the appointment of Weinberg & Company, P.A. as the Company’sour independent accountants for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2018;2024;

 

3.To adopt the Research Solutions, Inc. 2017 Omnibus Incentive Plan authorizing the issuance of upVoting on a non-binding advisory resolution to 1,874,513 shares of common stock pursuant to awards granted thereunder;approve our executive compensation;

 

4.To hold an advisory vote on executive compensation; and

5.To transactTransacting other business properly presented at the meeting or any postponement or adjournment thereof.

 

Our Boardboard of Directorsdirectors has fixed September 22, 201727, 2023 as the record date for the determination of stockholders entitled to notice and to vote at the Annual Meeting and any postponement or adjournment thereof, and only stockholders of record at the close of business on that date are entitled to notice and to vote at the Annual Meeting. A list of stockholders entitled to vote at the Annual Meeting will be available at the Annual Meeting and at the offices of the Company for 10 days prior to the Annual Meeting.

 

We hope that you will use this opportunity to take an active part in the affairs of the Company by voting on the business to come before the Annual Meeting, either by executing and returning the enclosed Proxy Card or by casting your vote in person at the Annual Meeting.

 

IT IS IMPORTANT THAT YOUR SHARES BE REPRESENTED AT THE ANNUAL MEETING REGARDLESS OF THE NUMBER OF SHARES YOU HOLD. YOU ARE INVITED TO ATTEND THE ANNUAL MEETING IN PERSON, BUT WHETHER OR NOT YOU PLAN TO ATTEND, PLEASE COMPLETE, DATE, SIGN AND RETURN THE ACCOMPANYING PROXY CARD IN THE ENCLOSED ENVELOPE. IF YOU DO ATTEND THE ANNUAL MEETING, YOU MAY, IF YOU PREFER, REVOKE YOUR PROXY AND VOTE YOUR SHARES IN PERSON.

 

September 25, 2017October 12, 2023 

By Order of the Board of Directors

   

John Regazzi

Chairman of the Board

Lead Independent Director

 

2

 

Table of Contents

Page
PROXY STATEMENT FOR THE ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS1
PROPOSAL NO. 1—ELECTION OF DIRECTORS3
CURRENT DIRECTORS/DIRECTOR NOMINEES4
OTHER EXECUTIVE OFFICERS6
FURTHER INFORMATION CONCERNING OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE7
DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE10
AUDIT COMMITTEE REPORT11
PROPOSAL NO. 2—RATIFICATION OF THE APPOINTMENT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM12
PROPOSAL NO. 3—ADVISORY VOTE ON EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION13
EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION14
SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT23
CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS26
COMPLIANCE WITH SECTION 16(A) OF THE EXCHANGE ACT26
STOCKHOLDER PROPOSALS26
DELIVERY OF DOCUMENTS TO SECURITY HOLDERS SHARING AN ADDRESS27
OTHER MATTERS27

 

 

RESEARCH SOLUTIONS, INC.

 

PROXY STATEMENT FOR ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS

 

TO BE HELD NOVEMBER 21, 201714, 2023

 

 

INTRODUCTION

This Proxy Statement is furnished in connection with the solicitation of proxies by the Board of Directors of Research Solutions, Inc., a Nevada corporation (we, us or our), for use at the annual meeting of stockholders to be held on November 21, 2017, at 11:00 A.M. Pacific Time, or the Annual Meeting, at our corporate headquarters, located at 15821 Ventura Boulevard, Suite 165, Encino, California 91436. Accompanying this Proxy Statement is our Board of Directors’ Proxy for the Annual Meeting, which you may use to indicate your vote as to the proposals described in this Proxy Statement.

We will bear the expense of this solicitation of proxies. Solicitations will be made only by use of the mail except that, if deemed desirable, officers and regular employees of our company may solicit proxies by telephone, electronic mail or personal calls. We may also engage a proxy solicitation firm on terms and at costs reasonably acceptable to our Board of Directors. Brokerage houses, custodians, nominees and fiduciaries will be requested to forward the proxy soliciting material to the beneficial owners of the stock held of record by those persons and we will reimburse them for their reasonable expenses incurred in this regard.

The purpose of the Annual Meeting and the matters to be acted upon are set forth in the attached Notice of Annual Meeting of Stockholders. As of the date of this Proxy Statement, our Board of Directors knows of no other business that may be presented for consideration at the Annual Meeting. All proxies which are properly completed, signed and returned to us prior to the Annual Meeting and which have not been revoked will be voted in favor of the proposals described in this Proxy Statement unless otherwise directed. A stockholder may revoke its proxy at any time before it is voted either by filing with our Secretary, at our principal executive offices, a written notice of revocation or a duly executed proxy bearing a later date, or by attending the Annual Meeting and expressing a desire to vote its shares in person, provided that if a stockholder holds its shares in street name, such stockholder may vote its shares in person at the Annual Meeting only if it obtains a proxy, executed in its favor, from the record holder. If any other business properly comes before the Annual Meeting, votes will be cast pursuant to those proxies in respect of any other business in accordance with the judgment of the persons acting under those proxies.

Our principal executive offices are located at 15821 Ventura Boulevard, Suite 165, Encino, California 91436. It is anticipated that the mailing to stockholders of this Proxy Statement and the enclosed proxy will commence on or about October 6, 2017.

OUTSTANDING SECURITIES AND VOTING RIGHTS

The close of business on September 22, 2017, has been fixed as the record date for the determination of stockholders entitled to notice and to vote at the Annual Meeting or any postponement or adjournment thereof. As of the record date, we had outstanding 24,134,992 shares of common stock, par value $0.001 per share. Our common stock is our only outstanding voting security. As of the record date, we had 38 holders of record of our common stock.

A holder of common stock is entitled to cast one vote for each share held on the record date on all matters to be considered at the Annual Meeting. The nominees for director who receive a plurality of the votes cast by the holders of our common stock, in person or by proxy at the meeting, will be elected. Approval of the proposal to ratify the appointment of Weinberg & Company, P.A., as our independent accountants for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2018, approval of the adoption of our 2017 Omnibus Incentive Plan and approval of the advisory vote on the resolution approving the compensation of our executives as disclosed in the compensation tables and related narrative disclosure herein, requires the favorable vote of a majority of shares voted at the Annual Meeting or by proxy.

1

A quorum, which is a majority of the outstanding shares as of September 22, 2017, must be present to hold the Annual Meeting. A quorum is calculated based on the number of shares represented by the stockholders attending in person and by their proxy holders. Abstentions and broker non-votes will be included in the determination of shares present at the Annual Meeting for purposes of determining a quorum. Abstentions will be counted toward the tabulation of votes cast on proposals submitted to stockholders and will have the same effect as negative votes, while broker non-votes will not be counted as votes cast for or against these matters or deemed present or represented for determining whether stockholders have approved a proposal. Broker non-votes occur when a broker holding customer securities in street name has not received voting instructions from the customer on certain “non-routine” matters, such as director elections, and, therefore, is barred by the rules of the applicable securities exchange from exercising discretionary authority to vote those securities. Brokers may vote their clients’ shares on routine matters, such as the ratification of our independent registered public accounting firm.

Your vote is important. If your shares are registered in your name, you are a stockholder of record. If your shares are in the name of your broker or bank, your shares are held in street name. We encourage you to vote by proxy so that your shares will be represented and voted at the Annual Meeting even if you cannot attend. All stockholders can vote by written proxy card. Your submission of the enclosed proxy will not limit your right to vote at the Annual Meeting if you later decide to attend in person. If you are a stockholder of record, you may revoke your proxy at any time before the Annual Meeting either by filing with our Secretary, at our principal executive offices, a written notice of revocation or a duly executed proxy bearing a later date, or by attending the Annual Meeting and expressing a desire to vote your shares in person, provided that if your shares are held in street name, you must obtain a proxy, executed in your favor, from the holder of record in order to be able to vote at the Annual Meeting. All shares entitled to vote and represented by properly executed proxies received prior to the Annual Meeting, and not revoked, will be voted at the Annual Meeting in accordance with the instructions indicated on those proxies. If no instructions are indicated on a properly executed proxy, the shares represented by that proxy will be voted as recommended by our Board of Directors.

2

PROPOSAL NO. 1

ELECTION OF DIRECTORS

Proposal No. 1 is the election of five directors to hold office for a period of one year or until their respective successors have been duly elected and qualified. Our Amended and Restated Bylaws provide that the number of the directors of our company shall be not less than one nor more than nine, as fixed from time-to-time by resolution of our Board of Directors. On September 18, 2015, our Board of Directors fixed the number of directors at five effective as of November 6, 2015.

Unless otherwise instructed, the proxy holders will vote the proxies received by them for the nominees named below. If any nominee is unwilling to serve as a director at the time of the Annual Meeting, the proxies will be voted for such other nominee(s) as shall be designated by the then current Board of Directors to fill any vacancy. We have no reason to believe that any nominee will be unable or unwilling to serve if elected as a director.

Our Board of Directors proposes the election of the following nominees as directors:

John Regazzi

Chad J. CooperLead Independent Director

Peter Victor Derycz

General Merrill McPeak

Janice Peterson

2

Table of Contents

 

If elected, the foregoing five nominees are expected to serve until the 2018 annual meeting of stockholders.

OUR BOARD
Page
PROXY STATEMENT FOR THE ANNUAL MEETING OF DIRECTORS UNANIMOUSLY RECOMMENDS YOU VOTE “FOR” THE STOCKHOLDERS1
PROPOSAL NO. 1—ELECTION OF THE NOMINEES LISTED ABOVE.

The principal occupation and certain other information about the nominees and certain executive officers are set forth on the following pages.

3DIRECTORS3

CURRENT DIRECTORS/DIRECTOR NOMINEES

The following table sets forth the name, age, position and date of appointment of each of our directors as of September 22, 2017.

NameAgePositionDate of
Appointment
John Regazzi(1) (2)69Chairman of the BoardJune 22, 2015
Chad J. Cooper(2) (3)47DirectorMarch 31, 2016
Peter Victor Derycz55Director, Chief Executive Officer and PresidentJanuary 6, 2006
Gen. Merrill McPeak(2) (4)81DirectorNovember 5, 2010
Janice Peterson69Director, Chief Publisher Relations OfficerJuly 1, 20064

(1)Chairman of the Audit Committee.

(2)Member of Audit Committee, Compensation Committee and Nominating and Governance Committee.

(3)Chairman of the Nominating and Governance Committee.

(4)Chairman of the Compensation Committee.

John Regazzi – Chairman of the Board

Mr. Regazzi was appointed to our Board of Directors on June 22, 2015 and was appointed Chairman of the Board effective August 20, 2015. Mr. Regazzi is an information services and IT industry innovator, with more than four decades of experience. He is currently managing director of Akoya Capital Partners, a sector-focused private investment firm, where for the last few years he has served as its professional information services sector leader. He has also been a professor at the Long Island University’s College of Education, Information and Technology since 2005, and has served as dean of LIU’s College of Information and Computer Science. Before joining Akoya Capital Partners, Mr. Regazzi served for several years as CEO of Elsevier Inc. and managing director of the NYSE-listed Reed Elsevier, the world’s largest publisher and information services company for journal and related scientific, technical and medical content. At Reed Elsevier, he oversaw its expansive electronic publishing portfolio, with a program staff of 3,000 and revenues exceeding $1 billion. He was previously CEO of Engineering Information, which he helped turn around before being acquired by Reed Elsevier. As a recognized industry thought leader, Mr. Regazzi has designed, launched, and managed some of the most innovative and well-known information services in the professional communities, including the Engineering Village, Science Direct, Scirus and Scopus, as well as numerous other electronic information services dating back to the early days of the online and CD-ROM industries. Mr. Regazzi has served on a variety of corporate and industry boards, including the British Standards Institute Group and the American Institute of Physics, and he recently was appointed and serves as chairman of the board of National Technical Information Service, a division of the U.S. Department of Commerce. He currently serves as chairman of DiSTI and Inflexxion, both Akoya portfolio companies, and as a member of the board of managers and Treasurer of AIP Publishing. Mr. Regazzi earned his B.S. from St. Johns University, M.A. from University of Iowa, M.S. from Columbia University, and Ph.D. in Information Science from Rutgers University. Our board of directors concluded that Mr. Regazzi should serve as a director in light of his extensive experience in the information services industry.

Chad J. Cooper – Director

Mr. Cooper has more than 15 years of experience in the financial markets. He has served in various capacities, including investment management, investment banking and capital markets. Mr. Cooper served as a board member at ARI Networks (NASDAQ: ARIS) from 2014 to 2017, until True Wind Capital Management took the company private in August 2017. Mr. Cooper currently serves on the board of YouMail, Inc., and Wings for Crossover, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Mr. Cooper has a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Southern California and an M.B.A. from Georgetown University. In light of Mr. Cooper's financial and executive experience, our Board of Directors believes it to be in our best interests that Mr. Cooper serve as a director.

Peter Victor Derycz – Director, Chief Executive Officer and President

Mr. Derycz founded Reprints Desk and has served as its Chief Executive Officer and President since January 6, 2006. Mr. Derycz also served as Chairman of the Board from January 6, 2006 through August 19, 2015. Mr. Derycz was a founder of Infotrieve, Inc. in 1989 and served as its President from February 2003 until September 2003. He served as the Chief Executive Officer of Puerto Luperon, Ltd. (Bahamas), a real estate development company, from January 2004 until December 2005. He currently serves on the Internation Advisory Board of the San Jose State University School of Information, and served as a member of the board of directors of Insignia Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISIG), a consumer products advertising company from 2006 to 2014. Mr. Derycz received a B.A. in Psychology from the University of California at Los Angeles. Our Board of Directors believes that Mr. Derycz’ familiarity with our day-to-day operations, his strategic vision for our business and his past leadership and management experience make him uniquely qualified to serve as a director.

4

General Merrill McPeak – Director

Gen. McPeak was appointed to our Board of Directors on November 5, 2010. He is President of McPeak and Associates, a company he founded in 1995. From 1990 until his retirement from active military service in late-1994, he was chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force. During this period, he was the senior officer responsible for organization, training and equipage of a combined active duty, National Guard, Reserve and civilian work force of over 850,000 people serving at 1,300 locations in the United States and abroad. As a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he and the other service chiefs were military advisors to the Secretary of Defense and the President. Gen. McPeak has served on the board of directors of several publicly traded companies, including long service with Trans World Airlines, Inc. and with the test and measurement company, Tektronix, Inc. He was for many years Chairman of the Board of ECC International Corp., until that company was acquired by Cubic Corporation. Currently, Gen. McPeak is a director of Aerojet Rocketdyne (NYSE: AJRD), Lilis Energy (NASDAQ: LLEX) and Lion Biotechnologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: LBIO). He is a director of Valence Surface Technologies, the country’s largest privately held provider of metal processing and finishing services. General McPeak was a founding investor, director and chairman of Ethicspoint, Inc., a software-as-a-service provider of secure, confidential employee reporting systems, that was acquired by private equity at a return making it one of Oregon’s most successful business startups in decades. Our Board of Directors concluded that Gen. McPeak should serve as a director in light of his demonstrated leadership abilities and years of experience serving on the boards of directors of numerous publicly traded corporations.

Janice Peterson – Director, Chief Publisher Relations Officer

Ms. Peterson has served as the Chief Publisher Relations Officer and as a Director since July 1, 2006. She was Vice President for Content Development at Infotrieve, Inc. from 2000 to 2006 and Vice President for Publisher Relations and Content Development at RoweCom, formerly Faxon/Dawson, from 1997 to 2000. Ms. Peterson was at Academic Press (now Elsevier) for 14 years, where her last position was Fulfillment Director. Ms. Peterson is Past Chair of the board of directors for the National Information Standards Organization (NISO), and she is the past chair of the International Committee for EDI in Serials (ICEDIS). She has a degree in History from Whittier College and an M.A. in Asian Studies from California State College, San Diego. She joined Reprints Desk in 2006. Our Board of Directors believes that Ms. Peterson should serve as a director due to her extensive industry-specific knowledge and business experience, including a familiarity with our day-to-day operations.

OTHER EXECUTIVE OFFICERS

The following table sets forth the name, age, position and date of appointment of each of our other executive officers as of September 22, 2017.

NameAgePositionDate of Appointment
Alan Louis Urban48Chief Financial Officer and SecretaryNovember 3, 2011
Scott Ahlberg54Chief Operating OfficerJuly 1, 2007
Ian Palmer42Chief Sales and Marketing OfficerJuly 1, 20136

Alan Louis Urban – Chief Financial Officer and Secretary

Mr. Urban joined Research Solutions in 2011 and has over 20 years of experience in corporate finance and accounting. Mr. Urban has previously served in numerous senior management positions, including: Vice President of Finance and Treasurer for Infotrieve from 2000 to 2004; Chief Financial Officer of a leading online poker company from 2005 to 2006; and Chief Financial Officer of ReachLocal (NASDAQ:RLOC) from 2007 to 2009, an internet marketing company that ranked #1 on Deloitte’s Tech Fast 500 List. Mr. Urban has also held positions as an audit and tax manager in public accounting, and as an internal auditor. He holds a B.S. in Business, with a concentration in Accounting Theory and Practice, from California State University, Northridge and has been a Certified Public Accountant (currently inactive) since 1998.

5

Scott Ahlberg – Chief Operating Officer

Mr. Ahlberg has effectively served as our Chief Operating Officer since July 1, 2007, and has many years of experience in content and startup businesses. Mr. Ahlberg started with Dynamic Information (EbscoDoc) in the 1980s, then went on to lead Sales and Marketing at Infotrieve, Inc. After leaving Infotrieve in 2005 Mr. Ahlberg provided consulting services to ventures in professional networking and medical podcasting. He joined Reprints Desk in 2006. His areas of expertise include strategic planning, operational innovation, copyright and content licensing, and quality management. Mr. Ahlberg has degrees from Stanford University (B.A., 1984) and the University of London (M.A., 1990).

Ian Palmer –Chief Sales and Marketing Officer

Mr. Palmer joined Research Solutions in 2008 and has served as our Chief Sales and Marketing Officer since July 1, 2013. He drives our growth through customer retention and acquisition. He has two decades of sales, marketing and communications experience in industries such as online information, high tech and business services. Most recently, Mr. Palmer was responsible for managing enterprise marketing at Safari Books Online, a joint venture of publishers O’Reilly Media, Inc., and Pearson Technology Group, a division of Pearson Education. Previously, Mr. Palmer held senior-level positions at Infotrieve, Inc., Hydra Worldwide Corporation, Singular Publishing Group, Inc., and Impinj, Inc., a previous winner of the Red Herring Top 100 Private Companies of North America Award. Mr. Palmer is from the Pacific Northwest and earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications from the University of Washington.

FURTHER INFORMATION CONCERNING OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Meetings. Our Board of Directors held six meetings during the fiscal year ended June 30, 2017. Each director then serving attended 75% or more of the aggregate of all of the meetings of our Board of Directors and all of the meetings held by all committees of our Board of Directors on which such director served in the fiscal year ended June 30, 2017. While directors periodically attend annual stockholder meetings, we have not established a specific policy with respect to members of our Board of Directors attending annual stockholder meetings.

Committees.Our Board of Directors currently has the following standing committees: Audit Committee, Compensation Committee and Nominating and Governance Committee. Our Audit Committee held five meetings, our Compensation Committee held six meetings and our Nominating and Governance Committee held one meeting during the fiscal year ended June 30, 2017.

Our Audit Committee currently consists of Messrs. Regazzi (Chairman), Cooper and McPeak. Our Board of Directors has determined that Mr. Regazzi is an audit committee financial expert, as defined in Item 407(d)(5) of Regulation S-K, and that each member of our Audit Committee is able to read and understand fundamental financial statements and has substantial business experience that results in such member’s financial sophistication. Accordingly, our Board of Directors believes that each member of our Audit Committee has sufficient knowledge and experience necessary to fulfill such member’s duties and obligations on our Audit Committee. The primary purposes of our Audit Committee are to assist our Board of Directors in fulfilling its responsibility to oversee the accounting and financial reporting processes of our company and audits of our financial statements, including (i) reviewing the scope of the audit and all non-audit services to be performed by our independent accountant and the fees incurred by us in connection therewith, (ii) reviewing the results of such audit, including the independent accountant’s opinion and letter of comment to management and management’s response thereto, (iii) reviewing with our independent accountants our internal accounting principles, policies and practices and financial reporting, (iv) engaging our independent accountants and (v) reviewing our quarterly and annual financial statements prior to public issuance. The role and responsibilities of our Audit Committee are more fully set forth in a revised written Charter adopted by our Board of Directors on September 18, 2015, which is available on our website located atwww.researchsolutions.com.

Our Compensation Committee currently consists of Messrs. McPeak (Chairman), Cooper and Regazzi. The primary purposes of our Compensation Committee are to assist our Board of Directors in fulfilling its responsibility to determine the compensation of our executive officers and to approve and evaluate the compensation policies and programs of our company, including (i) reviewing the compensation packages of executive officers and making recommendations to our Board of Directors for said compensation packages, (ii) reviewing and approving proposed stock incentive grants and (iii) providing our Board of Directors with recommendations regarding bonus plans, if any. The role and responsibilities of our Compensation Committee are more fully set forth in a revised written Charter adopted by our Board of Directors on September 18, 2015, which is available on our website located atwww.researchsolutions.com.

6 AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE7

The policies underlying our Compensation Committee’s compensation decisions are designed to attract and retain the best-qualified management personnel available. We routinely compensate our executive officers through salaries. At our discretion, we may reward executive officers and employees through bonus programs based on profitability and other objectively measurable performance factors. Additionally, we use stock options, restricted stock awards and other incentive awards to compensate our executives and other key employees to align the interests of our executive officers with the interests of our stockholders. In establishing executive compensation, our Compensation Committee evaluates compensation paid to similar officers employed at other companies of similar size in the same industry and the individual performance of each officer as it impacts our overall performance with particular focus on an individual’s contribution to the realization of operating profits and the achievement of strategic business goals. Our Compensation Committee further attempts to rationalize a particular executive’s compensation with that of other executive officers of our company in an effort to distribute compensation fairly among the executive officers. Although the components of executive compensation (salary, bonus and incentive grants) are reviewed separately, compensation decisions are made based on a review of total compensation.

Our Nominating and Governance Committee currently consists of Messrs. Cooper (Chairman), McPeak and Regazzi. The primary purposes of our Nominating and Governance Committee are to (i) identify individuals qualified to become members of our Board of Directors and recommend to our Board of Directors the nominees for the next annual meeting of our stockholders and candidates to fill vacancies on our Board of Directors, (ii) recommend to our Board of Directors the directors to be appointed to committees of our Board of Directors and (iii) oversee the effectiveness of our corporate governance in accordance with regulatory guidelines and any other guidelines we establish, including evaluations of members of executive management, our Board of Directors and its committees. The role and responsibilities of our Nominating and Governance Committee are more fully set forth in a revised written Charter adopted by our Board of Directors on October 15, 2012, which is available on our website located atwww.researchsolutions.com.

Our Nominating and Governance Committee’s methods for identifying candidates for election to our Board of Directors (other than those proposed by our stockholders, as discussed below) include the solicitation of ideas for possible candidates from a number of sources - members of our Board of Directors; our executives; individuals personally known to the members of our Board of Directors; and other research. Our Nominating and Governance Committee may also, from time-to-time, retain one or more third-party search firms to identify suitable candidates.

A stockholder of our company may nominate one or more persons for election as a director at an annual meeting of stockholders if the stockholder complies with the notice, information and consent provisions contained in our Amended and Restated Bylaws. In addition, the notice must be made in writing and set forth as to each proposed nominee who is not an incumbent Director (i) their name, age, business address and, if known, residence address, (ii) their principal occupation or employment, (iii) the number of shares of stock of our company beneficially owned, (iv) a description of all arrangements or understandings between the stockholder and each nominee and any other person pursuant to which the nominations are to be made and (v) any other information concerning the nominee that must be disclosed respecting nominees in proxy solicitations pursuant to Rule 14(a) of the Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The recommendation should be addressed to our Secretary.

Among other matters, our Nominating and Governance Committee:

1.Reviews the desired experience, mix of skills and other qualities to assure appropriate Board of Directors composition, taking into account the current members of our Board of Directors and the specific needs of our company and our Board of Directors;
DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE10
AUDIT COMMITTEE REPORT11
PROPOSAL NO. 2—RATIFICATION OF THE APPOINTMENT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM12
PROPOSAL NO. 3—ADVISORY VOTE ON EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION13
EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION14
SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT23
CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS26
COMPLIANCE WITH SECTION 16(A) OF THE EXCHANGE ACT26
STOCKHOLDER PROPOSALS26
DELIVERY OF DOCUMENTS TO SECURITY HOLDERS SHARING AN ADDRESS27
OTHER MATTERS27

 

2.Conducts candidate searches, interviews prospective candidates and conducts programs to introduce candidates to our management and operations, and confirms the appropriate level of interest of such candidates;

3.Recommends qualified candidates who bring the background, knowledge, experience, independence, skill sets and expertise that would strengthen and increase the diversity of our Board of Directors; and

4.Conducts appropriate inquiries into the background and qualifications of potential nominees.

7

 

RESEARCH SOLUTIONS, INC.

PROXY STATEMENT FOR ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS

TO BE HELD NOVEMBER 14, 2023

 

Based on the foregoing, our Nominating and Governance Committee recommended for nomination and our Board of Directors nominated, Messrs. Regazzi, Cooper, Derycz and McPeak and Ms. Peterson for re-election as directors on our Board of Directors, subject to stockholder approval, for a one-year term ending on or around the date of the 2018 annual meeting of stockholders.

Board Leadership Structure and Role in Risk Oversight. Mr. Regazzi serves as our Chairman of the Board and Mr. Derycz serves as our Chief Executive Officer. We believe that separating the role of Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer enhances our corporate governance practices and better enables management and our Board of Directors to focus on growth to maximize stockholder value. Our Board of Directors plays an active role, as a whole and also at the committee level, in overseeing management of our risks and strategic direction. Our Board of Directors regularly reviews information regarding our liquidity and operations, as well as the risks associated with each. Our Compensation Committee is responsible for overseeing the management of risks relating to our executive compensation plans and arrangements. Our Audit Committee oversees the process by which our senior management and relevant employees assess and manage our exposure to, and management of, financial risks. Our Nominating and Governance Committee also manages risks associated with the independence of members of our Board of Directors and potential conflicts of interest. While each committee is responsible for evaluating certain risks and overseeing the management of such risks, the entire Board of Directors is regularly informed about such risks.

Stockholder Communications. Holders of our securities can send communications to our Board of Directors via email toauditcommittee@researchsolutions.com or by telephoning the Chief Financial Officer at our principal executive offices, who will then relay the communications to our Board of Directors.

DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE

Our Board of Directors currently consists of five members: Messrs. Regazzi (Chairman), Cooper, Derycz and McPeak and Ms. Peterson. Each director serves until our next annual meeting or until his or her successor is duly elected and qualified. We are not a “listed issuer” under Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, rules and are therefore not required to have separate committees comprised of independent directors. Our Board of Directors has determined that Mr. Regazzi, Mr. Cooper and Gen. McPeak are independent directors as that term is defined in the applicable rules for companies traded on the NASDAQ Stock Market. Mr. Regazzi, Mr. Cooper and Gen. McPeak are each members of the Audit Committee, Compensation Committee and Nominating and Governance Committee of our Board of Directors.

8

REPORT OF AUDIT COMMITTEE

The Audit Committee of our Board of Directors has furnished the following report:

Our Audit Committee currently operates under a revised written charter that was approved by our Board of Directors effective September 18, 2015. For the fiscal year ended June 30, 2017, our Audit Committee has performed, or has confirmed that our Board of Directors has performed, the duties of our Audit Committee, which is responsible for providing objective oversight of our internal controls and financial reporting process.

In fulfilling its responsibilities for the financial statements for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2017, our Audit Committee:

·Reviewed and discussed the audited financial statements for the year ended June 30, 2017 with management and Weinberg & Company, P.A., or the Auditors, our independent auditors; and

·Received written disclosures and the letter from the Auditors regarding their independence as required by PCAOB Rule 3526,Communication with Audit Committees Concerning Independence. Our Audit Committee discussed with the Auditors their independence.

In fulfilling its responsibilities for the financial statements for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2017, our Audit Committee discussed with the Auditors the matters required to be discussed by Auditing Standard No. 16,Communications with Audit Committees, relating to the conduct of the audit.

Based on our Audit Committee’s review of our audited financial statements and discussions with management and the Auditors, our Audit Committee approved the inclusion of the audited financial statements in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended June 30, 2017, for filing with the SEC.

AUDIT COMMITTEE

John Regazzi

Chad J. CooperLead Independent Director

General Merrill McPeak

2

Table of Contents

 

The information in this Audit Committee Report shall not be deemed to be “soliciting material,” or to be “filed” with the Securities and Exchange Commission or to be subject to Regulation 14A or 14C as promulgated by the Securities and Exchange Commission, or to the liabilities of Section 18 of the Exchange Act.
Page
PROXY STATEMENT FOR THE ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS1
PROPOSAL NO. 1—ELECTION OF DIRECTORS3
CURRENT DIRECTORS/DIRECTOR NOMINEES4
OTHER EXECUTIVE OFFICERS6
FURTHER INFORMATION CONCERNING OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE7
DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE10
AUDIT COMMITTEE REPORT11
PROPOSAL NO. 2—RATIFICATION OF THE APPOINTMENT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM12
PROPOSAL NO. 3—ADVISORY VOTE ON EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION13
EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION14
SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT23
CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS26
COMPLIANCE WITH SECTION 16(A) OF THE EXCHANGE ACT26
STOCKHOLDER PROPOSALS26
DELIVERY OF DOCUMENTS TO SECURITY HOLDERS SHARING AN ADDRESS27
OTHER MATTERS27

RESEARCH SOLUTIONS, INC.

PROXY STATEMENT FOR ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS

TO BE HELD NOVEMBER 14, 2023

INTRODUCTION

This Proxy Statement is furnished in connection with the solicitation of proxies by the board of directors of Research Solutions, Inc., a Nevada corporation (we, us or our), for use at the annual meeting of stockholders to be held on November 14, 2023, at 11:00 A.M. Pacific Time, or the Annual Meeting, at 15260 Ventura Boulevard, 20th Floor, Sherman Oaks, California 91403. Accompanying this Proxy Statement is our board of directors’ Proxy for the Annual Meeting, which you may use to indicate your vote as to the proposals described in this Proxy Statement.

We will bear the expense of this solicitation of proxies. Solicitations will be made only by use of the mail except that, if deemed desirable, officers and regular employees of our company may solicit proxies by telephone, electronic mail or personal calls. We have engaged a proxy solicitation firm on terms and at costs reasonably acceptable to our board of directors. Brokerage houses, custodians, nominees and fiduciaries will be requested to forward the proxy soliciting material to the beneficial owners of the stock held of record by those persons and we will reimburse them for their reasonable expenses incurred in this regard.

The purpose of the Annual Meeting and the matters to be acted upon are set forth in the attached Notice of Annual Meeting of Stockholders. As of the date of this Proxy Statement, our board of directors knows of no other business that may be presented for consideration at the Annual Meeting. All proxies which are properly completed, signed and returned to us prior to the Annual Meeting and which have not been revoked will be voted in favor of the proposals described in this Proxy Statement unless otherwise directed. A stockholder may revoke its proxy at any time before it is voted either by filing with our Secretary, at our mailing address, a written notice of revocation or a duly executed proxy bearing a later date, or by attending the Annual Meeting and expressing a desire to vote its shares in person, provided that if a stockholder holds its shares in street name, such stockholder may vote its shares in person at the Annual Meeting only if it obtains a proxy, executed in its favor, from the record holder. If any other business properly comes before the Annual Meeting, votes will be cast pursuant to those proxies in respect of any other business in accordance with the judgment of the persons acting under those proxies.

In November 2019, we became a fully remote company. Accordingly, we do not currently have principal executive offices. Our mailing address is 10624 E. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614, Henderson, NV 89052. It is anticipated that the mailing to stockholders of this Proxy Statement and the enclosed proxy will commence on or about October 16, 2023.

OUTSTANDING SECURITIES AND VOTING RIGHTS

The close of business on September 27, 2023, has been fixed as the record date for the determination of stockholders entitled to notice and to vote at the Annual Meeting or any postponement or adjournment thereof. As of the record date, we had outstanding 29,624,085 shares of common stock, par value $0.001 per share. Our common stock is our only outstanding voting security. As of the record date, we had 44 holders of record of our common stock.

A holder of common stock is entitled to cast one vote for each share held on the record date on all matters to be considered at the Annual Meeting. The nominees for director who receive a plurality of the votes cast by the holders of our common stock, in person or by proxy at the meeting, will be elected. Approval of the proposal to ratify the appointment of Weinberg & Company, P.A., as our independent accountants for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2024, and approval of the advisory vote on the resolution approving the compensation of our executives as disclosed in the compensation tables and related narrative disclosure herein, requires the favorable vote of a majority of shares voted at the Annual Meeting or by proxy.

1

A quorum, which is a majority of the outstanding shares as of September 27, 2023, must be present to hold the Annual Meeting. A quorum is calculated based on the number of shares represented by the stockholders attending in person and by their proxy holders. Abstentions and broker non-votes will be included in the determination of shares present at the Annual Meeting for purposes of determining a quorum. Abstentions will be counted toward the tabulation of votes cast on proposals submitted to stockholders and will have the same effect as negative votes, while broker non-votes will not be counted as votes cast for or against these matters or deemed present or represented for determining whether stockholders have approved a proposal. Broker non-votes occur when a broker holding customer securities in street name has not received voting instructions from the customer on certain “non-routine” matters, such as director elections, and, therefore, is barred by the rules of the applicable securities exchange from exercising discretionary authority to vote those securities. Brokers may vote their clients’ shares on routine matters, such as the ratification of our independent registered public accounting firm.

Your vote is important. If your shares are registered in your name, you are a stockholder of record. If your shares are in the name of your broker or bank, your shares are held in street name. We encourage you to vote by proxy so that your shares will be represented and voted at the Annual Meeting even if you cannot attend. All stockholders can vote by written proxy card. Your submission of the enclosed proxy will not limit your right to vote at the Annual Meeting if you later decide to attend in person. If you are a stockholder of record, you may revoke your proxy at any time before the Annual Meeting either by filing with our Secretary, at our mailing address, a written notice of revocation or a duly executed proxy bearing a later date, or by attending the Annual Meeting and expressing a desire to vote your shares in person, provided that if your shares are held in street name, you must obtain a proxy, executed in your favor, from the holder of record in order to be able to vote at the Annual Meeting. All shares entitled to vote and represented by properly executed proxies received prior to the Annual Meeting, and not revoked, will be voted at the Annual Meeting in accordance with the instructions indicated on those proxies. If no instructions are indicated on a properly executed proxy, the shares represented by that proxy will be voted as recommended by our board of directors.

2

PROPOSAL NO. 1

ELECTION OF DIRECTORS

Proposal No. 1 is the election of six directors to hold office for a period of one year or until their respective successors have been duly elected and qualified. Our Amended and Restated Bylaws provide that the number of the directors of our company shall be not less than one nor more than nine, as fixed from time-to-time by resolution of our board of directors. On February 8, 2022, our board of directors fixed the number of directors at six effective as of February 8, 2022.

Unless otherwise instructed, the proxy holders will vote the proxies received by them for the nominees named below. If any nominee is unwilling to serve as a director at the time of the Annual Meeting, the proxies will be voted for such other nominee(s) as shall be designated by the then current board of directors to fill any vacancy. We have no reason to believe that any nominee will be unable or unwilling to serve if elected as a director.

Our board of directors proposes the election of the following nominees as directors:

Barbara J. Cooperman

General Merrill McPeak

Jeremy Murphy

Roy W. Olivier

John J. Regazzi

Kenneth L. Gayron

If elected, the foregoing six nominees are expected to serve until the 2024 annual meeting of stockholders.

Required Vote

Directors are elected by a plurality of the votes of the shares present in person or represented by proxy at the meeting and entitled to vote on the election of directors. You may vote either FOR all the nominees, FOR any one of the nominees, WITHHOLD your vote from all the nominees or WITHHOLD your vote from any one of the nominees. Votes that are withheld will not be included in the vote tally for the election of directors. If your shares are held in “street name” by a broker, bank or other nominee, your broker, bank or other nominee does not have authority to vote your unvoted shares held by the firm for the election of directors. As a result, any shares not voted by you will be treated as a broker non-vote. Such broker non-votes will have no effect on the results of this vote.

OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS UNANIMOUSLY RECOMMENDS YOU VOTE “FOR” THE ELECTION OF THE NOMINEES LISTED ABOVE.

The principal occupation and certain other information about the nominees and certain executive officers are set forth on the following pages.

3

CURRENT DIRECTORS/DIRECTOR NOMINEES

The following table sets forth the name, age, position and date of appointment of each of our directors and each persons nominated to become a director, as applicable, as of September 27, 2023.

 

NameAgePositionDate of Appointment
Barbara J. Cooperman(1)68DirectorFebruary 8, 2022
Gen. Merrill McPeak (1) (2) (3)87DirectorNovember 5, 2010
Roy W. Olivier64President and Chief Executive Officer, and DirectorMarch 29, 2021
John J. Regazzi(1) (4)75Lead Independent DirectorJune 22, 2015
Jeremy Murphy40Director Nominee 9 
Kenneth L. Gayron50Director Nominee

 

(1)Member of the Audit Committee, the Compensation Committee and the Nominating and Governance Committee.

PROPOSAL NO. 2
(2)Chairman of the Compensation Committee.

(3)Chairman of the Nominating and Governance Committee.

(4)Chairman of the Audit Committee.

Barbara J. Cooperman – Director

Ms. Cooperman was appointed to our board of directors on February 8, 2022. Ms. Cooperman is an accomplished executive with general management background, P&L responsibility, and world-class marketing specialty in both B2B and B2C sectors. She has more than 20 years’ governance experience on boards including early-stage and privately held companies, nonprofits, industry associations, as well as executive leadership teams. She is known for being strategic and is a highly regarded leader skilled at developing vision and guiding organizations through growth stages and periods of reinvention. With 20+ years in the C-suite, Ms. Cooperman has significant experience advising our board of directors on a wide range of issues such as unlocking brand value, strategic plans, M&A, and corporate social responsibility. Most recently, Ms. Cooperman was the global CMO at Kroll, a leader in cyber security and risk consulting, and Kroll Ontrack, a leader in ediscovery and data recovery. Joining as the firm came out of bankruptcy, she restored worldwide gold standard brand reputations, created go-to-market strategy for the high-growth cyber security practice, and managed corporate and crisis communications through the successful sale of both companies and several high-stakes matters. Kroll Ontrack was sold in 2016 and Kroll in 2018, both at highly attractive valuations. Prior to her role as Chief Marketing Officer at Kroll, Inc., Ms. Cooperman worked for 12 years at Reed Elsevier, where she served as the Global Chief Marketing Officer for LexisNexis and Elsevier. Our board of directors concluded that Ms. Cooperman should serve as a director in light of her extensive industry knowledge, marketing and operating expertise, and governance experience.

General Merrill McPeak – Director

Gen. McPeak was appointed to our board of directors on November 5, 2010. He is President of McPeak and Associates, a company he founded in 1995. From 1990 until his retirement from active military service in late-1994, he was chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force. During this period, he was the senior officer responsible for organization, training and equipage of a combined active duty, National Guard, Reserve and civilian work force of over 850,000 people serving at 1,300 locations in the United States and abroad. As a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he and the other service chiefs were military advisors to the Secretary of Defense and the President. Gen. McPeak has served on the board of directors of several publicly traded companies, including long service with Trans World Airlines, Inc. and with the test and measurement company, Tektronix, Inc. He was for many years Chairman of the Board of ECC International Corp., until that company was acquired by Cubic Corporation. Currently, Gen. McPeak is a director of Iovance Biotherapeutics (Nasdaq:IOVA). Gen. McPeak was a founding investor, director and chairman of Ethicspoint, Inc., a software-as-a-service provider of secure, confidential employee reporting systems, that was acquired by private equity at a return making it one of Oregon’s most successful business startups in decades. Our board of directors concluded that Gen. McPeak should serve as a director in light of his demonstrated leadership abilities and years of experience serving on the boards of directors of numerous publicly traded corporations.

4

Roy W. Olivier – President and Chief Executive Officer, and Director

Mr. Olivier was named Interim Chief Executive Officer and President on March 29, 2021 and was formally appointed as Chief Executive Officer and President on October 4, 2021. Mr. Olivier has been a member of our board of directors since January 2018. Before joining our company, Mr. Olivier served as CEO of ARI Network Services, a leading provider of SaaS tools and marketing services, growing the business from less than 80 employees to over 1,200 and increasing revenues from under $15 million to over $100 million through accelerated organic growth and acquisitions. Earlier in his career, he served as VP of Sales and Marketing for ProQuest Media Solutions (now Snap-on Inc.) and held executive and senior management positions at multiple companies across the telecommunications and computer industries including Multicom Publishing, Tandy Corporation, BusinessLand and PacTel.

John J. Regazzi – Lead Independent Director

Mr. Regazzi was appointed to our board of directors on June 22, 2015, and served as Chairman of the Board from August 20, 2015 through March 29, 2021, when he was designated Lead Independent Director. Mr. Regazzi is an information services and IT industry innovator, with more than four decades of experience. He is currently managing director of Akoya Capital Partners, a sector-focused private investment firm, where for the last few years he has served as its professional information services sector leader. He has also been a professor at the Long Island University’s College of Education, Information and Technology since 2005, and has served as dean of LIU’s College of Information and Computer Science. Before joining Akoya Capital Partners, Mr. Regazzi served for several years as CEO of Elsevier Inc. and managing director of the NYSE-listed Reed Elsevier, the world’s largest publisher and information services company for journal and related scientific, technical and medical content. At Reed Elsevier, he oversaw its expansive electronic publishing portfolio, with a program staff of 3,000 and revenues exceeding $1 billion. He was previously CEO of Engineering Information, which he helped turn around before being acquired by Reed Elsevier. As a recognized industry thought leader, Mr. Regazzi has designed, launched, and managed some of the most innovative and well-known information services in the professional communities, including the Engineering Village, Science Direct, Scirus and Scopus, as well as numerous other electronic information services dating back to the early days of the online and CD-ROM industries. Mr. Regazzi has served on a variety of corporate and industry boards, including the British Standards Institute Group and the American Institute of Physics, and served as chairman of the board of National Technical Information Service, a division of the U.S. Department of Commerce. He currently serves as chairman of DiSTI and Convergered Security Solutions (CSS), both Akoya portfolio companies. Mr. Regazzi earned his B.S. from St. Johns University, M.A. from University of Iowa, M.S. from Columbia University, and Ph.D. in Information Science from Rutgers University. Our board of directors concluded that Mr. Regazzi should serve as a director in light of his extensive experience in the information services industry.

Jeremy Murphy – Director Nominee

Mr. Murphy is the current COO & President at ClickTripz, the leading contextual ad network for the travel industry, which each month delivers tens of millions of travel-intenders to the world’s largest travel websites. At ClickTripz, Mr. Murphy has orchestrated pioneering new b2b software from ideation to roll-out, including the first AI-powered conversational advertisement trained to be an expert on each advertiser’s product offering by leveraging state-of-the-art document indexing and language models. Previously, he co-founded TheSuitest, a hotel data-analytics platform featured in the NYTimes, The Today Show and elsewhere for using natural language processing to compare and quantify hotel accommodations. TheSuitest was successfully acquired by ClickTripz in 2015. Prior to his current role, Mr. Murphy had significant experience in various crucial positions at prominent financial institutions. Mr. Murphy was an analyst in the Investment Management Division of Goldman Sachs & Co. as part of a team responsible for nearly $10 billion in assets. Mr. Murphy later worked as a risk manager and analyst for the investment arm of the Gulf Bank of Kuwait and its controlling shareholder. Our board of directors determined that Mr. Murphy would make a beneficial addition to our board of directors in light of his AI experience, software expertise and analytics background.

Kenneth L. Gayron – Director Nominee

Mr. Gayron serves as the Chief Financial Officer and EVP of Avid Technology. Mr. Gayron previously served as the Interim CEO and CFO at Numerex Corp., where he successfully managed a public turnaround of Numerex’s business model. This culminated in a successful merger with Sierra Wireless which was approved by over 99% of public shareholders. As a result, Mr. Gayron delivered a 15% shareholder return over the two-year period. Mr. Gayron was also responsible for Numerex’s Global Financial Organization, including accounting, SEC reporting, financial planning, tax, treasury, capital markets and investor relations. Prior to Numerex, Mr. Gayron served as the Chief Financial Officer at Osmotica Pharmaceutical Corp. During his three-year tenure, he drove 300% improvement in profitability and created $300 million in enterprise value. Mr. Gayron also lead a strategic M&A exit with the CEO which resulted in a $650 million valuation. Mr. Gayron began his career as the VP Finance and Treasurer at Sensus. Mr. Gayron then became the Treasurer at Nuance Communications. Mr. Gayron received his MBA in finance from Cornell Johnson Graduate School of Management and his Bachelor of Science in finance from Boston College. Our board of directors determined that Mr. Gayron would make a beneficial addition to our board of directors in light of his software development expertise and finance background. Mr. Gayron was nominated as a director mutually acceptable to Peter Derycz, Bristol Investment Fund, Ltd. and Bristol Capital Advisors, LLC and Paul Kessler (collectively, the “Investor Group”) and our board of direcotrs in accordance with the requirements of that the Cooperation Agreement dated September 15, 2023 we entered into with the Investor Group.

5

OTHER EXECUTIVE OFFICERS

The following table sets forth the name, age, position and date of appointment of each of our other executive officers as of September 27, 2023.

 

INDEPENDENT ACCOUNTANTS
NameAgePositionDate of Appointment
Scott Ahlberg60Chief Operating OfficerJuly 1, 2007
Shane Hunt46Chief Revenue OfficerMay 18, 2022
William Nurthen50Chief Financial Officer and SecretaryOctober 4, 2021

Scott Ahlberg – Chief Operating Officer

Mr. Ahlberg has effectively served as the Chief Operating Officer since July 1, 2007, and has many years of experience in content and startup businesses. Mr. Ahlberg started with Dynamic Information (EbscoDoc) in the 1980s, then went on to be Executive Vice President at Infotrieve, Inc. After leaving Infotrieve in 2005 Mr. Ahlberg provided consulting services to ventures in professional networking and medical podcasting. He joined Reprints Desk, Inc. (“Reprints Desk”) in 2006. His areas of expertise include strategic planning, operational innovation, copyright and content licensing, and quality management. Mr. Ahlberg has degrees from Stanford University (B.A., 1984) and the University of London (M.A., 1990).

Shane Hunt – Chief Revenue Officer

Mr. Hunt provides leadership resulting in the acquisition and development of healthy long-term relationships with the Company’s cloud-based software customers and ensures the daily satisfaction of users across R&D-driven organizations in life sciences, technology and academia worldwide. Mr. Hunt has nearly 20 years of industry experience and was co-founder of 4 Research Solutions Inc., a boutique information industry start-up that the Company acquired in 2012. Mr. Hunt attended California State University, Chico for his undergraduate and graduate studies in Psychology.

William Nurthen – Chief Financial Officer and Secretary

Mr. Nurthen was appointed as Chief Financial Officer and Secretary on October 4, 2021. He brings more than twenty years of experience which includes financial leadership roles at both publicly traded and private companies across multiple industries. Prior to joining Research Solutions, Mr. Nurthen served in Chief Financial Officer roles for Endeavor Business Media, a B2B media publisher, and ARI Network Services, Inc. (formerly on the Nasdaq), a SaaS marketing company. Mr. Nurthen has also held prior CFO roles in investment banking, biotechnology, and information technology. He holds a Master of Business Administration from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Notre Dame.

6

FURTHER INFORMATION CONCERNING OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

Meetings. Our board of directors held five meetings during the fiscal year ended June 30, 2023. Each director then serving attended 75% or more of the aggregate of all of the meetings of our board of directors and all of the meetings held by all committees of our board of directors on which such director served in the fiscal year ended June 30, 2023. While directors periodically attend annual stockholder meetings, we have not established a specific policy with respect to members of our board of directors attending annual stockholder meetings. Mr. Derycz and Mr. Olivier attended our Annual Meeting of Stockholders, held on November 17, 2022.

Committees. Our board of directors currently has the following standing committees: Audit Committee, Compensation Committee and Nominating and Governance Committee. Our Audit Committee held four meetings, our Compensation Committee held five meetings and our Nominating and Governance Committee held one meeting during the fiscal year ended June 30, 2023.

Our Audit Committee currently consists of Mr. Regazzi (Chairman), Gen. McPeak and Ms. Cooperman. Our board of directors has determined that Mr. Regazzi is an audit committee financial expert, as defined in Item 407(d)(5) of Regulation S-K, and that each member of our Audit Committee is able to read and understand fundamental financial statements and has substantial business experience that results in such member’s financial sophistication. Accordingly, our board of directors believes that each member of our Audit Committee has sufficient knowledge and experience necessary to fulfill such member’s duties and obligations on our Audit Committee. The primary purposes of our Audit Committee are to assist our board of directors in fulfilling its responsibility to oversee the accounting and financial reporting processes of our company and audits of our financial statements, including (i) reviewing the scope of the audit and all non-audit services to be performed by our independent accountant and the fees incurred by us in connection therewith, (ii) reviewing the results of such audit, including the independent accountant’s opinion and letter of comment to management and management’s response thereto, (iii) reviewing with our independent accountants our internal accounting principles, policies and practices and financial reporting, (iv) engaging our independent accountants and (v) reviewing our quarterly and annual financial statements prior to public issuance. The role and responsibilities of our Audit Committee are more fully set forth in a revised written Charter adopted by our board of directors on September 18, 2015, which is available on our website located at www.researchsolutions.com.

Our Compensation Committee currently consists of Gen. McPeak (Chairman), Mr. Regazzi and Ms. Cooperman. The primary purposes of our Compensation Committee are to assist our board of directors in fulfilling its responsibility to determine the compensation of our executive officers and to approve and evaluate the compensation policies and programs of our company, including (i) reviewing the compensation packages of executive officers and making recommendations to our board of directors for said compensation packages, (ii) reviewing and approving proposed stock incentive grants and (iii) providing our board of directors with recommendations regarding bonus plans, if any. The role and responsibilities of our Compensation Committee are more fully set forth in a revised written Charter adopted by our board of directors on September 18, 2015, which is available on our website located at www.researchsolutions.com.

The policies underlying our Compensation Committee’s compensation decisions are designed to attract and retain the best-qualified management personnel available. We routinely compensate our executive officers through salaries. At our discretion, we may reward executive officers and employees through bonus programs based on profitability and other objectively measurable performance factors. Additionally, we use stock options, restricted stock awards and other incentive awards to compensate our executives and other key employees to align the interests of our executive officers with the interests of our stockholders. In establishing executive compensation, our Compensation Committee evaluates compensation paid to similar officers employed at other companies of similar size in the same industry and the individual performance of each officer as it impacts our overall performance with particular focus on an individual’s contribution to the realization of operating profits and the achievement of strategic business goals. Our Compensation Committee further attempts to rationalize a particular executive’s compensation with that of other executive officers of our company in an effort to distribute compensation fairly among the executive officers. Although the components of executive compensation (salary, bonus and incentive grants) are reviewed separately, compensation decisions are made based on a review of total compensation.

7

Our Nominating and Governance Committee currently consists of Gen. McPeak (Chairman), Mr. Regazzi and Ms. Cooperman. The primary purposes of our Nominating and Governance Committee are to (i) identify individuals qualified to become members of our board of directors and recommend to our board of directors the nominees for the next annual meeting of our stockholders and candidates to fill vacancies on our board of directors, (ii) recommend to our board of directors the directors to be appointed to committees of our board of directors and (iii) oversee the effectiveness of our corporate governance in accordance with regulatory guidelines and any other guidelines we establish, including evaluations of members of executive management, our board of directors and its committees. The role and responsibilities of our Nominating and Governance Committee are more fully set forth in a revised written Charter adopted by our board of directors on October 15, 2012, which is available on our website located at www.researchsolutions.com.

Director Nomination Process. Our Nominating and Governance Committee’s methods for identifying candidates for election to our board of directors (other than those proposed by our stockholders, as discussed below) include the solicitation of ideas for possible candidates from a number of sources - members of our board of directors; our executives; individuals personally known to the members of our board of directors; and other research. Our Nominating and Governance Committee may also, from time-to-time, retain one or more third-party search firms to identify suitable candidates.

A stockholder of our company may nominate one or more persons for election as a director at an annual meeting of stockholders if the stockholder complies with the notice, information and consent provisions contained in our Amended and Restated Bylaws. In addition, the notice must be made in writing and set forth as to each proposed nominee who is not an incumbent director (i) their name, age, business address and, if known, residence address, (ii) their principal occupation or employment, (iii) the number of shares of stock of our company beneficially owned, (iv) a description of all arrangements or understandings between the stockholder and each nominee and any other person pursuant to which the nominations are to be made and (v) any other information concerning the nominee that must be disclosed respecting nominees in proxy solicitations pursuant to Rule 14(a) of the Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). The recommendation should be addressed to our Secretary.

Among other matters, our Nominating and Governance Committee:

 

Proposal No. 2 is
1.Reviews the ratificationdesired experience, mix of skills and other qualities to assure appropriate board of directors composition, taking into account the firmcurrent members of our board of directors and the specific needs of our company and our board of directors;

2.Conducts candidate searches, interviews prospective candidates and conducts programs to introduce candidates to our management and operations, and confirms the appropriate level of interest of such candidates;

3.Recommends qualified candidates who bring the background, knowledge, experience, independence, skill sets and expertise that would strengthen and increase the diversity of our board of directors; and

4.Conducts appropriate inquiries into the background and qualifications of potential nominees.

Although the Nominating and Governance Committee does not have a formal diversity policy and does not follow any ratio or formula with respect to diversity in order to determine the appropriate composition of our board of directors, the Nominating and Governance Committee and the full board of directors are committed to creating a board of directors with diversity, including diversity of expertise, experience, background and gender, and are committed to identifying, recruiting and advancing candidates offering such diversity in future searches.

Based on the foregoing, our Nominating and Governance Committee recommended for nomination and our board of directors nominated, Ms. Cooperman, Gen. McPeak, Mr. Olivier and Mr. Regazzi for re-election, and Mr. Murphy and Mr. Gayron for election, as directors on our board of directors, subject to stockholder approval, for a one-year term ending on or around the date of the 2024 annual meeting of stockholders.

Board Leadership Structure and Role in Risk Oversight. Mr. Regazzi serves as our Lead Independent Director and Mr. Olivier serves as our Chief Executive Officer and President. We believe that separating the roles of Lead Independent Director and Chief Executive Officer enhances our corporate governance practices and better enables management and our board of directors to focus on growth to maximize stockholder value. Our board of directors plays an active role, as a whole and also at the committee level, in overseeing management of our risks and strategic direction. Our board of directors regularly reviews information regarding our liquidity and operations, as well as the risks associated with each. Our Compensation Committee is responsible for overseeing the management of risks relating to our executive compensation plans and arrangements. Our Audit Committee oversees the process by which our senior management and relevant employees assess and manage our exposure to, and management of, financial risks. Our Nominating and Governance Committee also manages risks associated with the independence of members of our board of directors and potential conflicts of interest. While each committee is responsible for evaluating certain risks and overseeing the management of such risks, the entire board of directors is regularly informed about such risks.

8

Board Diversity. Our Nominating and Governance Committee is responsible for reviewing with our board of directors, on an annual basis, the appropriate characteristics, skills and experience required for our board of directors as a whole and its individual members.

As required by Nasdaq Rule 5606 as approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission in August 2021, we are providing additional information about the gender and demographic diversity of our directors in the format required by such rule. The information in the matrix below is based solely on information provided by our directors about their gender and demographic self-identification. Directors who did not answer or indicated that they preferred not to answer a question are shown as “did not disclose gender” or “did not disclose demographic background” below.

Board Diversity Matrix for Research Solutions, Inc.

As of September 27, 2023

 
Total Number of Directors4
     
Part I: Gender IdentityFemaleMaleNon-Binary

Did Not

Disclose

Gender

Directors1300
Part II: Demographic Background
African American or Black0000
Alaskan Native or American Indian0000
Asian0000
Hispanic or Latinx0000
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander0000
White1300
Two or More Races or Ethnicities0000
LGBTQ+0
Did Not Disclose Demographic Background0

Policy on Trading, Pledging and Hedging of Company Stock. Our Insider Trading Policy prohibits our executive officers, the non-employee members of our board of directors and certain other employees from engaging in selling any of our securities that they do not own at the time of the sale (referred to as a “short sale”) and buying or selling puts, calls, other derivative securities of the Company or any derivative securities that provide the economic equivalent of ownership of any of our securities or an opportunity, direct or indirect, to profit from any change in the value of our securities or engaging in any other hedging transaction with respect to our securities.

As of the date of this proxy statement, none of our executive officers or non-employee directors have previously engaged in any hedging or pledging transaction involving our securities.

Shareholder Communications. Holders of our securities can send communications to our board of directors via email to auditcommittee@reprintsdesk.com or by telephoning the Chief Financial Officer at our main telephone number, who will then relay the communications to our board of directors.

9

DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE

Our board of directors currently consists of four members: Ms. Cooperman, Gen. McPeak, Mr. Regazzi and Mr. Olivier. Each director serves until our next annual meeting or until his or her successor is duly elected and qualified. Our board of directors has determined that Ms. Cooperman, Gen. McPeak and Mr. Regazzi are independent directors as that term is defined in the applicable rules for companies traded on The Nasdaq Stock Market. Ms. Cooperman, Gen. McPeak and Mr. Regazzi are each members of the Audit Committee, Compensation Committee and Nominating and Governance Committee of our board of directors, and each of them meets Nasdaq’s independence standards for members of such committees. Our board of directors has also determined that Mr. Murphy and Mr. Gayron would each qualify as an independent director as that term is defined in the applicable rules for companies traded on The Nasdaq Stock Market.

10

AUDIT COMMITTEE REPORT

The Audit Committee of our board of directors has furnished the following report:

Our Audit Committee currently operates under a revised written charter that was approved by our board of directors effective September 18, 2015. For the fiscal year ended June 30, 2023, our Audit Committee has performed, or has confirmed that our board of directors has performed, the duties of our Audit Committee, which is responsible for providing objective oversight of our internal controls and financial reporting process.

In fulfilling its responsibilities for the financial statements for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2023, our Audit Committee:

·Reviewed and discussed the audited financial statements for the year ended June 30, 2023 with management and Weinberg & Company, P.A., or Weinberg, asthe Auditors, our independent accountants forauditors;

·Discussed with the year ending June 30, 2018. OurAuditors the matters required to be discussed by the applicable requirements of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board and the Securities and Exchange Commission; and

·Received written disclosures and the letter from the Auditors required by applicable requirements of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board regarding the Auditors’ communications with the Audit Committee recommended and our Board of Directors has selected, subject to ratification by a majority vote of the stockholders in person or by proxy at the Annual Meeting, Weinberg as our independent public accountant for the current fiscal year ending June 30, 2018. Representatives of Weinberg are expected to be present telephonically at the Annual Meeting and will have the opportunity to make a statement if they desire to do so. In addition, at the Annual Meeting, representatives of Weinberg are expected to be available to respond to appropriate questions posed by our stockholders.

While there is no legal requirement that this proposal be submitted to stockholders, it will be submitted at the Annual Meeting nonetheless, as our Board of Directors believes that the selection of auditors to audit our consolidated financial statements is of sufficient importance to seek stockholder approval. If the majority of our stockholders present and entitled to vote at the Annual Meeting do not ratify the appointment of Weinberg as our auditors for the current fiscal year, Weinberg will continue to serve as our auditors for the current fiscal year, and our Audit Committee will engage in deliberations to determine whether it is in our best interest to continue Weinberg’s engagement as our auditors for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2018.

Weinberg is our principal independent public accounting firm. All audit work was performed by the full-time employees of Weinberg. Our Audit Committee approves in advance all services performed by Weinberg, has considered whether the provision of non-audit services is compatible with maintaining Weinberg’sconcerning independence, and has approved such services.discussed with the Auditors their independence.

Members of the Audit Committee rely, without independent verification, on the information provided to them and on the representations made by management and the Auditors. Accordingly, the Audit Committee’s oversight does not provide an independent basis to determine that management has maintained appropriate accounting and financial reporting principles or appropriate internal controls and procedures designed to assure compliance with accounting standards and applicable laws and regulations. Furthermore, the Audit Committee’s considerations and discussions referred to above do not assure that the audits of the Company’s consolidated financial statements have been carried out in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards, that the consolidated financial statements are presented in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles or that the Company’s Auditors are in fact “independent.”

Based on our Audit Committee’s review of our audited financial statements and discussions with management and the Auditors, our Audit Committee approved the inclusion of the audited financial statements in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended June 30, 2023, for filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

 

The following table presents the aggregate fees for professional audit services and other services rendered by Weinberg in the fiscal years ended June 30, 2017 and 2016.

  Year Ended June 30, 2017  Year Ended June 30, 2016 
Audit Fees $88,140  $98,801 
Audit Related Fees      
Tax Fees  24,198   24,541 
All Other Fees      
Total $112,338  $123,342 

Audit Fees consist of amounts billed for professional services rendered for the audit of our annual consolidated financial statements included in our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, and reviews of our interim consolidated financial statements included in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and our Registration Statement on Form S-1, including amendments thereto.

Audit-Related Fees consist of fees billed for professional services that are reasonably related to the performance of the audit or review of our consolidated financial statements but are not reported under “Audit Fees.”

Tax Fees consist of fees for professional services for tax compliance activities, including the preparation of federal and state tax returns and related compliance matters.

All Other Fees consists of amounts billed for services other than those noted above.

OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS UNANIMOUSLY RECOMMENDS YOU VOTE “FOR” RATIFYING THE APPOINTMENT OF WEINBERG & COMPANY, P.A. AS OUR INDEPENDENT ACCOUNTANTS.

AUDIT COMMITTEE
 10 
John J. Regazzi
Barbara J. Cooperman
General Merrill McPeak

The information in this Audit Committee Report shall not be deemed to be “soliciting material,” or to be “filed” with the Securities and Exchange Commission or to be subject to Regulation 14A or 14C as promulgated by the Securities and Exchange Commission, or to the liabilities of Section 18 of the Exchange Act.

11

 

PROPOSAL NO. 2

INDEPENDENT ACCOUNTANTS

Proposal No. 2 is the ratification of the firm of Weinberg & Company, P.A., or Weinberg, as our independent accountants for the year ending June 30, 2024. Our Audit Committee recommended and our board of directors has selected, subject to ratification by a majority vote of the stockholders in person or by proxy at the Annual Meeting, Weinberg as our independent public accountant for the current fiscal year ending June 30, 2024. Representatives of Weinberg are expected to be present telephonically at the Annual Meeting and will have the opportunity to make a statement if they desire to do so. In addition, at the Annual Meeting, representatives of Weinberg are expected to be available to respond to appropriate questions posed by our stockholders.

While there is no legal requirement that this proposal be submitted to stockholders, it will be submitted at the Annual Meeting nonetheless, as our board of directors believes that the selection of auditors to audit our consolidated financial statements is of sufficient importance to seek stockholder approval. If the majority of our stockholders present and entitled to vote at the Annual Meeting do not ratify the appointment of Weinberg as our auditors for the current fiscal year, Weinberg will continue to serve as our auditors for the current fiscal year, and our Audit Committee will engage in deliberations to determine whether it is in our best interest to continue Weinberg’s engagement as our auditors for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025.

Weinberg is our principal independent public accounting firm. All audit work was performed by the full-time employees of Weinberg. Our Audit Committee approves in advance all services performed by Weinberg, has considered whether the provision of non-audit services is compatible with maintaining Weinberg’s independence, and has approved such services.

The following table presents the aggregate fees for professional audit services and other services rendered by Weinberg in the fiscal years ended June 30, 2023 and 2022.

  Year Ended June 30, 2023  Year Ended June 30, 2022 
Audit Fees $130,407  $132,865 
Audit Related Fees      
Tax Fees  37,800   30,146 
All Other Fees      
Total $168,207  $163,011 

Audit Fees consist of amounts billed for professional services rendered for the audit of our annual consolidated financial statements included in our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, and reviews of our interim consolidated financial statements included in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, including amendments thereto.

Audit-Related Fees consist of fees billed for professional services that are reasonably related to the performance of the audit or review of our consolidated financial statements but are not reported under “Audit Fees.”

Tax Fees consist of fees for professional services for tax compliance activities, including the preparation of federal and state tax returns and related compliance matters.

All Other Fees consists of amounts billed for services other than those noted above.

OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS UNANIMOUSLY RECOMMENDS YOU VOTE “FOR” RATIFYING THE APPOINTMENT OF WEINBERG & COMPANY, P.A. AS OUR INDEPENDENT ACCOUNTANTS.

12

PROPOSAL NO. 3

ADVISORY VOTE ON EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

In accordance with the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank Act”), we are including in this Proxy Statement and will present for a vote at the Annual Meeting, a non-binding advisory resolution to approve the compensation of our executives, as described in this Proxy Statement, pursuant to the compensation disclosure rules of the SEC. Proposal No. 3, commonly known as a “say on pay” vote, gives stockholders the opportunity to endorse or not endorse the compensation of our executives as disclosed in this Proxy Statement. This proposal will be presented at the Annual Meeting as a resolution in substantially the following form:

RESOLVED, that the stockholders approve the compensation of the Company’s executives, as disclosed in the compensation tables and related narrative disclosure in the Company’s proxy statement for the Annual Meeting.

This vote will not be binding on our board of directors and may not be construed as overruling a decision by our board of directors or creating or implying any change to the fiduciary duties of our board of directors. The vote will not affect any compensation previously paid or awarded to any executive. Our Compensation Committee and our board of directors may, however, take into account the outcome of the vote when considering future executive compensation arrangements.

The purpose of our compensation programs is to attract and retain experienced, highly qualified executives critical to our long-term success and enhancement of stockholder value.

Based on the results of a separate non-binding advisory shareholder vote on the frequency of future shareholder advisory votes regarding the compensation program for our named executive officers, commonly referred to as a "say on frequency" vote, held at our Annual Meeting of Stockholders, held on November 12, 2019, our board of directors determined that we will hold our say on pay vote annually until the next required say on frequency vote. We are holding our say on pay vote at this Annual Meeting. Our next say on frequency vote will occur no later than 2025.

Required Vote

Endorsement of the compensation of our executive officers will require the affirmative vote of a majority of the shares of our common stock present or represented and entitled to vote at the Annual Meeting with respect to such proposal.

OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS UNANIMOUSLY RECOMMENDS A VOTE “FOR” THE RESOLUTION APPROVING THE COMPENSATION OF OUR EXECUTIVES.

13

EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

Summary Compensation Table

The following table summarizes all compensation for the last two fiscal years awarded to, earned by, or paid to our Chief Executive Officer (principal executive officer) and our two most highly compensated executive officers other than our CEO who were serving as executive officers at the end of our last completed fiscal year, whose total compensation exceeded $100,000 during such fiscal year ends.

Name and
principle

position

 

Fiscal

Year

  

Salary

($)

  

Bonus

($)

  

Stock

awards

($)

  

All other

compensation

($)

  

Total

($)

 
Peter Victor Derycz  2023   371,520   68,220   67,200(1)  8,097   515,037 
Executive Chairman  2022   371,760   124,000   125,862(2)  18,205   639,827 
                         
Roy W. Olivier  2023   400,000   105,600   857,000(3) (4)  17,734   1,380,334 
President and Chief Executive Officer, and Director  2022   371,520      142,999(5)  9,520   524,039 
                         
William Nurthen  2023   310,000   76,000   468,926(6) (7)  19,058   873,984 
Chief Financial Officer and Secretary  2022   214,092   70,500   284,000(8)  13,460   582,052 

PROPOSAL NO. 3

ADOPTION OF 2017 OMNIBUS INCENTIVE PLAN

Proposal No. 3 is
(1)Represents the adoptiongrant date fair value of 34,639 shares of restricted stock granted on August 19, 2022. The grant date fair value was estimated using the Research Solutions, Inc. 2017 Omnibus Incentive Plan (the “2017 Plan”) pursuant to which we may issue up to 1,874,513 sharesmarket price of our common stock pursuant to awards granted thereunder.

Our Board of Directors believes that the continued growth of our company depends, in large part, upon its ability to attract and motivate key employees and directors, and that equity incentive awards are an important means of attracting, retaining and motivating talented employees and directors. Accordingly, to ensure that we may continue to attract employees and directors who are expected to contribute to our success, our Board of Directors approved the 2017 Plan, which replaces our 2007 Equity Incentive Plan, as amended (the “2007 Plan”). The 2007 Plan, which will terminate on December 21, 2017, authorized a total of 7,000,000 shares for issuance to eligible participants pursuant to awards granted thereunder, 1,874,513 of which were available for new awards under the 2007 Plan. We will cease issuing awards under the 2007 Plan upon adoption of the 2017 Plan.

The 2017 Plan authorizes the issuance of 1,874,513 shares of our common stock. As of September 22, 2017, we had 24,134,992 shares of our common stock outstanding, and thus the shares eligible for grant under the 2017 Plan will represent approximately 7.8% of our shares of common stock outstanding as of September 22, 2017.

The principal features of the 2017 Plan are summarized below. This summary does not contain all information about the 2017 Plan. A copy of the complete text of the 2017 Plan is included as Appendix A to this Proxy Statement, and the following description is qualified in its entirety by reference to the text of the 2017 Plan.

Summary of the 2017 Omnibus Incentive Plan

Shares Available. A total of 1,874,513 shares of our common stock have been reserved for issuance pursuant to the 2017 Plan. Any shares of common stock that are subject to awards shall be counted against this limit on a one-for-one basis. If any shares of common stock subject to an award under the 2017 Plan are forfeited, expire or are settled for cash, the shares subject to the award may be used again for awards under the 2017 Plan to the extent of the forfeiture, expiration or cancellation on a one-for-one basis. In the event that any option or other award granted under the 2017 Plan is exercised through the tendering of shares of common stock (either actually or by attestation) or by the withholding of shares of common stock by us, then in each such case the shares so tendered or withheld shall again be available for awards under the 2017 Plan on a one-for-one basis. In addition, in the event that withholding tax liabilities arising from any option or other award under the 2017 Plan are satisfied by the tendering of shares of common stock (either actually or by attestation) or by the withholding of shares of common stock by us, then in each such case the shares of common stock so tendered or withheld shall again be available for awards under the 2017 Plan on a one-for-one basis.

Plan Administration. The 2017 Plan will be administered by our Compensation Committee which consists of three members of our Board of Directors, each of whom qualifies as a “non-employee director” under Rule 16b-3 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or Rule 16b-3, an “outside director” under Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”) and an “independent director” under the rules of the Nasdaq Stock Market. The Compensation Committee has the authority to determine the terms and conditions of awards, and to interpret and administer the 2017 Plan. The Compensation Committee may (i) delegate to a committee of one or more directors the right to make awards and to cancel or suspend awards and otherwise take action on its behalf under the 2017 Plan (to the extent not inconsistent with applicable law, including Section 162(m) of the Code, and the rules of the principal U.S. national securities exchange, if any, on which the common stock is traded), and (ii) to the extent permitted by law, delegate to an executive officer or a committee of executive officers the right to make awards to employees who are not directors or executive officers and the authority to take action on behalf of the Compensation Committee pursuant to the 2017 Plan to cancel or suspend awards under the 2017 Plan to key employees who are not directors or executive officers.

11

Stock Options. Stock options may be granted under our 2017 Plan. The exercise price of options granted under our 2017 Plan must at least be equal to the fair market value of our common stock on the date of grant. The term of an incentiverestricted stock option mayvests over a three-year period, with a one-year cliff vesting period, and remains subject to forfeiture if vesting conditions are not exceed 10 years, except that with respect to any participant who owns more than 10% of the voting power of all classes of our outstanding stock, the term must not exceed five years and the exercise price must equal at least 110% of the fair market value onmet.

(2)Represents the grant date. The Compensation Committee will determine the methods of payment of the exercise price of an option, which may include cash, shares or other property acceptable to the Compensation Committee, as well as other types of consideration permitted by applicable law. After the termination of service of an employee, director or consultant, he or she may exercise his or her option for the period of time stated in his or her option agreement. Generally, if termination is due to death or disability, the option will remain exercisable for 12 months. In all other cases, the option will generally remain exercisable for three months following the termination of service. However, in no event may an option be exercised later than the expiration of its term. Subject to the provisions of our 2017 Plan, the Compensation Committee determines the other terms of options.

Stock Appreciation Rights. Stock appreciation rights (or SARs) may be granted under our 2017 Plan. Stock appreciation rights allow the recipient to receive the appreciation in thedate fair market value of our common stock between the exercise date and the date of grant. Stock appreciation rights may not have a term exceeding 10 years. After the termination of service of an employee, director or consultant, he or she may exercise his or her stock appreciation right for the period of time stated in his or her stock appreciation right agreement. However, in no event may a stock appreciation right be exercised later than the expiration of its term. Subject to the provisions of our 2017 Plan, the Compensation Committee determines the other terms of stock appreciation rights, including when such rights become exercisable and whether to pay any increased appreciation in cash or with shares of our common stock, or a combination thereof, except that the per share exercise price for the shares to be issued pursuant to the exercise of a stock appreciation right will be no less than 100% of the fair market value per share on the date of grant.

Restricted Stock. Restricted stock may be granted under our 2017 Plan. Restricted stock awards are grants of shares of our common stock that vest in accordance with terms and conditions established by the Compensation Committee. The Compensation Committee will determine the number of30,061 shares of restricted stock granted to any employee, director or consultant and, subject to the provisions of our 2017 Plan, will determine the terms and conditions of such awards. The Compensation Committee may impose whatever conditions to vesting it determines to be appropriate (for example, the Compensation Committee may set restrictions based on the achievement of specific performance goals or continued service to us); provided, however, that the Compensation Committee, in its sole discretion, may accelerate the time at which any restrictions will lapse or be removed. RecipientsAugust 5, 2021, 7,078 shares of restricted stock awards generally will have voting and dividend rights with respect to suchgranted on December 2, 2021, 7,381 shares upon grant without regard to vesting, unless the Compensation Committee provides otherwise. Shares of restricted stock that do not vest are subject to our right of repurchase or forfeiture.

Restricted Stock Units. Restricted stock units may be granted under our 2017 Plan. Restricted stock units are bookkeeping entries representing an amount equal to the fair market value of one share of our common stock. Subject to the provisions of our 2017 Plan, the Compensation Committee will determine the termson February 8, 2022, and conditions8,289 shares of restricted stock units, includinggranted on May 10, 2022. The grant date fair value was estimated using the vesting criteria (which may include accomplishing specified performance criteria or continued service to us) and the form and timing of payment. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Compensation Committee, in its sole discretion, may accelerate the time at which any restrictions will lapse or be removed.

Performance Units and Performance Shares. Performance units and performance shares may be granted under our 2017 Plan. Performance units and performance shares are awards that will result in a payment to a participant only if performance goals established by the Compensation Committee are achieved or the awards otherwise vest. The Compensation Committee will establish organizational or individual performance goals or other vesting criteria in its discretion, which, depending on the extent to which they are met, will determine the number and/or the value of performance units and performance shares to be paid out to participants. After the grant of a performance unit or performance share, the Compensation Committee, in its sole discretion, may reduce or waive any performance criteria or other vesting provisions for such performance units or performance shares. Performance units shall have an initial dollar value established by the Compensation Committee prior to the grant date. Performance shares shall have an initial value equal to the fair market valueprice of our common stock onat the date of grant. The restricted stock vests over a three-year period, with a one-year cliff vesting period, and remains subject to forfeiture if vesting conditions are not met.

(3)Represents the grant date.date fair value of 79,897 shares of restricted stock granted on August 19, 2022. The Compensation Committee, in its sole discretion, may pay earned performance units or performance shares ingrant date fair value was estimated using the form of cash, in shares or in some combination thereof.

12

Outside Directors. Our 2017 Plan provides that all non-employee directors are eligible to receive all types of awards (except for incentive stock options) under the 2017 Plan.

No Repricing. Our 2017 Plan prohibits repricing of options and stock appreciation rights (other than to reflect stock splits, spin-offs or similar corporate events) unless stockholder approval is obtained. A “repricing” means a reduction in the exercisemarket price of an option orour common stock at the date of grant. The restricted stock vests over a three-year period, with a one-year cliff vesting period, and remains subject to forfeiture if vesting conditions are not met.

(4)Represents the grant pricedate fair value of a500,000 shares of restricted stock appreciation right, the cancellation of an option or stock appreciation right in exchange for cash or another awardgranted on November 1, 2022 under the 2017 Plan, or any other actionas restricted stock awards to key management in accordance with respectits long-term equity bonus program (the “LTEBP”). The grant date fair value was computed using the Monte Carlo simulations on a binomial model with the assistance of a valuation specialist with a derived service period ranging from 1.43 to an option or2.59 years.

(5)Represents the grant date fair value of 18,939 shares of restricted stock appreciation right that may be treated as a repricing undergranted on August 5, 2021, 14,155 shares of restricted stock granted on December 2, 2021, 14,762 shares of restricted stock granted on February 8, 2022, and 16,578 shares of restricted stock granted on May 10, 2022. The grant date fair value was estimated using the rulesmarket price of the principal U.S. national securities exchange on which theour common stock is traded.

Non-transferability of Awards. Unless the Compensation Committee provides otherwise, our 2017 Plan generally does not allow for the transfer of awards and only the recipient of an award may exercise an award during his or her lifetime.

Certain Adjustments. In the event of certain changes in our capitalization, to prevent diminution or enlargement of the benefits or potential benefits available under our 2017 Plan, the Compensation Committee will adjust the number and class of shares that may be delivered under our 2017 Plan and/or the number, class and price of shares covered by each outstanding award and the numerical share limits set forth in our 2017 Plan. In the event of our proposed liquidation or dissolution, the Compensation Committee will notify participants as soon as practicable and all awards will terminate immediately prior to the consummation of such proposed transaction.

Merger or Change in Control. Our 2017 Plan provides that in the event of a merger or change in control, as defined under the 2017 Plan, each outstanding award will be treated as provided for in the individual award agreement, except that the Compensation Committee in its discretion, may determine that, upon the occurrence of a merger or change in control, each option and stock appreciation right shall terminate within a specified number of days after notice to the participant, or that the participant shall receive, with respect to each share of common stock subject to such option or stock appreciation right, an amount equal to the excess of the fair market value of such share immediately prior to the occurrence of the merger or change in control over the exercise price per share of such option or stock appreciation right.

Unless otherwise provided in an individual award agreement, in the event of a merger or change in control in which the successor company assumes or substitutes for an award granted under the 2017 Plan, if a participant’s employment with the successor company or a subsidiary thereof terminates within 12 months following such merger or change in control, (i) the options and stock appreciation rights outstanding as of the date of such termination of employment will immediately vest, become fully exercisable, and may thereafter be exercised for 12 months, and (ii) the restrictions, limitations and other conditions applicable to restricted stock and restricted stock units outstanding as of the date of such termination of employment shall lapse and the restricted stock and restricted stock units shall become free of all restrictions, limitations and conditions and become fully vested.

Unless otherwise provided in an individual award agreement, in the event of a merger or change in control in which the successor company does not assume or substitute for an award granted under the 2017 Plan, then immediately prior to the merger or change in control, (i) those options and stock appreciation rights outstanding as of the date of the merger or change in control that are not assumed or substituted for shall immediately vest and become fully exercisable, and (ii) restrictions, limitations and other conditions applicable to restricted stock and restricted stock units that are not assumed or substituted for shall lapse and the restricted stock and restricted stock units shall become free of all restrictions, limitations and conditions and become fully vested.

Amendment, Termination. Our Board of Directors will have the authority to amend, suspend or terminate the 2017 Plan provided such action does not require stockholder approval and will not impair the existing rights of any participant. Our 2017 Plan will automatically terminate in 2027, unless we terminate it sooner.

Federal Income Tax Consequences

The following discussion summarizes certain federal income tax considerations of awards under the 2017 Plan. However, it does not purport to be complete and does not describe the state, local or foreign tax considerations or the consequences for any particular individual.

13

Stock Options. A participant does not realize ordinary income on the grant of a stock option. Upon exercise of a non-qualified stock option, the participant will realize ordinary income equal to the excess of the fair market value of the shares of common stock over the option exercise price. The cost basis of the shares acquired for capital gain treatment is their fair market value at the time of exercise. Upon exercise of an incentive stock option, the excess of the fair market value of the shares of common stock acquired over the option exercise price will be an item of tax preference to the participant, which may be subject to an alternative minimum tax for the year of exercise. If no disposition of the shares is made within two years from the date of granting of the incentive stock option or within one year after the transfer of the shares to the participant, the participant does not realize taxable income as a result of exercising the incentive stock option; the tax basis of the shares received for capital gain treatment is the option exercise price; and any gain or loss realized on the sale of the shares is long-term capital gain or loss. If the participant disposes of the shares within the two-year or one-year periods referred to above, the participant will realize ordinary income at that time in an amount equal to the excess of the fair market value of the shares at the time of exercise (or the net proceeds of disposition, if less) over the option exercise price. For capital gain treatment on such a disposition, the tax basis of the shares will be their fair market value at the time of exercise.

Stock Appreciation Rights. No ordinary income will be realized by a participant in connection with the grant of a SAR. When the SAR is exercised, the participant will realize ordinary income in an amount equal to the sum of the amount of any cash received and the fair market value of the shares of common stock or other property received upon the exercise.

Restricted Stock, Performance and Restricted Stock Unit Awards. The participant will not realize ordinary income on the grant of a restricted stock award (or a performance award if the shares of common stock are issued on grant), but will realize ordinary income when the shares subject to the award become vested in an amount equal to the excess of (i) the fair market value of the shares on the vesting date over (ii) the purchase price, if any, paid for the shares. The participant may, however, elect under Section 83(b) of the Code to include as ordinary income in the year the shares are granted an amount equal to the excess of (i) the fair market value of the shares on the date of issuance, over (ii) the purchase price, if any, paid for the shares. If the Section 83(b) election is made, the participant will not realize any additional taxable income when the shares become vested.

The participant will not realize ordinary income on the grant of a restricted stock unit award (or a performance award under which shares of common stock are not issued on grant), but will realize ordinary income when the shares subject to the award are issued to the participant after they become vested. The amount of ordinary income will be equal to the excess of (i) the fair market value of the shares on the date they are issued over (ii) the purchase price, if any, paid for the award.

Upon disposition of shares of common stock acquired under a restricted stock award, performance award or restricted stock unit award, the participant will realize a capital gain or loss equal to the difference between the selling price and the sum of the amount paid for the shares plus any amount realized as ordinary income upon grant (or vesting) of the shares.

Company Tax Deduction. We generally will be entitled to a tax deduction in connection with an award under the 2017 Plan, subject to the provisions of Section 162(m) of the Code, in an amount equal to the ordinary income realized by a participant and at the time the participant realizes such income (for example, on the exercise of a nonqualified stock option). While we remain a smaller reporting company, Section 162(m) of the Code may limit the deductibility of compensation paid to our chief executive officer and to each of the next two most highly compensated executive officers. Under Section 162(m), the annual compensation paid to any of these executives will be deductible to the extent that it does not exceed $1,000,000 or if the compensation is treated as performance-based compensation under Section 162(m) of the Code. Compensation attributable to stock options and SARs under the 2017 Plan should qualify as performance-based compensation if the awards are made by the Compensation Committee and the exercise or grant price of the award is no less than the fair market value of the common stock on the date of grant. Compensation attributable toThe restricted stock awards, restricted stock unit awards and performance awards should qualify as performance-based compensation if (i) the compensation is approved by the Compensation Committee, (ii) the compensation is paid only upon the achievement of an objective performance goal established in writing by the Compensation Committee while the outcome is substantially uncertain, and (iii) the Compensation Committee certifies in writing prior to the payment of the compensation that the performance goal has been satisfied.

14

Required Vote

Adoption of the 2017 Plan will require the affirmative vote ofvests over a majority of the shares of our common stock present or represented and entitled to vote at the Annual Meetingthree-year period, with respect to such proposal. Our Board of Directors is of the opinion that the 2017 Plan is in the best interests of our company and its stockholders and recommends a vote for the adoption of the 2017 Plan. All proxies will be voted to approve the adoption of the 2017 Plan unless a contrary vote is indicated on the enclosed proxy card.

OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS UNANIMOUSLY RECOMMENDS YOU VOTE “FOR” THE ADOPTION OF THE RESEARCH SOLUTIONS, INC. 2017 OMNIBUS INCENTIVE PLAN.

15

PROPOSAL NO. 4

ADVISORY VOTE ON EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

Under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank Act”), we are required to include in this Proxy Statement and present at the Annual Meeting a non-binding stockholder vote to approve the compensation of our executives, as described in this Proxy Statement, pursuant to the compensation disclosure rules of the SEC. Proposal No. 4, commonly known as a “say on pay” vote, gives stockholders the opportunity to endorse or not endorse the compensation of our executives as disclosed in this Proxy Statement. This proposal will be presented at the Annual Meeting as a resolution in substantially the following form:

RESOLVED, that the stockholders approve the compensation of the Company’s executives, as disclosed in the compensation tables and related narrative disclosure in the Company’s proxy statement for the Annual Meeting.

This vote will not be binding on our Board of Directors and may not be construed as overruling a decision by our Board of Directors or creating or implying any change to the fiduciary duties of our Board of Directors. The vote will not affect any compensation previously paid or awarded to any executive. Our Compensation Committee and our Board of Directors may, however, take into account the outcome of the vote when considering future executive compensation arrangements.

The purpose of our compensation programs is to attract and retain experienced, highly qualified executives critical to our long-term success and enhancement of stockholder value.

Required Vote

Endorsement of the compensation of our executive officers will require the affirmative vote of a majority of the shares of our common stock present or represented and entitled to vote at the Annual Meeting with respect to such proposal.

OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS UNANIMOUSLY RECOMMENDS A VOTE “FOR” THE RESOLUTION APPROVING THE COMPENSATION OF OUR EXECUTIVES.

16

EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

Summary Compensation Table

The following table summarizes all compensation for the last two fiscal years awarded to, earned by, or paid to our Chief Executive Officer (principal executive officer) and our two most highly compensated executive officers other than our CEO who were serving as executive officers at the end of our last completed fiscal year, whose total compensation exceeded $100,000 during such fiscal year ends.

Name and principle
Position
 Fiscal
Year
  Salary
($)
  Bonus
($)
  Stock
awards
($)
  Option
awards
($)
  All other
compensation
($)
  Total
($)
 
Peter Victor Derycz  2017   330,095   96,327   54,997(1)  -   15,817   497,236 
Chief Executive Officer and President  2016   317,400   60,000   66,222(2)  -   14,237   457,859 
                             
Alan Louis Urban  2017   240,700   73,210   41,249(3)  -   14,061   369,220 
Chief Financial Officer and Secretary  2016   231,440   45,000   49,671(4)  -   11,617   337,728 
                             
Scott Ahlberg  2017   213,125   73,210   46,368(5)  -   14,168   346,871 
Chief Operating Officer
  2016   204,930   45,000   49,671(4)  -   12,180   311,781 

(1)Represents the grant date fair value of 21,818 shares of restricted stock granted on August 23, 2016, 6,666 shares of restricted stock granted on November, 2016, 11,305 shares of restricted stock granted on February 16, 2017, and 13,947 shares of restricted stock granted on May 11, 2017. The grant date fair value was estimated using the market price of our common stock at the date of grant. The restricted stock vests over a three-year period, with a one year cliff vesting period, and remains subject to forfeiture if vesting conditions are not met.

(2)Represents the grant date fair value of 32,000 shares of restricted stock granted on August 4, 2015, 17,143 shares of restricted stock granted on February 8, 2016, 28,755 shares of restricted stock granted on February 25, 2016, and 9,333 shares of restricted stock granted on May 24, 2016. The grant date fair value was estimated using the market price of our common stock at the date of grant. The restricted stock vests over a three-year period, with a one year cliff vesting period, and remains subject to forfeiture if vesting conditions are not met.

(3)Represents the grant date fair value of 16,364 shares of restricted stock granted on August 23, 2016, 5,000 shares of restricted stock granted on November 21, 2016, 8,479 shares of restricted stock granted on February 16, 2017, and 10,460 shares of restricted stock granted on May 11, 2017. The grant date fair value was estimated using the market price of our common stock at the date of grant. The restricted stock vests over a three-year period, with a one year cliff vesting period, and remains subject to forfeiture if vesting conditions are not met.

(4)Represents the grant date fair value of 24,000 shares of restricted stock granted on August 4, 2015, 12,857 shares of restricted stock granted on February 8, 2016, 21,570 shares of restricted stock granted on February 25, 2016, and 7,000 shares of restricted stock granted on May 24, 2016. The grant date fair value was estimated using the market price of our common stock at the date of grant. The restricted stock vests over a three-year period, with a one year cliff vesting period, and remains subject to forfeiture if vesting conditions are not met.

(5)Represents the grant date fair value of 16,364 shares of restricted stock granted on August 23, 2016, 8,333 shares of restricted stock granted on November 21, 2016, 9,903 shares of restricted stock granted on February 16, 2017, and 10,456 shares of restricted stock granted on May 11, 2017. The grant date fair value was estimated using the market price of our common stock at the date of grant. The restricted stock vests over a three-year period, with a one yearone-year cliff vesting period, and remains subject to forfeiture if vesting conditions are not met.

 

17

14

 

 

Employment Agreements

Peter Victor Derycz

(6)Represents the grant date fair value of 24,601 shares of restricted stock granted on August 19, 2022. The grant date fair value was estimated using the market price of our common stock at the date of grant. The restricted stock vests over a three-year period, with a one-year cliff vesting period, and remains subject to forfeiture if vesting conditions are not met.

 

On July
(7)Represents the grant date fair value of 300,000 shares of restricted stock granted on November 1, 2010, we entered into an executive employment agreement2022 under the 2017 Plan, as restricted stock awards to key management in accordance with Mr. Derycz whichits long-term equity bonus program (the “LTEBP”). The grant date fair value was subsequently amendedcomputed using the Monte Carlo simulations on June 30, 2017. Undera binomial model with the termsassistance of a valuation specialist with a derived service period ranging from 1.43 to 2.59 years.

(8)Represents the grant date fair value of 100,000 shares of restricted stock granted on October 4, 2021, 5,476 shares of restricted stock granted on February 8, 2022, and 6,150 shares of restricted stock granted on May 10, 2022. The grant date fair value was estimated using the market price of our common stock at the date of grant. Of this amount, 100,000 shares of the executive employment agreement, Mr. Derycz has agreedrestricted stock vests over a four-year period, with a one-year cliff vesting period, and remains subject to serve as our Chief Executive Officer and President on an at-will basis.forfeiture if vesting conditions are not met. The termremaining 11,626 shares of the agreement ends on June 30, 2019. The agreement provides forrestricted stock vests over a base salary of $340,000 per year. No part of Mr. Derycz’s salary is allocatedthree-year period, with a one-year cliff vesting period, and remains subject to his duties as a director of our company.

The agreement contains provisions that prohibit Mr. Derycz from soliciting our customers or employees during his employment with us and for one year afterward. The agreement also contains provisions that restrict disclosure by Mr. Derycz of our confidential information and assign ownership to us of inventions related to our business thatforfeiture if vesting conditions are created by him during his employment. We may terminate the agreement at any time, with or without cause. Mr. Derycz will be eligible to receive an amount equal to three (3) months of his then-current base salary payable in the form of salary continuation if he is terminated without cause. Mr. Derycz may terminate the agreement at any time, with or without reason, upon fournot met.

Employment Agreements

Peter Victor Derycz

On March 29, 2021, we entered into an amended and restated executive employment agreement with Mr. Derycz. Under the terms of the executive employment agreement, Mr. Derycz agreed to serve as our Executive Chairman on an at-will basis. Mr. Derycz’s employment was terminated without cause on September 15, 2023. Mr. Derycz will receive an amount equal to his current base salary and bonus payable through the end of the term in the form of salary continuation, and all of his outstanding incentive awards became fully vested upon his termination without cause.

The agreement contains provisions that prohibit Mr. Derycz from soliciting our customers or employees during his employment with us and for one year afterward. The agreement also contains provisions that restrict disclosure by Mr. Derycz of our confidential information and assign ownership to us of inventions related to our business that are created by him during his employment.

Roy W. Olivier

On March 29, 2021, we entered into an executive employment agreement with Mr. Olivier. Under the terms of the executive employment agreement, Mr. Olivier agreed to serve as our Interim Chief Executive Officer and President on an at-will basis. The term of the agreement ended on September 21, 2021, and it was amended and restated on October 4, 2021 to formally appoint Mr. Oliver as Chief Executive Officer and President. The agreement provides for a base salary of at least $371,520 per year, subject to annual review and adjustment by our board of directors, and participation in an executive bonus plan as determined by our board of directors. No part of Mr. Olivier’s salary is allocated to his duties as a director of our company.

The amended and restated agreement contains provisions that prohibit Mr. Olivier from soliciting our customers or employees during his employment with us and for one year afterward. The agreement also contains provisions that restrict disclosure by Mr. Olivier of our confidential information and assign ownership to us of inventions related to our business that are created by him during his employment. We may terminate the agreement at any time, with or without cause. Mr. Olivier will be eligible to receive an amount equal to his then-current base salary payable and group medical benefits for a period equal to the lesser of (i) eighteen (18) months or (ii) or the end of the term if his amended and restated agreement, if he is terminated without cause. In addition, he is eligible to receive a pro-rata bonus for the fiscal year of termination. Mr. Olivier may terminate the agreement at any time, with or without reason, upon two weeks’ advance written notice.

15

William Nurthen

On October 4, 2021, we entered into an executive employment agreement with Mr. Nurthen which has an indefinite period. Under the terms of the executive employment agreement, Mr. Nurthen has agreed to serve as our Chief Financial Officer on an at-will basis. The agreement provides for a base salary of $284,000 per year, subject to annual review by our President and/or Chief Executive Officer and adjustment by the Compensation Committee, and participation in an executive bonus plan as determined by our board of directors.

The agreement contains provisions that prohibit Mr. Nurthen from soliciting our customers or employees during his employment with us and for one year afterward for employees and two years afterward for customers. The agreement also contains provisions that restrict disclosure by Mr. Nurthen of our confidential information and assign ownership to us of inventions related to our business that are created by him during his employment. We may terminate the agreement at any time, with or without cause. Mr. Nurthen will be eligible to receive (i) an amount equal to twelve (12) months of his then-current base salary payable in the form of salary continuation, (ii) a pro-rata bonus for the then-current fiscal year, (iii) acceleration of all outstanding unvested options or restricted stock as of the effective date of termination, and (iv) continuation of health and welfare benefits for 12 months if he is terminated without cause. Mr. Nurthen may terminate the agreement at any time, with or without reason, upon thirty (30) days’ advance written notice.

Alan Louis Urban

On November 3, 2011, we entered into an executive employment agreement with Mr. Urban which was subsequently amended on June 30, 2017. Under the terms of the executive employment agreement, Mr. Urban has agreed to serve as our Chief Financial Officer on an at-will basis. The term of the agreement ends on June 30, 2019. The agreement provides for a base salary of $250,000 per year.

The agreement contains provisions that prohibit Mr. Urban from soliciting our customers or employees during his employment with us and for one year afterward. The agreement also contains provisions that restrict disclosure by Mr. Urban of our confidential information and assign ownership to us of inventions related to our business that are created by him during his employment. We may terminate the agreement at any time, with or without cause. Mr. Urban will be eligible to receive an amount equal to three (3) months of his then-current base salary payable in the form of salary continuation if he is terminated without cause. Mr. Urban may terminate the agreement at any time, with or without reason, upon four weeks’ advance written notice.

Scott Ahlberg

 

On July 1, 2010,2013, we entered into an executive employment agreement with Mr. Ahlberg which was subsequently amended oneffective June 30, 2017.2023. Under the terms of the executive employment agreement, Mr. Ahlberg has agreed to serve as Chief Operating Officer on an at-will basis. The term of the agreement ends on June 30 2019.of each year, subject to automatic renewal for subsequent one-year periods unless Reprints Desk provides written notice of non-renewal to Mr. Ahlberg at least thirty (30) days prior to the expiration of the then-current term, and subject to earlier termination in accordance with the other provisions of Mr. Ahlberg’s executive employment agreement. The agreement provides for a base salary of $220,000$240,400 per year.year, subject to review and adjustment in accordance with our established procedures for adjusting salaries for similarly situated employees, and participation in an executive bonus plan as determined by our board of directors.

 

The agreement contains provisions that prohibit Mr. Ahlberg from soliciting our customers or employees during his employment with us and for one year afterward. The agreement also contains provisions that restrict disclosure by Mr. Ahlberg of our confidential information and assign ownership to us of inventions related to our business that are created by him during his employment. We may terminate the agreement at any time, with or without cause. Mr. Ahlberg will be eligible to receive an amount equal to three (3)six (6) months of his then-current base salary payable in the form of salary continuation if he is terminated without cause. Mr. Ahlberg may terminate the agreement at any time, with or without reason, upon four weeks’ advance written notice.

 

18

Janice PetersonShane Hunt

 

On JulyNovember 1, 2010,2012, we entered into an executive employment agreement with Ms. PetersonMr. Hunt which was subsequently amended on June 30, 2017.2022. Under the terms of the executive employment agreement, Ms. Petersonas amended, Mr. Hunt has agreed to serve as Chief Publisher RelationsRevenue Officer on an at-will basis. The term of the agreement ends on June 30, 2019.is indefinite unless terminated by either party subject to the provisions of the employment agreement. The agreement provides for a base salary of $200,000$225,000 per year. No partyear, subject to review and adjustment in accordance with our established procedures for adjusting salaries for similarly situated employees, and participation in a bonus plan based upon company sales and retention, and executive bonus plan as determined by our board of Ms. Peterson's salary is allocated to her duties as a director of our company.

The agreement contains provisions that prohibit Ms. Peterson from soliciting our customers or employees during her employment with us and for one year afterward. The agreement also contains provisions that restrict disclosure by Ms. Peterson of our confidential information and assign ownership to us of inventions related to our business that are created by her during her employment. We may terminate the agreement at any time, with or without cause. Ms. Peterson will be eligible to receive an amount equal to three (3) months of her then-current base salary payable in the form of salary continuation if she is terminated without cause. Ms. Peterson may terminate the agreement at any time, with or without reason, upon four weeks’ advance written notice.

Ian Palmer

On July 1, 2013, we entered into an executive employment agreement with Mr. Palmer which was subsequently amended on June 30, 2017. Under the terms of the executive employment agreement, Mr. Palmer has agreed to serve as our Chief Sales and Marketing Officer on an at-will basis. The term of the agreement ends on June 30, 2019. The agreement provides for a base salary of $200,000 per year.directors.

 

The agreement contains provisions that prohibit Mr. PalmerHunt from soliciting our customers or employees during his employment with us and for one year afterward. The agreement also contains provisions that restrict disclosure by Mr. PalmerHunt of our confidential information and assign ownership to us of inventions related to our business that are created by him during his employment. We may terminate the agreement at any time, with or without cause. Mr. PalmerHunt will be eligible to receive an amount equal to three (3)six (6) months of his then-current base salary payable in the form of salary continuation if he is terminated without cause. Mr. PalmerHunt may terminate the agreement at any time, with or without reason, upon fourtwo weeks’ advance written notice.

 

19

16

 

 

Outstanding Equity Awards at Fiscal Year End

 

The following table sets forth information regarding stock options, warrants and other stock awards (restricted stock) for each named executive officer as of June 30, 2017.2023.

 

 Number of Number of            Number of Number of           
 securities securities       Stock Awards: Stock Awards:  securities securities       Stock Awards:  Stock Awards: 
 underlying underlying Option/ Option/ Number of Market value of  underlying underlying Option/ Option/ Number of  Market value of 
 unexercised unexercised Warrant Warrant shares of stock shares of stock  unexercised unexercised Warrant Warrant shares of stock  shares of stock 
 options/warrants options/warrants exercise expiration that have not that have not  options/warrants options/warrants exercise expiration that have not  that have not 
Name exercisable (#) unexercisable (#) price ($) date (1) vested (#) vested ($)  exercisable (#)  unexercisable (#)  price ($)  date (1)  vested (#)  vested ($) 
Peter Victor Derycz  32,000   -  $1.25   2/13/2023   -   -               606(2) $1,292(3)
  16,000   -  $1.85   5/20/2023   -   -               1,038(4) $2,583(5)
  6,000   -  $1.25   6/23/2021   -   -               2,500(6) $5,425(7)
  -   -   -   -   1,905(2) $1,238(3)              10,020(8) $26,454(9)
  -   -   -   -   5,556(4) $5,556(5)              2,949(10) $6,459(11)
  -   -   -   -   6,209(6) $6,519(7)              3,691(12) $7,750(13)
  -   -   -   -   10,667(8) $9,600(9)              4,835(14) $9,042(15)
  -   -   -   -   7,143(10) $4,286(11)              34,639(18)  67,200(19)
  -   -   -   -   14,378(12) $8,483(13)
  -   -   -   -   5,444(14) $5,934(15)
  -   -   -   -   21,818(16) $21,163(17)
  -   -   -   -   6,666(18) $6,999(19)
  -   -   -   -   11,305(20) $12,888(21)
  -   -   -   -   13,947(22) $13,947(23)
                        
Alan Louis Urban  100,000   -  $1.02   7/27/2020   -   - 
Roy W. Olivier  50,000     $2.40   11/13/2028       
  125,000   -  $1.30   3/5/2022   -   -   50,000     $3.13   11/12/2029       
  24,000   -  $1.15   2/6/2023   -   -   50,000     $2.13   11/17/2030       
  1,800   -  $1.25   6/23/2021   -   -               6,313(8) $16,666(9)
  -   -   -   -   1,428(2) $928(3)              5,898(10) $12,916(11)
  -   -   -   -   4,167(4) $4,167(5)              7,381(12) $15,500(13)
  -   -   -   -   4,656(6) $4,889(7)              9,671(14) $18,084(15)
  -   -   -   -   8,000(8) $7,200(9)              79,897(18)  155,000(19)
  -   -   -   -   5,357(10) $3,214(11)              500,000(20)  702,000(21)
William Nurthen              56,250(16) $146,813(17)
  -   -   -   -   10,785(12) $6,363(13)              2,738(12) $5,750(13)
  -   -   -   -   4,083(14) $4,451(15)              3,588(14) $6,709(15)
  -   -   -   -   16,364(16) $15,873(17)              24,601(18) $47,726(19)
  -   -   -   -   5,000(18) $5,250(19)              300,000(20) $421,200(21)
  -   -   -   -   8,479(20) $9,666(21)
  -   -   -   -   10,460(22) $10,460(23)
                        
Scott Ahlberg  75,000   -  $1.50   12/21/2017   -   - 
  75,000   -  $1.00   5/28/2019   -   - 
  20,000   -  $1.02   7/27/2020   -   - 
  25,600   -  $1.15   2/6/2023   -   - 
  1,500   -  $1.25   6/23/2021   -   - 
  -   -   -   -   1,428(2) $928(3)
  -   -   -   -   4,167(4) $4,167(5)
  -   -   -   -   4,656(6) $4,889(7)
  -   -   -   -   8,000(8) $7,200(9)
  -   -   -   -   5,357(10) $3,214(11)
  -   -   -   -   10,785(12) $6,363(13)
  -   -   -   -   4,083(14) $4,451(15)
  -   -   -   -   16,364(16) $15,873(17)
  -   -   -   -   8,333(18) $8,750(19)
  -   -   -   -   9,903(20) $11,289(21)
  -   -   -   -   10,456(22) $10,456(23)

 

20

(1)Stock options expire ten years from the grant date.

(2)The restricted stock was granted on November 7, 201417, 2020 and vest over a three yearthree-year period, with a one yearone-year cliff vesting period.

(3)Based on a market closing price per share of common stock of $0.65$2.13 on November 7, 2014.17, 2020.

(4)The restricted stock was granted on March 10, 2015February 9, 2021 and vest over a three yearthree-year period, with a one yearone-year cliff vesting period.

(5)Based on a market closing price per share of common stock of $1.00$2.49 on March 10, 2015.February 9, 2021.

(6)The restricted stock was granted on May 22, 201511, 2021 and vest over a three yearthree-year period, with a one yearone-year cliff vesting period.

(7)Based on a market closing price per share of common stock of $1.05$2.17 on May 22, 2015.11, 2021.

(8)The restricted stock was granted on August 4, 20155, 2021 and vest over a three yearthree-year period, with a one yearone-year cliff vesting period.

(9)Based on a market closing price per share of common stock of $0.90$2.64 on August, 4, 2015.2021.

17

(10)The restricted stock was granted on February 8, 2016December 2, 2021 and vest over a three yearthree-year period, with a one yearone-year cliff vesting period.

(11)Based on a market closing price per share of common stock of $0.60$2.19 on February 8, 2016.December 2, 2021.

(12)The restricted stock was granted on February 25, 20168, 2022 and vest over a three yearthree-year period, with a one yearone-year cliff vesting period.

(13)Based on a market closing price per share of common stock of $0.59$2.10 on February 25, 2016.8, 2022.

(14)The restricted stock was granted on May 24, 201610, 2022 and vest over a three yearthree-year period, with a one yearone-year cliff vesting period.

(15)Based on a market closing price per share of common stock of $1.09$1.87 on May 24, 2016.10, 2022.

(16)The restricted stock was granted on August 23, 2016October 4, 2021 and vest over a three yearfour-year period, with a one yearone-year cliff vesting period.

(17)Based on a market closing price per share of common stock of $0.97$2.61 on August 23, 2016.October 4, 2021.

(18)The restricted stock was granted on November 21, 2016August 19, 2022 and vest over a three yearthree-year period, with a one yearone-year cliff vesting period.

(19)Based on a market closing price per share of common stock of $1.05$1.94 on November 21, 2016.August 19, 2022.

(20)The restricted stock was granted on February 16,November 1, 2022 under the 2017 and vest over a three year period,Plan, as restricted stock awards to key management in accordance with a one year cliff vesting period.its long-term equity bonus program (the “LTEBP”).

(21)Based on fair value computed using the Monte Carlo simulations on a market closing price per sharebinomial model with the assistance of common stock of $1.14 on February 16, 2017.
(22)The restricted stock was granted on May 11, 2017 and vest over a three year period,valuation specialist with a one year cliff vesting period.
(23)Based on a market closing price per share of common stock of $1.00 on May 11, 2017.derived service period ranging from 1.43 to 2.59 years.

 

18

Pay Versus Performance

As required by Section 953(a) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, and Item 402(v) of Regulation S-K, which was adopted by the SEC in 2022, the Company is providing the following information regarding the relationship between “compensation actually paid” (“CAP”) to our principal executive officer (“PEO”) and Non-PEO NEOs and certain financial performance of the Company for the fiscal years listed below.

Year Summary
Compensation
Table Total
for PEO
  Compensation
Actually Paid
to PEO(1)
  Average
Summary
Compensation
Table Total for
Non-PEO
NEO(2)
  Average
Compensation
Actually paid
to Non-PEO
NEOs(3)
  Value of
Initial Fixed
$100
Investment
Based on
Total
Shareholder
Return(4)
  Net Income
(Loss)(5)
 
2023 $1,380,334  $1,300,501  $694,511  $591,466  $62.24  $571,623 
2022 $524,039  $524,039  $610,940  $546,982  $71.33  $(1,632,384)

21(1)The dollar amounts reported represent the amount of “compensation actually paid”, as computed in accordance with SEC rules. The dollar amounts do not reflect the actual amount of compensation earned by or paid during the applicable year. In accordance with SEC rules, the following adjustments were made to total compensation to determine the compensation actually paid:

Year Reported Summary
Compensation Table
Total for PEO
  Reported Value of
Equity Awards (a)
  Equity Award
Adjustments
(b)
  Compensation
Actually Paid
to PEO
 
2023 $1,380,334  $857,000  $777,167  $1,300,501 
2022 $524,039  $142,999  $142,999  $524,039 

(a)The grant date fair value of equity awards represents the total of the amounts reported in the “Stock awards” and “Option awards” columns in the Summary Compensation Table for the applicable year.

(b)The equity award adjustments for each applicable year include the addition (or subtraction, as applicable) of the following: (i) the year-end fair value of any equity awards granted in the applicable year that are outstanding and unvested as of the end of the year; (ii) the amount of change as of the end of the applicable year (from the end of the prior fiscal year) in fair value of any awards granted in prior years that are outstanding and unvested as of the end of the applicable year; (iii) for awards that are granted and vest in same applicable year, the fair value as of the vesting date; (iv) for awards granted in prior years that vest in the applicable year, the amount equal to the change as of the vesting date (from the end of the prior fiscal year) in fair value; (v) for awards granted in prior years that are determined to fail to meet the applicable vesting conditions during the applicable year, a deduction for the amount equal to the fair value at the end of the prior fiscal year; and (vi) the dollar value of any dividends or other earnings paid on stock or option awards in the applicable year prior to the vesting date that are not otherwise reflected in the fair value of such award or included in any other component of total compensation for the applicable year. The valuation assumptions used to calculate fair values did not materially differ from those disclosed at the time of grant. The amounts deducted or added in calculating the equity award adjustments are as follows:

Year Year End Fair
Value of
Outstanding and
Unvested Equity
Awards Granted
During the Year
  Year over Year
Change in Fair
Value of
Outstanding and
Unvested Equity
Awards Granted in
Prior Years
  Fair Value as
of Vesting
Date of
Equity
Awards
Granted and
Vested in the
Year
  Year over Year
Change in Fair
Value of Equity
Awards
Granted in
Prior Years that
Vested in the
Year
  Total Equity
Award
Adjustments
 
2023 $857,000  $(79,833) $0  $0  $777,167 
2022 $142,999  $0  $0  $0  $142,999 

(2)The dollar amounts reported represent the average of the amounts reported for the Company’s named executive officers (NEOs) as a group (excluding our CEO) in the “Total” column of the Summary Compensation Table in each applicable year.

(3)The dollar amounts reported represent the average amount of “compensation actually paid” to the NEOs as a group (excluding our CEO), as computed in accordance with SEC rules. The dollar amounts do not reflect the actual average amount of compensation earned by or paid to the NEOs as a group (excluding our CEO) during the applicable year. In accordance with the SEC rules, the following adjustments were made to average total compensation for the NEOs as a group (excluding our CEO) for each year to determine the compensation actually paid, using the same methodology described above in Note 1:

Year Average Reported
Summary Compensation
Table Total for Non-
PEO NEOs
  Average Reported Value
of Equity Awards
  Average
Equity Award
Adjustments
(a)
  Average
Compensation
Actually Paid
to Non-PEO
NEOs
 
2023 $694,511  $268,063  $165,018  $591,466 
2022 $610,940  $204,931  $140,973  $546,982 

(a)The amounts deducted or added in calculating the total average equity award adjustments are as follows:

19

Year Average Year
End Fair Value of
Outstanding and
Unvested Equity
Awards Granted
During the Year
  Year over Year
Average Change in
Fair Value of
Outstanding and
Unvested Equity
Awards Granted in
Prior Years
  Average Fair
Value as of
Vesting Date
of Equity
Awards
Granted and
Vested in the
Year
  Year over Year
Average
Change in Fair
Value of Equity
Awards
Granted in
Prior Years that
Vested in the
Year
  Total
Average
Equity
Award
Adjustments
 
2023 $268,063  $(109,227) $0  $6,182  $165,018 
2022 $204,931  $(50,033) $0  $(13,925) $140,973 

(4)Cumulative total stockholder return is calculated by dividing the sum of the cumulative amount of dividends for the measurement period, assuming dividend reinvestment, and the difference between the Company’s share price at the end and the beginning of the measurement period, by the Company’s share price at the beginning of the measurement period. Represents the value on the last trading day of each of 2023 and 2022 of an investment of $100 in our common stock on the last trading day of 2021.

(5)The dollar amounts reported represent the amount of net income (loss) reflected in our audited financial statements for the applicable year.

Analysis of Information Presented in the Pay versus Performance Table

The Company’s executive compensation program reflects a variable pay-for-performance philosophy. While the Company utilizes several performance measures to align executive compensation with Company performance, all of those Company measures are not presented in the Pay versus Performance table. Moreover, the Company generally seeks to incentivize long-term performance, and therefore does not specifically align the Company’s performance measures with compensation that is actually paid (as computed in accordance with SEC rules) for a particular year. In accordance with SEC rules, the Company is providing the following narrative disclosure regarding the relationships between information presented in the Pay versus Performance table.

Compensation Actually Paid and Cumulative Total Stockholder Return

During fiscal 2022 and 2023, compensation actually paid to our PEO increased from $524,039 in fiscal year 2022 to $1,300,501 in fiscal year 2023 for Mr. Olivier, and average compensation actually paid to our named executive officers other than our PEO increased from $546,982 in fiscal year 2022 to $591,466 in fiscal year 2023. Over the same period, the value of an investment of $100 in our common stock on the last trading day of 2021 decreased by $33.76 to $62.24 during fiscal year 2022, and increased by $9.09 to $71.33 during fiscal year 2023, for a total decrease over fiscal year 2022 and 2023 of $28.67.

Compensation Actually Paid and Net Loss/Income

During fiscal 2022 and 2023, compensation actually paid to our PEO increased from $524,039 in fiscal year 2022 to $1,300,501 in fiscal year 2023 for Mr. Olivier, and average compensation actually paid to our named executive officers other than our PEO increased from $546,982 in fiscal year 2022 to $591,466 in fiscal year 2023. Over the same period, our net loss increased by $1,347,295 during fiscal year 2022 (from a net loss in fiscal 2021 of $285,089 to a net loss in fiscal 2022 of $1,632,384), but decreased by $2,204,007 during fiscal 2023 (from a net loss in fiscal year 2022 of $1,632,384 to a net income in fiscal year 2023 of $571,632).

20

 

 

Director Compensation

 

The following table presents information regarding compensation awarded or paid to our directors for our fiscal yearyears ended June 30, 20172023 and 2022 for the services rendered by them to the Company in all capacities.

 

Name Fiscal
Year
  Fees
earned
or paid
in cash
($)
  Stock
awards
($)
  Warrant
and
Option
Awards
($)
  All other
Compensation ($)
  Total ($) 
(a)    (b)  (c)  (d)  (g)  (h) 
John Regazzi (5)  2017   27,000   -   90,000   -   117,000 
   2016   22,500   -   67,200   -   89,700 
Gen. Merrill McPeak (6)  2017   13,500   -   45,000   -   58,500 
   2016   12,000   -   30,000   -   42,000 
Chap J. Cooper (7)  2017   13,500   -   45,000   -   58,500 
   2016   3,000   -   27,563   -   30,563 
Janice Peterson (8)  2017   -   -   -   315,412(1)  315,412 
   2016   -   -   -   287,175(2)  287,175 
Gregory Suess, former  2017   -   -   -   -   - 
 Director (9)  2016   4,000   -   -   20,873(3)  24,873 
Scott Ogilvie, former  2017   -   -   -   -   - 
 Director (10)  2016   12,000   -   30,000   -   42,000 
Paul Kessler, former  2017   -   -   -   -   - 
 Director (11)  2016   4,000   -   -   8,942(4)  12,942 
    Fees  Warrant    
    earned  and    
    or paid  Option    
  Fiscal in cash  Awards    
Name Year ($)  ($)  Total ($) 
John Regazzi (1) 2023  36,000   55,500   91,500 
  2022  18,000   104,000   122,000 
Gen. Merrill McPeak (2) 2023  18,000   55,500   73,500 
  2022  18,000   52,000   70,000 
Eugene Robin (3) 2023  18,000   55,500   73,500 
  2022  18,000   52,000   70,000 
Barbara J. Cooperman (4) 2023  18,000   55,500   73,500 
  2022  7,079   40,318   47,397 

 

(1)Ms. Peterson received no compensation for her services as a director of the Company. Other compensation represents the following amounts paid to Ms. Peterson for her services as an employee of the Company: salary in the amount of $195,605, bonus in the amount of $73,209, grant date fair value of restricted stock of $41,249 (represents the grant date fair value of 16,364 shares of restricted stock granted on August 23, 2016, 5,000 shares of restricted stock granted on November 21, 2016, 8,479 shares of restricted stock granted on February 16, 2017, and 10,460 shares of restricted stock granted on May 11, 2017.).  The grant date fair value was estimated using the market price of the Company’s common stock at the date of grant. The restricted stock vests over a three year period, with a one year cliff vesting period, and remain subject to forfeiture if vesting conditions are not met, and other compensation in the amount of $5,349.
(2)Ms. Peterson received no compensation for her services as a director of the Company. Other compensation represents the following amounts paid to Ms. Peterson for her services as an employee of the Company: salary in the amount of $188,080, bonus in the amount of $45,000, grant date fair value of restricted stock of $49,671 (represents the grant date fair value of 24,000 shares of restricted stock granted on August 4, 2015, 12,857 shares of restricted stock granted on February 8, 2016, 21,570 shares of restricted stock granted on February 25, 2016, and 7,000 shares of restricted stock granted on May 24, 2016).  The grant date fair value was estimated using the market price of the Company’s common stock at the date of grant. The restricted stock vests over a three year period, with a one year cliff vesting period, and remain subject to forfeiture if vesting conditions are not met, and other compensation in the amount of $4,424.
(3)On December 4, 2015, stock options to purchase an aggregate of 175,000 shares of the Company’s common stock were modified to extend the amount of time allowed to exercise the stock options after separation from three months to twenty four months.
(4)On December 4, 2015, stock options to purchase 75,000 shares of the Company’s common stock were modified to extend the amount of time allowed to exercise the stock options after separation from three months to twenty four months.
(5)(1)Outstanding equity awards as of June 30, 20172023 consists of options to purchase 30,00050,000 shares of common stock at $1.10an exercise price of $2.15 per share, 100,000 shares of common stock at $2.10 per share, 100,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.13 per share, options to purchase 16,000100,000 shares of common stock at $0.80an exercise price of $3.13 per share, options to purchase 100,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.40 per share, options to purchase 150,000 shares of common stock at $0.70 per share, andan exercise price of $1.20, options to purchase 150,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.05 per share, options to purchase 150,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $0.70 per share, options to purchase 16,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $0.80 per share and options to purchase 30,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.10 per share.

(6)(2)Outstanding equity awards as of June 30, 20172023 consists of shares underlying warrantsoptions to purchase 50,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.25$2.15 per share, warrants to purchase 50,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.19$2.10 per share, options to purchase 50,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.15$2.13 per share, options to purchase 125,00050,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $3.13 per share, options to purchase 50,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.40 per share, options to purchase 75,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.20 per share, options to purchase 75,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.05 per share, options to purchase 75,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.10 per share, and options to purchase 75,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $0.70 per share.

22

(7)Outstanding equity awards as of June 30, 2017 consists of options to purchase 43,750 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.09 per share, and options to purchase 75,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.05 per share. 
(8)Outstanding equity awards as of June 30, 2017 consists of options to purchase 85,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.50 per share, options to purchase 75,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.00 per share, options to purchase 40,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.02 per share, options to purchase 17,600 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.15 per share, and 78,780 shares of unvested restricted stock. The restricted stock vests over a three year period, with a one year cliff vesting period, and remains subject to forfeiture if vesting conditions are not met.
(9)Outstanding equity awards as of June 30, 2017 consists of shares underlying warrants to purchase 50,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.25 per share, warrants to purchase 50,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.19 per share, options to purchase 50,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.15$1.10 per share, options to purchase 50,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.05 per share, and options to purchase 75,00050,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.10$1.15 per share.

(10)(3)Outstanding equity awards as of June 30, 2017 consist of 25,000 shares of common stock. 
(11)Outstanding equity awards as of June 30, 2017 consist2023 consists of options to purchase 75,00050,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.10$2.15, options to purchase 50,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.10 per share and options to purchase 31,250 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.43 per share.

(4)Outstanding equity awards as of June 30, 2023 consists of options to purchase 50,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.15, options to purchase 38,767 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.10 per share.

 

In fiscal 20172023 our non-employee Chairman of the BoardLead Independent Director received $27,000$36,000 and options to purchase 150,00050,000 shares of our common stock for attending meetings and serving on our board of directors. In fiscal 2017 and 2016, other2022 our non-employee directors of our companyLead Independent Director received $13,500 and $12,000, respectively,$18,000 and options to purchase 75,000100,000 shares of our common stock for attending meetings and serving on our Boardboard of Directors.directors In fiscal 2023 and 2022, other non-employee directors of our company received $18,000 and options to purchase 50,000 shares of our common stock, for attending meetings and serving on our board of directors. We expect to compensate our non-employee directors with a combination of cash and options to purchase our common stock going forward. Compensation payable to non-employee directors may be adjusted from time to time, as approved by our Boardboard of Directors.directors.

21

 

Indemnification of Directors and Executive Officers and Limitation of Liability

 

We are a Nevada Corporation. The Nevada Revised Statutes and certain provisions of our Amended and Restated Bylaws under certain circumstances provide for indemnification of our officers, directors and controlling persons against liabilities which they may incur in such capacities. A summary of the circumstances in which such indemnification is provided for is contained herein, but this description is qualified in its entirety by reference to our Amended and Restated Bylaws and to the statutory provisions.

 

In general, any officer, director, employee or agent may be indemnified against expenses, fines, settlements or judgments arising in connection with a legal proceeding to which such person is a party, if that person’s actions were in good faith, were believed to be in our best interest, and were not unlawful. Unless such person is successful upon the merits in such an action, indemnification may be awarded only after a determination by independent decision of our Boardboard of Directors,directors, by legal counsel, or by a vote of our stockholders, that the applicable standard of conduct was met by the person to be indemnified.

 

The circumstances under which indemnification is granted in connection with an action brought on our behalf is generally the same as those set forth above; however, with respect to such actions, indemnification is granted only with respect to expenses actually incurred in connection with the defense or settlement of the action. In such actions, the person to be indemnified must have acted in good faith and in a manner believed to have been in our best interest, and have not been adjudged liable for negligence or misconduct.

 

Indemnification may also be granted pursuant to the terms of agreements which may be entered in the future or pursuant to a vote of stockholders or directors. The Nevada Revised Statutes also grant us the power to purchase and maintain insurance which protects our officers and directors against any liabilities incurred in connection with their service in such a position, and such a policy may be obtained by us.

 

We have notalso entered into separate indemnification agreements with our directors and executive officers.

23

 

A stockholder’s investment may be adversely affected to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against directors and officers as required by these indemnification provisions. At present, there is no pending litigation or proceeding involving any of our directors, officers or employees regarding which indemnification by us is sought, nor are we aware of any threatened litigation that may result in claims for indemnification.

 

Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers or persons controlling us pursuant to the foregoing provisions, we have been informed that, in the opinion of the SEC, this indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is therefore unenforceable.

 

22

SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT

 

The following table sets forth certain information, as of September 22, 2017,27, 2023, with respect to the holdings of (1) each person who is the beneficial owner of more than five percent of our common stock, (2) each of our directors, (3) each named executive officer, and (4) all of our directors and executive officers as a group.

 

Beneficial ownership of ourthe common stock is determined in accordance with the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission and includes any shares of common stock over which a person exercises sole or shared voting or investment powers, or of which a person has a right to acquire ownership at any time within 60 days of September 22, 2017.27, 2023. Except as otherwise indicated, and subject to applicable community property laws, the persons named in this table have sole voting and investment power with respect to all shares of common stock held by them. The address of each director and officer is c/o Research Solutions, Inc., 15821 Ventura Boulevard, Suite 165, Encino, California 91436.10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614, Henderson, NV 89052. Applicable percentage ownership in the following table is based on 24,134,99229,624,085 shares of common stock outstanding as of September 22, 201727, 2023 plus, for each person, any securities that person has the right to acquire within 60 days of September 22, 2017.27, 2023.

 

Name of Beneficial Owner Number of Shares
Beneficially Owned
  Percentage of Shares
Outstanding
 
Executive Officers and Directors:        
Peter Victor Derycz(1)  3,753,629   15.5%
Alan Louis Urban(2)  544,669   2.2%
Scott Ahlberg(3)  473,692   1.9%
Janice Peterson(4)  455,511   1.9%
Ian Palmer(5)  293,200   1.2%
John Regazzi(6)  493,500   2.0%
Chad J. Cooper(7)  690,750   2.8%
General Merrill McPeak(8)  559,608   2.3%
Directors and officers as a group (8 persons)(9)  7,264,559   27.9%
         
5% Stockholders:        

Bristol Investment Fund, Ltd(10).

1100 Glendon Avenue, Suite 850

Los Angeles, CA 90024

  4,825,772   20.0%

12 West Capital Fund LP(11)

90 Park Avenue, 41st Floor

New Yori, NY 10016

  4,883,119   19.5%

12 West Capital Offshore Fund LP(12)

90 Park Avenue, 41st Floor

New York, NY 10016

  3,437,881   13.9%

Samjo Capital, LLC(13)

1345 Avenue of the Americas, 3rd Floor

New York, NY 10105

  1,219,344   5.1%

24

  Shares    
  Beneficially  Percentage 
Name and Address of Beneficial Owner Owned  of Shares 
Greater than 5% Shareholder:        
Cove Street Capital, LLC
525 South Douglas Street, Suite 225
El Segundo, CA 90245
  3,557,847   12.0%
Richard H. Witmer, Jr.
16 Fort Hills Lane
Greenwich, CT 06831
  2,608,448   8.8%
Directors and Executive Officers:        
Peter Victor Derycz  3,321,322   11.2%
Roy W. Olivier (2)  856,641   2.9%
William Nurthen (3)  421,068   1.4%
Scott Ahlberg (4)  596,516   2.0%
Shane Hunt (5)  528,449   1.8%
John Regazzi (6)  1,143,500   3.7%
Gen. Merrill McPeak (7)  884,608   2.9%
Barbara Cooperman (8)  88,767   *%
All Directors and Executive Officers as a group (8 persons) (9)  7,840,871   24.9%

 

* Less than 1%

(1)As a member of Cove Street Capital, LLC, Jeffrey Bronchick may be deemed the beneficial owner of the shares of common stock held by Cove Street Capital, LLC.

(2)Includes shares underlying options to purchase 32,00050,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.25$2.40 per share, and options to purchase 16,00050,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.85$3.13 per share, and warrantsoptions to purchase 6,00050,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.25$2.13 per share, and 144,411609,159 shares of unvested restricted stock. TheOf this amount, 109,159 shares of the restricted stock vests over a three yearthree-year period, with a one yearone-year cliff vesting period and remains subject to forfeiture if vesting conditions are not met. The remaining 500,000 shares of the restricted stock were granted on November 1, 2022 under the 2017 Plan, as restricted stock awards to key management in accordance with its long-term equity bonus program (the “LTEBP”).

(2)  (3)Includes 5,000 shares owned by the wife of Mr. Urban, 5,000 shares owned by each of the three children of Mr. Urban, shares underlying options to purchase 100,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.02 per share, options to purchase 125,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.30 per share, options to purchase 24,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.15 per share, and warrants to purchase 1,800 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.25 per share, and 109,274387,177 shares of unvested restricted stock. TheOf this amount, 56,250 shares of the restricted stock vests over a three yearfour-year period, with a one yearone-year cliff vesting period and remains subject to forfeiture if vesting conditions are not met. 30,927 shares of the restricted stock vests over a three-year period, with a one-year cliff vesting period and remains subject to forfeiture if vesting conditions are not met. The remaining 300,000 shares of the restricted stock were granted on November 1, 2022 under the 2017 Plan, as restricted stock awards to key management in accordance with its long-term equity bonus program (the “LTEBP”).

23

(3)(4)Includes 197,479 shares of unvested restricted stock. Of this amount 47,479 shares of the restricted stock vests over a three-year period, with a one-year cliff vesting period and remains subject to forfeiture if vesting conditions are not met. The remaining 150,000 shares of the restricted stock were granted on November 1, 2022 under the 2017 Plan, as restricted stock awards to key management in accordance with its long-term equity bonus program (the “LTEBP”).

(5)Includes shares underlying options to purchase 75,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.50 per share, options to purchase 75,0007,500 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.00 per share, options to purchase 20,00012,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.02$1.20 per share, options to purchase 25.600 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.15 per share, and warrants to purchase 1,500 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.25 per share, and 109,032 shares of unvested restricted stock. The restricted stock vests over a three year period, with a one year cliff vesting period, and remains subject to forfeiture if vesting conditions are not met.
(4)Includes shares underlying options to purchase 85,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.50 per share, options to purchase 75,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.00 per share, options to purchase 40,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.02 per share, options to purchase 17,600 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.15 per share, and warrants to purchase 1,200 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.25 per share, and 109,274 shares of unvested restricted stock. The restricted stock vests over a three year period, with a one year cliff vesting period, and remains subject to forfeiture if vesting conditions are not met.
(5)Includes shares underlying options to purchase 10,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.00$1.59 per share, options to purchase 20,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.02$2.50 per share, options to purchase 20,0008,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.30$2.49 per share, options to purchase 16,0008,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.15$3.13 per share, and warrantsoptions to purchase 1,5008,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.25$3.50 per share, options to purchase 8,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.99 per share, options to purchase 8,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.45 per share, options to purchase 8,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.13 per share, options to purchase 7,333 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.49 per share, options to purchase 6,667 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.17 per share, options to purchase 5,515 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.64 per share, and 109,032315,544 shares of unvested restricted stock. TheOf this amount, 15,544 shares of the restricted stock vests over a three yearthree-year period, with a one yearone-year cliff vesting period and remains subject to forfeiture if vesting conditions are not met. The remaining 300,000 shares of the restricted stock were granted on November 1, 2022 under the 2017 Plan, as restricted stock awards to key management in accordance with its long-term equity bonus program (the “LTEBP”).

(6)Includes shares underlying warrants to purchase 22,500 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.25 per share, options to purchase 30,000 shares of common stock at $1.10 per share, options to purchase 16,000 shares of common stock at $0.80 per share, options to purchase 150,000 shares of common stock at $0.70 per share, and options to purchase 150,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.05 per share.
(7)Includes 315,500 shares of common stock held by DO Capital Management, Inc., 11,500 shares of common stock held by Mr. Cooper’s SEP IRA, and shares underlying warrantsshare, options to purchase 195,000150,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.25$1.20 per share, and options to purchase 43,750100,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.09$2.40 per share, and options to purchase 75,000100,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.05$3.13 per share.  Mr. Cooper exercises votingshare, options to purchase 100,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.13 per share, options to purchase 100,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.10 per share and investment power over the shares held by DO Capital Management, Inc. and his SEP IRA.
(8)Includes shares underlying warrantsoptions to purchase 50,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.25$2.15 per share, warrants to purchase 50,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.19 per share, warrants to purchase 7,500 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.25 per share,share.

(7)Includes options to purchase 50,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.15 per share, options to purchase 125,00050,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.05 per share, options to purchase 75,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.10 per share, and options to purchase 75,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $0.70 per share.
(9)Includes shares underlyingshare, options to purchase 1,565,950 shares of common stock and warrants to purchase 337,000 shares of common stock, and 581,025 shares of unvested restricted stock.
(10)Paul Kessler exercises voting and investment power over the shares held by Bristol Investment Fund, Ltd. and is the brother-in-law of Peter Victor Derycz. Mr. Kessler previously served as a member of our board of directors from August 18, 2014 through November 6, 2015.
(11)Includes shares underlying warrants to purchase 880,50075,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.25$1.05 per share. Joel Ramin, the General Partner of 12 West Management LP, the investment manager of 12 West Capital Fund LP, exercises voting and investment power over the shares held by 12 West Capital Fund LP but disclaims beneficial ownership of such shares except to the extent of his pecuniary interest therein.

25

(12)Includes shares underlying warrantsshare, options to purchase 619,50075,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.25$1.20 per share. Joel Ramin, the General Partnershare, options to purchase 50,000 shares of 12 West Management LP, the investment managercommon stock at an exercise price of 12 West Capital Offshore Fund LP, exercises voting$2.40 per share, options to purchase 50,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $3.13 per share, options to purchase 50,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.13 per share, options to purchase 50,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.10 per share and investment power over theoptions to purchase 50,000 shares held by 12 West Capital Offshore Fund LP but disclaims beneficial ownership of such shares except to the extentcommon stock at an exercise price of his pecuniary interest therein.
(13)Andrew N. Wiener, the sole managing member of Samjo Capital, LLC and Samjo Management, LLC, exercises voting and investment power over the shares held by Samjo Capital, LLC.$2.15.

(8)Includes shares underlying options to purchase 38,767 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.10 per share and options to purchase 50,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.15.

(9)Includes shares underlying options to purchase 1,901,782 shares of common stock.

24

 

Equity Compensation Plan Information

 

In December 2007, we established the 2007 Equity Compensation Plan (the “Plan”“2007 Plan”) and in November 2017 we established the 2017 Omnibus Incentive Plan (the “2017 Plan”), collectively (the “Plans”). The Plan wasPlans were approved by our board of directors and stockholders. The purpose of the PlanPlans is to grant stock and options to purchase our common stock, and other incentive awards, to our employees, directors and key consultants. On November 10, 2016, the maximum number of shares of common stock that may be issued pursuant to awards granted under the 2007 Plan increased from 5,000,000 to 7,000,000, as7,000,000. On November 21, 2017, the Company’s stockholders approved the adoption of the 2017 Plan (previously adopted by our board of directors on September 14, 2017), which authorized a maximum of 1,874,513 shares of common stock that may be issued pursuant to awards granted under the 2017 Plan. On November 17, 2020, the Company's stockholders approved an increase in the maximum number of shares of common stock that may be issued pursuant to awards granted under the 2017 Plan from 2,374,513 to 3,374,513. On November 17, 2021, the Company's stockholders approved an increase in the maximum number of shares of common stock that may be issued pursuant to awards granted under the 2017 Plan from 3,374,513 to 6,874,513. Upon adoption of the 2017 Plan, we ceased granting incentive awards under the 2007 Plan and stockholders. Cancelledcommenced granting incentive awards under the 2017 Plan. The shares of our common stock underlying cancelled and forfeited stock options and stock awards issued under the 2017 Plan may again become available for grant under the 2017 Plan. ThereCancelled and forfeited awards issued under the 2007 Plan that were 2,161,160cancelled or forfeited prior to November 21, 2017 became available for grant under the 2007 Plan. As of June 30, 2023, there were 1,495,927 shares available for grant under the 2017 Plan, asand no shares were available for grant under the 2007 Plan. All incentive stock award grants prior to the adoption of June 30, 2017. All stock option grants arethe 2017 Plan on November 21, 2017 were made under the 2007 Equity CompensationPlan, and all incentive stock award grants after the adoption of the 2017 Plan on November 21, 2017 were made under the 2017 Plan. The following table provides information as of June 30, 20172022 with respect to the Plan,Plans, which isare the only compensation planplans under which our equity securities are, or have been, authorized for issuance.

 

Plan Category

 Number of securities
to be issued upon
exercise of
outstanding options,
warrants and rights
(a)
  Weighted-average
exercise price of
outstanding options,
 warrants and rights(1)
(b)
  Number of securities
remaining available for
future issuance under
equity compensation
plans (excluding
securities reflected in
 column (a))
(c)
 
Equity compensation plans approved by stockholders (2007 Equity Compensation Plan)  4,703,507(2) $1.15   2,161,160 
                  Number of securities 
      remaining available 
      for future issuance 
 Number of securities to be Weighted average under equity 
 issued upon exercise of exercise price of compensation plans 
 outstanding options, outstanding options, (excluding securities 
Plan category warrants and rights  warrants and rights  reflected in column (a)) 
 (a)  (b)  (c) 
Equity compensation plans approved by stockholders (2007 Equity Compensation Plan, and 2017 Omnibus Incentive Plan)  2,909,574  $1.87   1,495,927 
Equity compensation plans not approved by stockholders  200,000(3) $1.22             
            
Total  4,903,507       2,161,160   2,909,574       1,495,927 

 

(1)The weighted average exercise price excludes restricted stock awards, which have no exercise price.
(2)Shares underlying options to purchase 3,130,310 shares of common stock and 1,573,197 shares of restricted common stock.
(3)Shares underlying warrants to purchase 200,000 shares of common stock.

26

25

 

 

CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS

Transactions with Officers and Directors

 

Other than the transactions described herein, since July 1, 2015,2021, there has not been, nor is there currently proposed, any transaction or series of similar transactions to which we were or will be a party:party in which the amount involved exceeds the lesser of $120,000 or one percent of the average of our total assets at year-end for the last two completed fiscal years; and in which any director, executive officer, shareholder who beneficially owns more than 5% of our common stock or any member of their immediate family had or will have a direct or indirect material interest.

·in which the amount involved exceeds the lesser of $120,000 or one percent of the average of our total assets at year end for the last two completed fiscal years; and

·in which any director, executive officer, stockholder who beneficially owns more than 5% of our common stock or any member of their immediate family had or will have a direct or indirect material interest.

 

COMPLIANCE WITH SECTION 16(A) OF THE EXCHANGE ACT

 

Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act requires our officers, directors, and persons who own more than ten percent of a registered class of our equity securities to file reports of ownership and changes in ownership with the SEC and to furnish our companythe Company with copies of all Section 16(a) forms they file. Our review of copies of the Section 16(a) reports filed to report transactions occurring during the fiscal year ended June 30, 20172023 indicates that all filing requirements applicable to our officers, directors, and greater than ten percent beneficial owners were complied with.with except as follows: Mr. Derycz failed to timely file one Form 4 reporting one transaction; Gen. McPeak failed to timely file one Form 4 reporting one transaction; and Mr. Ahlberg failed to timely file three Form 4s reporting six transactions.

 

STOCKHOLDER PROPOSALS

 

In order for a stockholder proposal to be considered for inclusion in our Proxy Statement for our 20182024 annual meeting of stockholders, the written proposal must be received by us no later than May 28, 2018,June 18, 2024, and should contain the information required by our Amended and Restated Bylaws. If the date of next year’s annual meeting is moved more than 30 days before or after November 21, 2018,14, 2024, the first anniversary of this year’s Annual Meeting, the deadline for inclusion of proposals in our Proxy Statement is instead a reasonable time before we begin to print and mail our proxy materials for next year’s meeting. Any proposals will also need to comply with Rule 14a-8 of the rules and regulations promulgated under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, regarding the inclusion of stockholder proposals in company sponsored proxy materials. Proposals should be addressed to our Secretary at our principal executive offices.mailing address.

To comply with the universal proxy rules, stockholders who intend to solicit proxies in support of director nominees other than the Company’s nominees must provide notice that sets forth the information required by Rule 14a-19 under the Exchange Act no later than September 15, 2024. Proposals and the required notice should be addressed to our Secretary at our mailing address.

 

If you intend to present a proposal at our 20182024 annual meeting of stockholders and the proposal is not intended to be included in our Proxy Statement relating to that meeting, you must give us advance notice of the proposal in accordance with our Amended and Restated Bylaws. Pursuant to our Amended and Restated Bylaws, in order for a stockholder proposal to be deemed properly presented in these circumstances, a stockholder must deliver notice of the proposal to our Secretary, at our principal executive offices,mailing address, from and after July 24, 201817, 2024 through August 23, 2018.16, 2024. However, if the date of our 20182024 annual meeting of stockholders is more than 30 days before or after November 21, 2018,14, 2024, the first anniversary of this year’s Annual Meeting, stockholders must give us notice of any stockholder proposals after the 120th day prior to next year’s annual meeting and before the 90th day prior to next year’s annual meeting, or, if later, the 10th day following the day on which we first make public announcement of the date of next year’s annual meeting. If a stockholder does not provide us with notice of a stockholder proposal in accordance with the deadlines described above, the stockholder will not be permitted to present the proposal to the stockholders for a vote at the meeting. If the stockholder does not also comply with the requirements of Rule 14a-4(c)(2) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, we may exercise discretionary voting authority under proxies that we solicit to vote in accordance with our best judgment on any such stockholder proposal or nomination.

 

27

26

 

 

DELIVERY OF DOCUMENTS TO SECURITY HOLDERS SHARING AN ADDRESS

 

We are delivering this Proxy Statement and an annual report to all stockholders of record as of the record date. Stockholders residing in the same household who hold their shares in the name of a bank, broker or other holder of record may receive only one Proxy Statement and annual report if previously notified by their bank, broker or other holder. This process, by which only one proxy statement and annual report, as the case may be, is delivered to multiple security holders sharing an address, unless contrary instructions are received from one or more of the security holders, is called “householding.” Householding may provide convenience for stockholders and cost savings for companies. Once begun, householding may continue unless instructions to the contrary are received from one or more of the stockholders within the household.

 

Street name stockholders in a single household who received only one copy of the Proxy Statement or annual report may request to receive separate copies in the future by following the instructions provided on the voting instruction form sent to them by their bank, broker or other holder of record. Similarly, street name stockholders who are receiving multiple copies may request that only a single set of materials be sent to them in the future by checking the appropriate box on the voting instruction form. Otherwise, street name stockholders should contact their bank, broker or other holder.

 

Copies of this Proxy Statement and our annual report are available promptly by calling (310) 477-0354, or by writing to Research Solutions, Inc., 15821 Ventura Boulevard,10624 S. Eastern Ave., Suite 165, Encino, California 91436.A-614, Henderson, NV 89052. If you are receiving multiple copies of this Proxy Statement, you also may request orally or in writing to receive a single copy of this Proxy Statement by calling (310) 477-0354, or writing to Research Solutions, Inc., Attention: Investor Relations, 15821 Ventura Boulevard,10624 S. Eastern Ave., Suite 165, Encino, California 91436.A-614, Henderson, NV 89052.

 

OTHER MATTERS

 

Our Boardboard of Directorsdirectors is not aware of any matter to be acted upon at the Annual Meeting other than described in this Proxy Statement. Unless otherwise directed, all shares represented by the persons named in the accompanying proxy will be voted in favor of the proposals described in this Proxy Statement. If any other matter properly comes before the meeting, however, the proxy holders will vote thereon in accordance with their best judgment.judgment

 

28

27

 

Appendix A

 

RESEARCH SOLUTIONS, INC.

2017 OMNIBUS INCENTIVE PLAN

Research Solutions, Inc. (the “Company”) 10624 S. EASTERN AVE., a Nevada corporation, hereby establishesSTE. A-614 HENDERSON, NV 89052 SCAN TO VIEW MATERIALS & VOTE VOTE BY INTERNET - www.proxyvote.com or scan the QR Barcode above Use the Internet to transmit your voting instructions and adoptsfor electronic delivery of information up until 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time the following 2017 Omnibus Incentive Plan (the “Plan”).

1.PURPOSE OF THE PLAN

The purposeday before the cut-off date or meeting date. Have your proxy card in hand when you access the web site and follow the instructions to obtain your records and to create an electronic voting instruction form. ELECTRONIC DELIVERY OF FUTURE PROXY MATERIALS If you would like to reduce the costs incurred by our company in mailing proxy materials, you can consent to receiving all future proxy statements, proxy cards and annual reports electronically via e-mail or the Internet. To sign up for electronic delivery, please follow the instructions above to vote using the Internet and, when prompted, indicate that you agree to receive or access proxy materials electronically in future years. VOTE BY PHONE - 1-800-690-6903 Use any touch-tone telephone to transmit your voting instructions up until 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time the day before the cut-off date or meeting date. Have your proxy card in hand when you call and then follow the instructions. VOTE BY MAIL Mark, sign and date your proxy card and return it in the postage-paid envelope we have provided or return it to Vote Processing, c/o Broadridge, 51 Mercedes Way, Edgewood, NY 11717. TO VOTE, MARK BLOCKS BELOW IN BLUE OR BLACK INK AS FOLLOWS: D91951-P81484 KEEP THIS PORTION FOR YOUR RECORDS THIS PROXY CARD IS VALID ONLY WHEN SIGNED AND DATED. DETACH AND RETURN THIS PORTION ONLY RESEARCH SOLUTIONS, INC. For Withhold For AllTo withhold authority to vote for any individual All All Except nominee(s), mark "For All Except" and write the THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS RECOMMENDS A VOTE “FOR” number(s) of the Plan is to assistnominee(s) on the Companyline below. ALL NOMINEES LISTED IN PROPOSAL 1, AND “FOR” PROPOSALS 2 AND 3. ! ! ! 1. TO ELECT THE FOLLOWING SIX NOMINEES AS DIRECTORS: 01) BARBARA J. COOPERMAN 04) JEREMY MURPHY 02) KENNETH L. GAYRON 05) ROY W. OLIVER 03) GENERAL MERRILL MCPEAK 06) JOHN REGAZZI The undersigned hereby confer(s) upon the Proxies and its Subsidiaries in attracting and retaining selected individuals to serve as employees, directors, consultants and/or advisors who are expected to contribute to the Company’s success and to achieve long-term objectives that will benefit stockholders of the Company through the additional incentives inherent in the Awards hereunder.

2.DEFINITIONS

2.1           Award” shall mean any Option, Stock Appreciation Right, Restricted Stock Award, Restricted Stock Unit Award, Other Share-Based Award, Performance Award or any other right, interest or option relating to Shares or other property (including cash) granted pursuant to the provisions of the Plan.

2.2           Award Agreement” shall mean any agreement, contract or other instrument or document evidencing any Award hereunder, whether in writing or through an electronic medium.

2.3           Board” shall mean the board of directors of the Company.

2.4           Business Combination” shall have the meaning set forth in Section 11.3(c).

2.5           Change in Control” shall have the meaning set forth in Section 11.3.

2.6           Code” shall mean the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.

2.7           Committee” shall mean the Compensation Committee of the Board or a subcommittee thereof formed by the Compensation Committee to act as the Committee hereunder. The Committee shall consist of no fewer than two Directors, each of whom is (i) a “non-employee director” within the meaning of Rule 16b-3 under the Exchange Act, (ii) an “outside director” within the meaning of Section 162(m) of the Code, and (iii) an “independent director” for purpose of the rules of the principal U.S. national securities exchange on which the Shares are traded, if any, to the extent required by such rules.

2.8           Company Voting Securities” shall have the meaning set forth in Section 11.3(b).

2.9           Consultant” shall mean any consultant or advisor who is a natural person and who provides services to the Company or any Subsidiary, so long as such person (i) renders bona fide services that are not in connection with the offer and sale of the Company’s securities in a capital-raising transaction, (ii) does not directly or indirectly promote or maintain a market for the Company’s securities and (iii) otherwise qualifies as a consultant under the applicable rules of the SEC for registration of shares of stock on a Form S-8 registration statement.

29

2.10         Covered Employee” shall mean an employee of the Company or its Subsidiaries who is a “covered employee” within the meaning of Section 162(m) of the Code.

2.11         Data” shall have the meaning set forth in Section 13.17.

2.12         Director” shall mean a member of the Board who is not an employee.

2.13         Dividend Equivalents” shall have the meaning set forth in Section 12.5.

2.14         Effective Date” shall have the meaning set forth in Section 13.13.

2.15         Employee” shall mean any employee of the Company or any Subsidiary and any prospective employee conditioned upon, and effective not earlier than, such person becoming an employee of the Company or any Subsidiary.

2.16         Exchange Act” shall mean the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.

2.17         Fair Market Value” shall mean, with respect to Shares as of any date, (i) the closing price of the Shares as reported on the principal U.S. national securities exchange on which the Shares are listed and traded on such date, or, if there is no closing price on that date, then on the last preceding date on which such a closing price was reported; (ii) if the Shares are not listed on any U.S. national securities exchange but are quoted in an inter-dealer quotation system on a last sale basis, the final ask price of the Shares reported on the inter-dealer quotation system for such date, or, if there is no such sale on such date, then on the last preceding date on which a sale was reported; or (iii) if the Shares are neither listed on a U.S. national securities exchange nor quoted on an inter-dealer quotation system on a last sale basis, the amount determined by the Committee to be the fair market value of the Shares as determined by the Committee in its sole discretion. The Fair Market Value of any property other than Shares shall mean the market value of such property determined by such methods or procedures as shall be established from time to time by the Committee.

2.18         Incentive Stock Option” shall mean an Option which when granted is intended to qualify as an incentive stock option for purposes of Section 422 of the Code.

2.19         Incumbent Directors” shall have the meaning set forth in Section 11.3(a).

2.20         Maximum Plan Shares” shall have the meaning set forth in Section 3.1(a).

2.21         Non-Qualifying Transaction” shall have the meaning set forth in Section 11.3(c).

2.22         Option” shall mean any right granted to a Participant under the Plan allowing such Participant to purchase Shares at such price or prices and during such period or periods as the Committee shall determine.

30

2.23         Other Share-Based Award” shall have the meaning set forth in Section 8.1.

2.24         Parent Corporation” shall have the meaning set forth in Section 11.3(c).

2.25         Participant” shall mean an Employee, Director or Consultant who is selected by the Committee to receive an Award under the Plan.

2.26         Performance Award” shall mean any Award of Performance Cash, Performance Shares or Performance Units granted pursuant to Article 9.

2.27         Performance Cash” shall mean any cash incentives granted pursuant to Article 9 payable to the Participant upon the achievement of such performance goals as the Committee shall establish.

2.28         Performance Period” shall mean the period established by the Committee during which any performance goals specified by the Committee with respect to a Performance Award are to be measured.

2.29         Performance Share” shall mean any grant pursuant to Article 9 of a unit valued by reference to a designated number of Shares, which value may be paid to the Participant upon achievement of such performance goals as the Committee shall establish.

2.30         Performance Unit” shall mean any grant pursuant to Article 9 of a unit valued by reference to a designated amount of cash or property other than Shares, which value may be paid to the Participant upon achievement of such performance goals during the Performance Period as the Committee shall establish.

2.31         Permitted Assignee” shall have the meaning set forth in Section 12.3.

2.32         Restricted Stock” shall mean any Share issued with the restriction that the holder may not sell, transfer, pledge or assign such Share and with such other restrictions as the Committee, in its sole discretion, may impose, which restrictions may lapse separately or in combination at such time or times, in installments or otherwise, as the Committee may deem appropriate.

2.33         Restricted Stock Award” shall have the meaning set forth in Section 7.1.

2.34         Restricted Stock Unit” means an Award that is valued by reference to a Share, which value may be paid to the Participant in Shares or cash as determined by the Committee in its sole discretion upon the satisfaction of vesting restrictions as the Committee may establish, which restrictions may lapse separately or in combination at such time or times, in installments or otherwise, as the Committee may deem appropriate.

2.35         Restricted Stock Unit Award” shall have the meaning set forth in Section 7.1.

2.36         SEC” means the Securities and Exchange Commission.

31

2.37         Shares” shall mean the shares of common stock of the Company, par value $0.001 per share.

2.38         Stock Appreciation Right” shall mean the right granted to a Participant pursuant to Article 6.

2.39         Subsidiary” shall mean any entity (other than the Company) in an unbroken chain of entities beginning with the Company if, at the relevant time each of the entities other than the last entity in the unbroken chain owns equity and/or interests possessing 50% or more of the total combined voting power of all equity in one of the other corporations in the chain.

2.40         Substitute Awards” shall mean Awards granted or Shares issued by the Company in assumption of, or in substitution or exchange for, awards previously granted, or the right or obligation to make future awards, in each case by a company acquired by the Company or any Subsidiary or with which the Company or any Subsidiary combines.

2.41         Surviving Corporation” shall have the meaning set forth in Section 11.3(c).

2.42         Vesting Period” shall mean the period of time specified by the Committee during which vesting restrictions for an Award are applicable.

3.SHARES SUBJECT TO THE PLAN

3.1           Number of Shares. (a) Subject to adjustment as provided in Section 12.2, a total of 1,874,513 Shares shall be authorized for grant under the Plan (the “Maximum Plan Shares”). Any Shares that are subject to Awards shall be counted against this limit as one (1) Share for every one (1) Share granted.

(b)          If any Shares subject to an Award are forfeited, an Award expires or an Award is settled for cash (in whole or in part), then in each such case the Shares subject to such Award shall, to the extent of such forfeiture, expiration or cash settlement, again be available for Awards under the Plan on a one-for-one basis. In the event that any Award granted hereunder is exercised through the tendering of Shares (either actually or by attestation) or by the withholding of Shares by the Company, then in each such case the Shares so tendered or withheld shall again be available for Awards under the Plan on a one-for-one basis. In addition, in the event that withholding tax liabilities arising from any Award are satisfied by the tendering of Shares (either actually or by attestation) or by the withholding of Shares by the Company, then in each such case the Shares so tendered or withheld shall again be available for Awards under the Plan on a one-for-one basis.

(c)          Substitute Awards shall not reduce the Shares authorized for grant under the Plan or the applicable limitations applicable to a Participant under Section 10.5, nor shall Shares subject to a Substitute Award again be available for Awards under the Plan as provided in paragraph (b) above. Additionally, in the event that a company acquired by the Company or any Subsidiary or with which the Company or any Subsidiary combines has shares available under a pre-existing plan approved by stockholders and not adopted in contemplation of such acquisition or combination, the shares available for grant pursuant to the terms of such pre-existing plan (as adjusted, to the extent appropriate, using the exchange ratio or other adjustment or valuation ratio or formula used in such acquisition or combination to determine the consideration payable to the holders of common stock of the entities party to such acquisition or combination) may be used for Awards under the Plan and shall not reduce the Shares authorized for grant under the Plan; provided that Awards using such available shares shall not be made after the date awards or grants could have been made under the terms of the pre-existing plan, absent the acquisition or combination, and shall only be made to individuals who were not Employees or Directors prior to such acquisition or combination.

32

3.2           Character of Shares. Any Shares issued hereunder may consist, in whole or in part, of authorized and unissued shares, treasury shares or shares purchased in the open market or otherwise.

4.ELIGIBILITY AND ADMINISTRATION

4.1           Eligibility. Any Employee, Director or Consultant shall be eligible to be selected as a Participant.

4.2           Administration. (a) The Plan shall be administered by the Committee. The Committee shall have full power andthem discretionary authority subject to the provisions of the Plan and subject to such orders or resolutions not inconsistent with the provisions of the Plan as may from time to time be adopted by the Board, to: (i) select the Employees, Directors and Consultants to whom Awards may from time to time be granted hereunder; (ii) determine the type or types of Awards to be granted to each Participant hereunder; (iii) determine the number of Shares (or dollar value) to be covered by each Award granted hereunder; (iv) determine the terms and conditions, not inconsistent with the provisions of the Plan, of any Award granted hereunder; (v) determine whether, to what extent and under what circumstances Awards may be settled in cash, Shares or other property; (vi) determine whether, to what extent, and under what circumstances cash, Shares, other property and other amounts payable with respect to an Award made under the Plan shall be deferred either automatically or at the election of the Participant; (vii) determine whether, to what extent and under what circumstances any Award shall be canceled or suspended; (viii) interpret and administer the Plan and any instrument or agreement entered into under or in connection with the Plan, including any Award Agreement; (ix) correct any defect, supply any omission or reconcile any inconsistency in the Plan or any Award in the manner and to the extent that the Committee shall deem desirable to carry it into effect; (x) establish such rules and regulations and appoint such agents as it shall deem appropriate for the proper administration of the Plan; (xi) determine whether any Award, other than an Option or Stock Appreciation Right, will have Dividend Equivalents; and (xii) make any other determination and take any other action that the Committee deems necessary or desirable for the administration of the Plan.

(b)          Decisions of the Committee shall be final, conclusive and binding on all persons or entities, including the Company, any Participant, and any Subsidiary. A majority of the members of the Committee may determine its actions, including fixing the time and place of its meetings.

33

(c)          To the extent not inconsistent with applicable law, including Section 162(m) of the Code with respect to Awards intended to comply with the performance-based compensation exception under Section 162(m), or the rules and regulations of the principal U.S. national securities exchange on which the Shares are traded, if any, the Committee may (i) delegate to a committee of one or more directors of the Company any of the authority of the Committee under the Plan, including the right to grant, cancel or suspend Awards and (ii) to the extent permitted by law, authorize one or more executive officers to do one or more of the following with respect to Employees who are not directors or executive officers of the Company: (A) designate Employees (including officers) to be recipients of Awards, (B) determine the number of Shares subject to such Awards to be received by such Employees and (C) cancel or suspend Awards to such Employees; provided that (x) any resolution of the Committee authorizing such officer(s) must specify the total number of Shares subject to Awards that such officer(s) may so award and (y) the Committee may not authorize any officer to designate himself or herself as the recipient of an Award.

5.OPTIONS

5.1           Grant of Options. Options may be granted hereunder to Participants either alone or in addition to other Awards granted under the Plan. Any Option shall be subject to the terms and conditions of this Article and to such additional terms and conditions, not inconsistent with the provisions of the Plan, as the Committee shall deem desirable.

5.2           Award Agreements. All Options shall be evidenced by an Award Agreement in such form and containing such terms and conditions as the Committee shall determine which are not inconsistent with the provisions of the Plan. The terms and conditions of Options need not be the same with respect to each Participant. Granting an Option pursuant to the Plan shall impose no obligation on the recipient to exercise such Option. Any Participant who is granted an Option pursuant to this Article may hold more than one Option granted pursuant to the Plan at the same time.

5.3           Option Price. Other than in connection with Substitute Awards, the option price per Share purchasable under any Option granted pursuant to this Article shall not be less than 100% of the Fair Market Value of one Share on the date of grant of such Option; provided, however, that in the case of an Incentive Stock Option granted to a Participant who, at the time of the grant, owns stock representing more than 10% of the voting power of all classes of stock of the Company or any Subsidiary, the option price per share shall be no less than 110% of the Fair Market Value of one Share on the date of grant. Other than pursuant to Section 12.2, the Committee shall not without the approval of the Company’s stockholders (a) lower the option price per Share of an Option after it is granted, (b) cancel an Option in exchange for cash or another Award (other than in connection with a Change in Control as defined in Section 11.3), or (c) take any other action with respect to an Option that would be treated as a repricing under the rules and regulations of the principal U.S. national securities exchange on which the Shares are traded, if any.

34

5.4           Option Term. The term of each Option shall be fixed by the Committee in its sole discretion; provided that no Option shall be exercisable after the expiration of ten (10) years from the date the Option is granted, except in the event of death or disability; provided, however, that the term of the Option shall not exceed five (5) years from the date the Option is granted in the case of an Incentive Stock Option granted to a Participant who, at the time of the grant, owns stock representing more than 10% of the voting power of all classes of stock of the Company or any Subsidiary. Notwithstanding the foregoing, in the event that on the last business day of the term of an Option (i) the exercise of the Option, other than an Incentive Stock Option, is prohibited by applicable law or (ii) Shares may not be purchased or sold by certain employees or directors of the Company due to the “black-out period” of a Company policy or a “lock-up” agreement undertaken in connection with an issuance of securities by the Company, the term shall be extended for a period of thirty (30) days following the end of the legal prohibition, black-out period or lock-up agreement.

5.5           Exercise of Options. (a) Vested Options granted under the Plan shall be exercised by the Participant (or by a Permitted Assignee thereof or the Participant’s executors, administrators, guardian or legal representative, as may be provided in an Award Agreement) as to all or part of the Shares covered thereby, by giving notice of exercise to the Company or its designated agent, specifying the number of Shares to be purchased. The notice of exercise shall be in such form, made in such manner, and shall comply with such other requirements consistent with the provisions of the Plan as the Committee may prescribe from time to time.

(b)          Unless otherwise provided in an Award Agreement, full payment of such purchase price shall be made at the time of exercise and shall be made (i) in cash or cash equivalents (including certified check or bank check or wire transfer of immediately available funds), (ii) by tendering previously acquired Shares (either actually or by attestation) valued at their then Fair Market Value, (iii) with the consent of the Committee, by delivery of other consideration having a Fair Market Value on the exercise date equal to the total purchase price, (iv) with the consent of the Committee, by withholding Shares otherwise issuable in connection with the exercise of the Option, (v) through any other method specified in an Award Agreement (including same-day sales through a broker), or (vi) any combination of any of the foregoing. The notice of exercise, accompanied by such payment, shall be delivered to the Company at its principal business office or such other office as the Committee may from time to time direct, and shall be in such form, containing such further provisions consistent with the provisions of the Plan, as the Committee may from time to time prescribe. In no event may any Option granted hereunder be exercised for a fraction of a Share.

(c)          Notwithstanding the foregoing, an Award Agreement may provide that if on the last day of the term of an Option the Fair Market Value of one Share exceeds the option price per Share, the Participant has not exercised the Option (or a tandem Stock Appreciation Right, if applicable) and the Option has not expired, the Option shall be deemed to have been exercised by the Participant on such day with payment made by withholding Shares otherwise issuable in connection with the exercise of the Option. In such event, the Company shall deliver to the Participant the number of Shares for which the Option was deemed exercised, less the number of Shares required to be withheld for the payment of the total purchase price and required withholding taxes; provided, however, any fractional Share shall be settled in cash.

5.6           Form of Settlement. In its sole discretion, the Committee may provide that the Shares to be issued upon an Option’s exercise shall be in the form of Restricted Stock or other similar securities.

35

5.7           Incentive Stock Options.The Committee may grant Incentive Stock Options to any Employee subject to the requirements of Section 422 of the Code. Solely for purposes of determining whether Shares are available for the grant of Incentive Stock Options under the Plan, the maximum aggregate number of Shares that may be issued pursuant to Incentive Stock Options granted under the Plan shall be the Maximum Plan Shares, subject to adjustment as provided in Section 12.2.

6.STOCK APPRECIATION RIGHTS

6.1           Grant and Exercise. The Committee may grant Stock Appreciation Rights (a) in tandem with all or part of any Option granted under the Plan or at any subsequent time during the term of such Option, (b) in tandem with all or part of any Award (other than an Option) granted under the Plan or at any subsequent time during the term of such Award, or (c) without regard to any Option or other Award in each case upon such terms and conditions as the Committee may establish in its sole discretion.

6.2           Terms and Conditions. Stock Appreciation Rights shall be subject to such terms and conditions, not inconsistent with the provisions of the Plan, as shall be determined from time to time by the Committee, including the following:

(a)           Upon the exercise of a Stock Appreciation Right, the holder shall have the right to receive the excess of (i) the Fair Market Value of one Share on the date of exercise (or such amount less than such Fair Market Value as the Committee shall so determine at any time during a specified period before the date of exercise) over (ii) the grant price of the Stock Appreciation Right.

(b)          The Committee shall determine in its sole discretion whether payment on exercise of a Stock Appreciation Right shall be made in cash, in whole Shares or other property, or any combination thereof.

(c)          The terms and conditions of Stock Appreciation Rights need not be the same with respect to each recipient.

(d)          The Committee may impose such other terms and conditions on the exercise of any Stock Appreciation Right as it shall deem appropriate. A Stock Appreciation Right shall (i) have a grant price per Share of not less than the Fair Market Value of one Share on the date of grant or, if applicable, on the date of grant of an Option with respect to a Stock Appreciation Right granted in exchange for or in tandem with, but subsequent to, the Option (subject to the requirements of Section 409A of the Code) except in the case of Substitute Awards or in connection with an adjustment provided in Section 12.2, and (ii) have a term not greater than ten (10) years, except in the event of death or disability. Notwithstanding clause (ii) of the preceding sentence, in the event that on the last business day of the term of a Stock Appreciation Right (x) the exercise of the Stock Appreciation Right is prohibited by applicable law or (y) Shares may not be purchased or sold by certain employees or directors of the Company due to the “black-out period” of a Company policy or a “lock-up” agreement undertaken in connection with an issuance of securities by the Company, the term shall be extended for a period of thirty (30) days following the end of the legal prohibition, black-out period or lock-up agreement.

36

(e)           An Award Agreement may provide that if on the last day of the term of a Stock Appreciation Right the Fair Market Value of one Share exceeds the grant price per Share of the Stock Appreciation Right, the Participant has not exercised the Stock Appreciation Right or the tandem Option (if applicable), and the Stock Appreciation Right has not expired, the Stock Appreciation Right shall be deemed to have been exercised by the Participant on such day. In such event, the Company shall make payment to the Participant in accordance with this Section, reduced by the number of Shares (or cash) required for withholding taxes; provided, however, any fractional Share shall be settled in cash.

(f)           Without the approval of the Company’s stockholders, other than pursuant to Section 12.2, the Committee shall not (i) reduce the grant price of any Stock Appreciation Right after the date of grant, (ii) cancel any Stock Appreciation Right in exchange for cash or another Award (other than in connection with a Change in Control as defined in Section 11.3), or (iii) take any other action with respect to a Stock Appreciation Right that would be treated as a repricing under the rules and regulations of the principal U.S. national securities exchange on which the Shares are traded, if any.

7.RESTRICTED STOCK AND RESTRICTED STOCK UNITS

7.1           Grants. Awards of Restricted Stock and of Restricted Stock Units may be granted hereunder to Participants either alone or in addition to other Awards granted under the Plan (a “Restricted Stock Award” or “Restricted Stock Unit Award” respectively), and such Restricted Stock Awards and Restricted Stock Unit Awards shall also be available as a form of payment of Performance Awards and other earned cash-based incentive compensation. The Committee has absolute discretion to determine whether any consideration (other than services) is to be received by the Company or any Subsidiary as a condition precedent to the grant of Restricted Stock or Restricted Stock Units, subject to such minimum consideration as may be required by applicable law.

7.2           Award Agreements. The terms of any Restricted Stock Award or Restricted Stock Unit Award granted under the Plan shall be set forth in an Award Agreement which shall contain provisions determined by the Committee and not inconsistent with the Plan. The terms of Restricted Stock Awards and Restricted Stock Unit Awards need not be the same with respect to each Participant.

7.3           Rights of Holders of Restricted Stock and Restricted Stock Units.Unless otherwise provided in the Award Agreement, beginning on the date of grant of the Restricted Stock Award and subject to execution of the Award Agreement, the Participant shall become a stockholder of the Company with respect to all Shares subject to the Award Agreement and shall have all of the rights of a stockholder, including the right to vote such Shares and the right to receive distributions made with respect to such Shares. A Participant who holds a Restricted Stock Unit Award shall only have those rights specifically provided for in the Award Agreement; provided, however, in no event shall the Participant have voting rights with respect to such Award. Except as otherwise provided in an Award Agreement, any Shares or any other property distributed as a dividend or otherwise with respect to any Restricted Stock Award or Restricted Stock Unit Award as to which the restrictions have not yet lapsed shall be subject to the same restrictions as such Restricted Stock Award or Restricted Stock Unit Award. Notwithstanding the provisions of this Section, cash dividends, stock and any other property (other than cash) distributed as a dividend or otherwise with respect to any Restricted Stock Award or Restricted Stock Unit Award that vests based on achievement of performance goals shall either (i) not be paid or credited or (ii) be accumulated, shall be subject to restrictions and risk of forfeiture to the same extent as the Restricted Stock or Restricted Stock Units with respect to which such cash, stock or other property has been distributed and shall be paid at the time such restrictions and risk of forfeiture lapse.

37

7.4           Issuance of Shares. Any Restricted Stock granted under the Plan may be evidenced in such manner as the Board may deem appropriate, including book-entry registration or issuance of a stock certificate or certificates, which certificate or certificates shall be held by the Company. Such book entry registration, certificate or certificates shall be registered in the name of the Participant and shall bear an appropriate legend referring to the restrictions applicable to such Restricted Stock.

8.OTHER SHARE-BASED AWARDS

8.1           Grants. Other Awards of Shares and other Awards that are valued in whole or in part by reference to, or are otherwise based on, Shares or other property (“Other Share-Based Awards”), including deferred stock units, may be granted hereunder to Participants either alone or in addition to other Awards granted under the Plan. Other Share-Based Awards shall also be available as a form of payment of other Awards granted under the Plan and other earned cash-based compensation.

8.2           Award Agreements. The terms of Other Share-Based Awards granted under the Plan shall be set forth in an Award Agreement which shall contain provisions determined by the Committee and not inconsistent with the Plan. The terms of such Awards need not be the same with respect to each Participant. Notwithstanding the provisions of this Section, Dividend Equivalents with respect to the Shares covered by an Other Share-Based Award that vests based on achievement of performance goals shall be subject to restrictions and risk of forfeiture to the same extent as the Shares covered by an Other Share-Based Award with respect to which such cash, stock or other property has been distributed.

8.3           Payment. Except as may be provided in an Award Agreement, Other Share-Based Awards may be paid in cash, Shares, other property, or any combination thereof, in the sole discretion of the Committee. Other Share-Based Awards may be paid in a lump sum or in installments or, in accordance with procedures established by the Committee, on a deferred basis subject to the requirements of Section 409A of the Code.

8.4           Deferral of Director Fees. Directors shall, if determined by the Board, receive Other Share-Based Awards in the form of deferred stock units in lieu of all or a portion of their annual retainer. In addition Directors may elect to receive Other Share-Based Awards in the form of deferred stock units in lieu of all or a portion of their annual and committee retainers and annual meeting fees, provided that such election is made in accordance with the requirements of Section 409A of the Code. The Committee shall, in its absolute discretion, establish such rules and procedures as it deems appropriate for such elections and for payment in deferred stock units.

38

9.PERFORMANCE AWARDS

9.1           Grants. Performance Awards in the form of Performance Cash, Performance Shares or Performance Units, as determined by the Committee in its sole discretion, may be granted hereunder to Participants, for no consideration or for such minimum consideration as may be required by applicable law, either alone or in addition to other Awards granted under the Plan. The performance goals to be achieved for each Performance Period shall be conclusively determined by the Committee and may be based upon the criteria set forth in Section 10.2 or such other criteria as determined by the Committee in its discretion.

9.2           Award Agreements.The terms of any Performance Award granted under the Plan shall be set forth in an Award Agreement (or, if applicable, in a resolution duly adopted by the Committee) which shall contain provisions determined by the Committee and not inconsistent with the Plan, including whether such Awards shall have Dividend Equivalents. The terms of Performance Awards need not be the same with respect to each Participant.

9.3           Terms and Conditions. The performance criteria to be achieved during any Performance Period and the length of the Performance Period shall be determined by the Committee upon the grant of each Performance Award. The amount of the Award to be distributed shall be conclusively determined by the Committee.

9.4           Payment.Except as provided in Article 11, as provided by the Committee or as may be provided in an Award Agreement, Performance Awards will be distributed only after the end of the relevant Performance Period. Performance Awards may be paid in cash, Shares, other property, or any combination thereof, in the sole discretion of the Committee. Performance Awards may be paid in a lump sum or in installments following the close of the Performance Period or, in accordance with procedures established by the Committee, on a deferred basis subject to the requirements of Section 409A of the Code.

10.CODE SECTION 162(m) PROVISIONS

10.1         Covered Employees. Notwithstanding any other provision of the Plan, if the Committee determines at the time a Restricted Stock Award, a Restricted Stock Unit Award, a Performance Award or an Other Share-Based Award is granted to a Participant who is, or is likely to be, as of the end of the tax year in which the Company would claim a tax deduction in connection with such Award, a Covered Employee, then the Committee may provide that this Article 10 is applicable to such Award.

39

10.2         Performance Criteria. If the Committee determines that a Restricted Stock Award, a Restricted Stock Unit, a Performance Award or an Other Share-Based Award is intended to be subject to this Article 10, the lapsing of restrictions thereon and the distribution of cash, Shares or other property pursuant thereto, as applicable, shall be subject to the achievement of one or more objective performance goals established by the Committee, which shall be based on the attainment of specified levels of one or any combination of the following: net sales; revenue; revenue growth or product revenue growth; operating income (before or after taxes); pre- or after-tax income or loss (before or after allocation of corporate overhead and bonus); earnings or loss per share; net income or loss (before or after taxes); return on equity; total stockholder return; return on assets or net assets; appreciation in and/or maintenance of the price of the Shares or any other publicly-traded securities of the Company; market share; gross profits; earnings or losses (including earnings or losses before taxes, before interest and taxes, or before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization); economic value-added models or equivalent metrics; comparisons with various stock market indices; reductions in costs; cash flow or cash flow per share (before or after dividends); return on capital (including return on total capital or return on invested capital); cash flow return on investment; improvement in or attainment of expense levels or working capital levels, including cash, inventory and accounts receivable; operating margin; gross margin; year-end cash; cash margin; debt reduction; stockholders equity; operating efficiencies; market share; customer satisfaction; customer growth; employee satisfaction; regulatory achievements (including submitting or filing applications or other documents with regulatory authorities or receiving approval of any such applications or other documents and passing pre-approval inspections (whether of the Company or the Company’s third-party manufacturer) and validation of manufacturing processes (whether the Company’s or the Company’s third-party manufacturer’s)); strategic partnerships or transactions (including in-licensing and out-licensing of intellectual property); establishing relationships with commercial entities with respect to the marketing, distribution and sale of the Company’s products (including with group purchasing organizations, distributors and other vendors); supply chain achievements (including establishing relationships with manufacturers or suppliers of component materials and manufacturers of the Company’s products); co-development, co-marketing, profit sharing, joint venture or other similar arrangements; financial ratios, including those measuring liquidity, activity, profitability or leverage; cost of capital or assets under management; financing and other capital raising transactions (including sales of the Company’s equity or debt securities, factoring transactions, sales or licenses of the Company’s assets, including its intellectual property, whether in a particular jurisdiction or territory or globally, or through partnering transactions); implementation, completion or attainment of measurable objectives with respect to research, development, manufacturing, commercialization, products or projects, production volume levels, acquisitions and divestitures; and recruiting and maintaining personnel. Such performance goals also may be based solely by reference to the Company’s performance or the performance of a Subsidiary, division, business segment or business unit of the Company, or based upon the relative performance of other companies or upon comparisons of any of the indicators of performance relative to other companies. The Committee may also exclude charges related to an event or occurrence which the Committee determines should appropriately be excluded, including (a) restructurings, discontinued operations, extraordinary items, and other unusual or non-recurring charges, (b) an event either not directly related to the operations of the Company or not within the reasonable control of the Company’s management, or (c) the cumulative effects of tax or accounting changes in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. Such performance goals shall be set by the Committee within the time period prescribed by, and shall otherwise comply with the requirements of, Section 162(m) of the Code, and the regulations thereunder.

40

10.3         Adjustments. Notwithstanding any provision of the Plan (other than Article 11), with respect to any Restricted Stock Award, Restricted Stock Unit Award, Performance Award or Other Share-Based Award that is subject to this Section 10, the Committee may adjust downwards, but not upwards, the amount payable pursuant to such Award, and the Committee may not waive the achievement of the applicable performance goals except in the case of the death or disability of the Participant or as otherwise determined by the Committee in special circumstances.

10.4         Restrictions. The Committee shall have the power to impose such other restrictions on Awards subject to this Article as it may deem necessary or appropriate to ensure that such Awards satisfy all requirements for “performance-based compensation” within the meaning of Section 162(m) of the Code.

10.5         Limitations on Grants to Individual Participants. Subject to adjustment as provided in Section 12.2, no Participant may (i) be granted Options or Stock Appreciation Rights during any 12-month period with respect to more than 35% of the Maximum Plan Shares and (ii) earn more than 35% of the Maximum Plan Shares for each twelve (12) months in the vesting period or Performance Period with respect to Restricted Stock Awards, Restricted Stock Unit Awards, Performance Awards and/or Other Share-Based Awards that are intended to comply with the performance-based exception under Code Section 162(m) and are denominated in Shares (provided that any Shares that would have been earned after such twelve (12) month period that are earned due to an acceleration as a result of a Change in Control of the Company shall not count against such limitation). In addition to the foregoing, the maximum dollar value that may be earned by any Participant for each twelve (12) months in a Performance Period with respect to Performance Awards that are intended to comply with the performance-based exception under Code Section 162(m) and are denominated in cash is $2,000,000 (provided that any amount that would have been earned after such twelve (12) month period that is earned due to an acceleration as a result of a Change in Control of the Company shall not count against such limitation). If an Award is cancelled, the cancelled Award shall continue to be counted toward the applicable limitation in this Section.

11.CHANGE IN CONTROL PROVISIONS

11.1         Impact on Certain Awards. Award Agreements may provide that in the event of a Change in Control of the Company (as defined in Section 11.3): (i) Options and Stock Appreciation Rights outstanding as of the date of the Change in Control shall be cancelled and terminated without payment if the Fair Market Value of one Share as of the date of the Change in Control is less than the per Share Option exercise price or Stock Appreciation Right grant price, and (ii) all Performance Awards shall be (x) considered to be earned and payable based on achievement of performance goals or based on target performance (either in full or pro rata based on the portion of Performance Period completed as of the date of the Change in Control), and any limitations or other restrictions shall lapse and such Performance Awards shall be immediately settled or distributed or (y) converted into Restricted Stock Awards or Restricted Stock Unit Awards based on achievement of performance goals or based on target performance (either in full or pro rata based on the portion of Performance Period completed as of the date of the Change in Control) that are subject to Section 11.2.

41

11.2         Assumption or Substitution of Certain Awards. (a) Unless otherwise provided in an Award Agreement, in the event of a Change in Control of the Company in which the successor company assumes or substitutes for an Option, Stock Appreciation Right, Restricted Stock Award, Restricted Stock Unit Award or Other Share-Based Award (or in which the Company is the ultimate parent corporation and continues the Award), if a Participant’s employment with such successor company (or the Company) or a subsidiary thereof terminates within 12 months following such Change in Control (or such other period set forth in the Award Agreement, including prior thereto if applicable) and under the circumstances specified in the Award Agreement: (i) Options and Stock Appreciation Rights outstanding as of the date of such termination of employment will immediately vest, become fully exercisable, and may thereafter be exercised for 12 months (or the period of time set forth in the Award Agreement), (ii) the restrictions, limitations and other conditions applicable to Restricted Stock and Restricted Stock Units outstanding as of the date of such termination of employment shall lapse and the Restricted Stock and Restricted Stock Units shall become free of all restrictions, limitations and conditions and become fully vested, and (iii) the restrictions, limitations and other conditions applicable to any Other Share-Based Awards or any other Awards shall lapse, and such Other Share-Based Awards or such other Awards shall become free of all restrictions, limitations and conditions and become fully vested and transferable to the full extent of the original grant. For the purposes of this Section 11.2, an Option, Stock Appreciation Right, Restricted Stock Award, Restricted Stock Unit Award or Other Share-Based Award shall be considered assumed or substituted for if following the Change in Control the Award confers the right to purchase or receive, for each Share subject to the Option, Stock Appreciation Right, Restricted Stock Award, Restricted Stock Unit Award or Other Share-Based Award immediately prior to the Change in Control, the consideration (whether stock, cash or other securities or property) received in the transaction constituting a Change in Control by holders of Shares for each Share held on the effective date of such transaction (and if holders were offered a choice of consideration, the type of consideration chosen by the holders of a majority of the outstanding Shares); provided, however, that if such consideration received in the transaction constituting a Change in Control is not solely common stock of the successor company, the Committee may, with the consent of the successor company, provide that the consideration to be received upon the exercise or vesting of an Option, Stock Appreciation Right, Restricted Stock Award, Restricted Stock Unit Award or Other Share-Based Award, for each Share subject thereto, will be solely common stock of the successor company substantially equal in fair market value to the per Share consideration received by holders of Shares in the transaction constituting a Change in Control. The determination of such substantial equality of value of consideration shall be made by the Committee in its sole discretion and its determination shall be conclusive and binding.

(b)          Unless otherwise provided in an Award Agreement, in the event of a Change in Control of the Company to the extent the successor company does not assume or substitute for an Option, Stock Appreciation Right, Restricted Stock Award, Restricted Stock Unit Award or Other Share-Based Award (or in which the Company is the ultimate parent corporation and does not continue the Award), then immediately prior to the Change in Control: (i) those Options and Stock Appreciation Rights outstanding as of the date of the Change in Control that are not assumed or substituted for (or continued) shall immediately vest and become fully exercisable, (ii) restrictions, limitations and other conditions applicable to Restricted Stock and Restricted Stock Units that are not assumed or substituted for (or continued) shall lapse and the Restricted Stock and Restricted Stock Units shall become free of all restrictions, limitations and conditions and become fully vested, and (iii) the restrictions, other limitations and other conditions applicable to any Other Share-Based Awards or any other Awards that are not assumed or substituted for (or continued) shall lapse, and such Other Share-Based Awards or such other Awards shall become free of all restrictions, limitations and conditions and become fully vested and transferable to the full extent of the original grant.

42

(c)          The Committee, in its discretion, may determine that, upon the occurrence of a Change in Control of the Company, each Option and Stock Appreciation Right outstanding shall terminate within a specified number of days after notice to the Participant, and/or that each Participant shall receive, with respect to each Share subject to such Option or Stock Appreciation Right, an amount equal to the excess of the Fair Market Value of such Share immediately prior to the occurrence of such Change in Control over the exercise price per Share of such Option and/or Stock Appreciation Right; such amount to be payable in cash, in one or more kinds of stock or property (including the stock or property, if any, payable in the transaction) or in a combination thereof, as the Committee, in its discretion, shall determine.

11.3         Change in Control. For purposes of the Plan, unless otherwise provided in an Award Agreement, “Change in Control” means the occurrence of any one of the following events:

(a)          During any 12-month period, individuals who, as of the beginning of such period, constitute the Board (the “Incumbent Directors”) cease for any reason to constitute at least a majority of the Board, provided that any person becoming a director subsequent to the beginning of such period whose election or nomination for election was approved by a vote of at least a majority of the Incumbent Directors then on the Board (either by a specific vote or by approval of the proxy statement of the Company in which such person is named as a nominee for director, without written objection to such nomination) shall be an Incumbent Director;provided,however, that no individual initially elected or nominated as a director of the Company as a result of an actual or threatened election contest with respect to directors or as a result of any other actual or threatened solicitation of proxies by or on behalf of any person other than the Board shall be deemed to be an Incumbent Director;

(b)          Any “person” (as such term is defined in the Exchange Act and as used in Sections 13(d)(3) and 14(d)(2) of the Exchange Act) is or becomes a “beneficial owner” (as defined in Rule 13d-3 under the Exchange Act), directly or indirectly, of securities of the Company representing 50% or more of the combined voting power of the Company’s then outstanding securities eligible to vote for the election of the Board (the “Company Voting Securities”);provided,however, that the event described in this paragraph (b) shall not be deemed to be a Change in Control by virtue of any of the following acquisitions:  (i) by the Company or any Subsidiary, (ii) by any employee benefit plan (or related trust) sponsored or maintained by the Company or any Subsidiary, (iii) by any underwriter temporarily holding securities pursuant to an offering of such securities, (iv) pursuant to a Non-Qualifying Transaction, as defined in paragraph (c), or (v) by any person of Voting Securities from the Company, if a majority of the Incumbent Board approves in advance the acquisition of beneficial ownership of 50% or more of Company Voting Securities by such person;

43

(c)          The consummation of a merger, consolidation, statutory share exchange or similar form of corporate transaction involving the Company or any of its Subsidiaries that requires the approval of the Company’s stockholders, whether for such transaction or the issuance of securities in the transaction (a “Business Combination”), unless immediately following such Business Combination: (i) more than 50% of the total voting power of (A) the corporation resulting from such Business Combination (the “Surviving Corporation”), or (B) if applicable, the ultimate parent corporation that directly or indirectly has beneficial ownership of 100% of the voting securities eligible to elect directors of the Surviving Corporation (the “Parent Corporation”), is represented by Company Voting Securities that were outstanding immediately prior to such Business Combination (or, if applicable, is represented by shares into which such Company Voting Securities were converted pursuant to such Business Combination), and such voting power among the holders thereof is in substantially the same proportion as the voting power of such Company Voting Securities among the holders thereof immediately prior to the Business Combination, (ii) no person (other than any employee benefit plan (or related trust) sponsored or maintained by the Surviving Corporation or the Parent Corporation), is or becomes the beneficial owner, directly or indirectly, of 50% or more of the total voting power of the outstanding voting securities eligible to elect directors of the Parent Corporation (or, if there is no Parent Corporation, the Surviving Corporation) and (iii) at least a majority of the members of the board of directors of the Parent Corporation (or, if there is no Parent Corporation, the Surviving Corporation) following the consummation of the Business Combination were Incumbent Directors at the time of the Board’s approval of the execution of the initial agreement providing for such Business Combination (any Business Combination which satisfies all of the criteria specified in (i), (ii) and (iii) above shall be deemed to be a “Non-Qualifying Transaction”); or

(d)          The stockholders of the Company approve a plan of complete liquidation or dissolution of the Company or the consummation of a sale of all or substantially all of the Company’s assets.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, a Change in Control shall not be deemed to occur solely because any person acquires beneficial ownership of more than 50% of the Company Voting Securities as a result of the acquisition of Company Voting Securities by the Company which reduces the number of Company Voting Securities outstanding;provided,that if after such acquisition by the Company such person becomes the beneficial owner of additional Company Voting Securities that increases the percentage of outstanding Company Voting Securities beneficially owned by such person, a Change in Control of the Company shall then occur.

12.GENERALLY APPLICABLE PROVISIONS

12.1         Amendment and Termination of the Plan. The Board may, from time to time, alter, amend, suspend or terminate the Plan as it shall deem advisable, subject to any requirement for stockholder approval imposed by applicable law, including the rules and regulations of the principal U.S. national securities exchange on which the Shares are traded, if any; provided that the Board may not amend the Plan in any manner that would result in noncompliance with Rule 16b-3 under the Exchange Act; and further provided that the Board may not, without the approval of the Company’s stockholders, amend the Plan to (a) increase the number of Shares that may be the subject of Awards under the Plan (except for adjustments pursuant to Section 12.2), (b) expand the types of awards available under the Plan, (c) materially expand the class of persons eligible to participate in the Plan, (d) amend Section 5.3 or Section 6.2(f) to eliminate the requirements relating to minimum exercise price, minimum grant price and stockholder approval, (e) increase the maximum permissible term of any Option specified by Section 5.4 or the maximum permissible term of a Stock Appreciation Right specified by Section 6.2(d), or (f) increase any of the limitations in Section 10.5. The Board may not (except pursuant to Section 12.2 or in connection with a Change in Control), without the approval of the Company’s stockholders, cancel an Option or Stock Appreciation Right in exchange for cash or take any action with respect to an Option or Stock Appreciation Right that would be treated as a repricing under the rules and regulations of the principal U.S. national securities exchange on which the Shares are traded, if any, including a reduction of the exercise price of an Option or the grant price of a Stock Appreciation Right or the exchange of an Option or Stock Appreciation Right for another Award. In addition, no amendments to, or termination of, the Plan shall impair the rights of a Participant in any material respect under any Award previously granted without such Participant’s consent.

44

12.2         Adjustments. In the event of any merger, reorganization, consolidation, recapitalization, dividend or distribution (whether in cash, shares or other property, other than a regular cash dividend), stock split, reverse stock split, spin-off or similar transaction or other change in corporate structure affecting the Shares or the value thereof, such adjustments and other substitutions shall be made to the Plan and to Awards as the Committee deems equitable or appropriate taking into consideration the accounting and tax consequences, including such adjustments in the aggregate number, class and kind of securities that may be delivered under the Plan, the limitations in Section 10.5 (other than to Awards denominated in cash), the maximum number of Shares that may be issued pursuant to Incentive Stock Options and, in the aggregate or to any Participant, in the number, class, kind and option or exercise price of securities subject to outstanding Awards granted under the Plan (including, if the Committee deems appropriate, the substitution of similar options to purchase the shares of, or other awards denominated in the shares of, another company) as the Committee may determine to be appropriate; provided, however, that the number of Shares subject to any Award shall always be a whole number.

12.3         Transferability of Awards. Except as provided below, no Award and no Shares that have not been issued or as to which any applicable restriction, performance or deferral period has not lapsed, may be sold, assigned, transferred, pledged or otherwise encumbered, other than by will or the laws of descent and distribution, and such Award may be exercised during the life of the Participant only by the Participant or the Participant’s guardian or legal representative. To the extent and under such terms and conditions as determined by the Committee, a Participant may assign or transfer an Award without consideration (each transferee thereof, a “Permitted Assignee”) (i) to the Participant’s spouse, children or grandchildren (including any adopted and step children or grandchildren), parents, grandparents or siblings, (ii) to a trust for the benefit of one or more of the Participant or the persons referred to in clause (i), (iii) to a partnership, limited liability company or corporation in which the Participant or the persons referred to in clause (i) are the only partners, members or shareholders or (iv) for charitable donations; provided that such Permitted Assignee shall be bound by and subject to all of the terms and conditions of the Plan and the Award Agreement relating to the transferred Award and shall execute an agreement satisfactory to the Company evidencing such obligations; and provided further that such Participant shall remain bound by the terms and conditions of the Plan. The Company shall cooperate with any Permitted Assignee and the Company’s transfer agent in effectuating any transfer permitted under this Section.

45

12.4         Termination of Employment or Services. The Committee shall determine and set forth in each Award Agreement whether any Awards granted in such Award Agreement will continue to be exercisable, continue to vest or be earned and the terms of such exercise, vesting or earning, on and after the date that a Participant ceases to be employed by or to provide services to the Company or any Subsidiary (including as a Director), whether by reason of death, disability, voluntary or involuntary termination of employment or services, or otherwise. The date of termination of a Participant’s employment or services will be determined by the Committee, which determination will be final.

12.5         Deferral;Dividend Equivalents. The Committee shall be authorized to establish procedures pursuant to which the payment of any Award may be deferred. Subject to the provisions of the Plan and any Award Agreement, the recipient of an Award other than an Option or Stock Appreciation Right may, if so determined by the Committee, be entitled to receive, currently or on a deferred basis, amounts equivalent to cash, stock or other property dividends on Shares (“Dividend Equivalents”) with respect to the number of Shares covered by the Award, as determined by the Committee, in its sole discretion. The Committee may provide that the Dividend Equivalents (if any) shall be deemed to have been reinvested in additional Shares or otherwise reinvested and may provide that the Dividend Equivalents are subject to the same vesting or performance conditions as the underlying Award. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Dividend Equivalents credited in connection with an Award that vests based on the achievement of performance goals shall be subject to restrictions and risk of forfeiture to the same extent as the Award with respect to which such Dividend Equivalents have been credited.

13.MISCELLANEOUS

13.1         Award Agreements. Each Award Agreement shall either be (a) in writing in a form approved by the Committee and executed by the Company by an officer duly authorized to act on its behalf, or (b) an electronic notice in a form approved by the Committee and recorded by the Company (or its designee) in an electronic recordkeeping system used for the purpose of tracking one or more types of Awards as the Committee may provide; in each case and if required by the Committee, the Award Agreement shall be executed or otherwise electronically accepted by the recipient of the Award in such form and manner as the Committee may require. The Committee may authorize any officer of the Company to execute any or all Award Agreements on behalf of the Company. The Award Agreement shall set forth the material terms and conditions of the Award as established by the Committee consistent with the provisions of the Plan.

13.2         Tax Withholding. The Company shall have the right to make all payments or distributions pursuant to the Plan to a Participant (or a Permitted Assignee thereof) net of any applicable federal, state and local taxes required to be paid or withheld as a result of (a) the grant of any Award, (b) the exercise of an Option or Stock Appreciation Right, (c) the delivery of Shares or cash, (d) the lapse of any restrictions in connection with any Award or (e) any other event occurring pursuant to the Plan. The Company or any Subsidiary shall have the right to withhold from wages or other amounts otherwise payable to a Participant (or Permitted Assignee) such withholding taxes as may be required by law, or to otherwise require the Participant (or Permitted Assignee) to pay such withholding taxes. If the Participant (or Permitted Assignee) shall fail to make such tax payments as are required, the Company or its Subsidiaries shall, to the extent permitted by law, have the right to deduct any such taxes from any payment of any kind otherwise due to such Participant (or Permitted Assignee) or to take such other action as may be necessary to satisfy such withholding obligations. The Committee shall be authorized to establish procedures for election by Participants (or Permitted Assignee) to satisfy such obligation for the payment of such taxes by tendering previously acquired Shares (either actually or by attestation, valued at their then Fair Market Value), or by directing the Company to retain Shares (up to the minimum required tax withholding rate for the Participant (or Permitted Assignee) or such other rate, including a higher rate specified by the Participant, that will not cause an adverse accounting consequence or cost) otherwise deliverable in connection with the Award.

46

13.3         Right of Discharge Reserved; Claims to Awards. Nothing in the Plan nor the grant of an Award hereunder shall confer upon any Employee, Director or Consultant the right to continue in the employment or service of the Company or any Subsidiary or affect any right that the Company or any Subsidiary may have to terminate the employment or service of (or to demote or to exclude from future Awards under the Plan) any such Employee, Director or Consultant at any time for any reason. The Company shall not be liable for the loss of existing or potential profit from an Award granted in the event of termination of an employment or other relationship. No Employee, Director or Consultant shall have any claim to be granted any Award under the Plan, and there is no obligation for uniformity of treatment of Employees, Directors or Consultants under the Plan.

13.4         Substitute Awards. Notwithstanding any other provision of the Plan, the terms of Substitute Awards may vary from the terms set forth in the Plan to the extent the Committee deems appropriate to conform, in whole or in part, to the provisions of the awards in substitution for which they are granted.

13.5         Cancellation of Award; Forfeiture of Gain. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained herein, an Award Agreement may provide that:

(a)          In the event of a restatement of the Company’s financial statements, the Committee shall have the right to review any Award, the amount, payment or vesting of which was based on an entry in the financial statements that are the subject of the restatement. If the Committee determines, based on the results of the restatement, that a lesser amount or portion of an Award should have been paid or vested, it may (i) cancel all or any portion of any outstanding Awards and (ii) require the Participant or other person to whom any payment has been made or shares or other property have been transferred in connection with the Award to forfeit and pay over to the Company, on demand, all or any portion of the gain (whether or not taxable) realized upon the exercise of any Option or Stock Appreciation Right and the value realized (whether or not taxable) on the vesting or payment of any other Award during the period beginning twelve months preceding the date of the restatement and ending with the date of cancellation of any outstanding Awards.

47

(b)          If the Participant, without the consent of the Company, while employed by or providing services to the Company or any Subsidiary or after termination of such employment or service, violates a non-competition, non-solicitation or non-disclosure covenant or agreement or otherwise engages in activity that is in conflict with or adverse to the interest of the Company or any Subsidiary, as determined by the Committee in its sole discretion, then (i) any outstanding, vested or unvested, earned or unearned portion of the Award may, at the Committee’s discretion, be canceled and (ii) the Committee, in its discretion, may require the Participant or other person to whom any payment has been made or Shares or other property have been transferred in connection with the Award to forfeit and pay over to the Company, on demand, all or any portion of the gain (whether or not taxable) realized upon the exercise of any Option or Stock Appreciation Right and the value realized (whether or not taxable) on the vesting or payment of any other Award during the time period specified in the Award Agreement.

13.6         Stop Transfer Orders. All certificates for Shares delivered under the Plan pursuant to any Award shall be subject to such stop-transfer orders and other restrictions as the Committee may deem advisable under the rules, regulations and other requirements of the SEC, any U.S. national securities exchange upon which the Shares are then listed, and any applicable federal or state securities law, and the Committee may cause a legend or legends to be put on any such certificates to make appropriate reference to such restrictions.

13.7         Nature of Payments. All Awards made pursuant to the Plan are in consideration of services performed or to be performed for the Company or any Subsidiary, division or business unit of the Company. Any income or gain realized pursuant to Awards under the Plan constitutes a special incentive payment to the Participant and shall not be taken into account, to the extent permissible under applicable law, as compensation for purposes of any of the employee benefit plans of the Company or any Subsidiary except as may be determined by the Committee or by the Board or board of directors of the applicable Subsidiary.

13.8         Other Plans. Nothing contained in the Plan shall prevent the Board from adopting other or additional compensation arrangements, subject to stockholder approval if such approval is required; and such arrangements may be either generally applicable or applicable only in specific cases.

13.9         Severability. The provisions of the Plan shall be deemed severable. If any provision of the Plan shall be held unlawful or otherwise invalid or unenforceable in whole or in part by a court of competent jurisdiction or by reason of change in a law or regulation, such provision shall (a) be deemed limited to the extent that such court of competent jurisdiction deems it lawful, valid and/or enforceable and as so limited shall remain in full force and effect, and (b) not affect any other provision of the Plan or part thereof, each of which shall remain in full force and effect. If the making of any payment or the provision of any other benefit required under the Plan shall be held unlawful or otherwise invalid or unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction, such unlawfulness, invalidity or unenforceability shall not prevent any other payment or benefit from being made or provided under the Plan, and if the making of any payment in full or the provision of any other benefit required under the Plan in full would be unlawful or otherwise invalid or unenforceable, then such unlawfulness, invalidity or unenforceability shall not prevent such payment or benefit from being made or provided in part, to the extent that it would not be unlawful, invalid or unenforceable, and the maximum payment or benefit that would not be unlawful, invalid or unenforceable shall be made or provided under the Plan.

48

13.10      Construction. As used in the Plan, the words “include” and “including,” and variations thereof, shall not be deemed to be terms of limitation, but rather shall be deemed to be followed by the words “without limitation.”

13.11      Unfunded Status of the Plan.The Plan is intended to constitute an “unfunded” plan for incentive compensation. With respect to any payments not yet made to a Participant by the Company, nothing contained herein shall give any such Participant any rights that are greater than those of a general creditor of the Company. In its sole discretion, the Committee may authorize the creation of trusts or other arrangements to meet the obligations created under the Plan to deliver the Shares or payments in lieu of or with respect to Awards hereunder; provided, however, that the existence of such trusts or other arrangements is consistent with the unfunded status of the Plan.

13.12      Governing Law. The Plan and all determinations made and actions taken thereunder, to the extent not otherwise governed by the Code or the laws of the United States, shall be governed by the laws of the State of Nevada, without reference to principles of conflict of laws, and construed accordingly.

13.13      Effective Date of Plan; Termination of Plan. The Plan shall be effective on the date of the approval of the Plan by the holders of the shares entitled to vote thereon (the “Effective Date”). The Plan shall be null and void and of no effect if the foregoing condition is not fulfilled and in such event each Award shall, notwithstanding any of the preceding provisions of the Plan, be null and void and of no effect. Awards may be granted under the Plan at any time and from time to time on or prior to the tenth anniversary of the Effective Date of the Plan, on which date the Plan will expire except as to Awards then outstanding under the Plan; provided, however, in no event may Incentive Stock Options be granted more than ten (10) years after the earlier of (i) the date of the adoption of the Plan by the Board or (ii) the Effective Date of the Plan as provided in the first sentence of this Section. Such outstanding Awards shall remain in effect until they have been exercised or terminated, or have expired.

13.14      Foreign Employees and Consultants. Awards may be granted to Participants who are foreign nationals or employed or providing services outside the United States, or both, on such terms and conditions different from those applicable to Awards to Employees or Consultants providing services in the United States as may, in the judgment of the Committee, be necessary or desirable in order to recognize differences in local law or tax policy. The Committee also may impose conditions on the exercise or vesting of Awards in order to minimize the Company’s obligation with respect to tax equalization for Employees or Consultants on assignments outside their home country.

13.15      Compliance with Section 409A of the Code. This Plan is intended to comply and shall be administered in a manner that is intended to comply with Section 409A of the Code and shall be construed and interpreted in accordance with such intent. To the extent that an Award or the payment, settlement or deferral thereof is subject to Section 409A of the Code, the Award shall be granted, paid, settled or deferred in a manner that will comply with Section 409A of the Code, including regulations or other guidance issued with respect thereto, except as otherwise determined by the Committee. Any provision of this Plan that would cause the grant of an Award or the payment, settlement or deferral thereof to fail to satisfy Section 409A of the Code shall be amended to comply with Section 409A of the Code on a timely basis, which may be made on a retroactive basis, in accordance with regulations and other guidance issued under Section 409A of the Code.

49

13.16      No Registration Rights; No Right to Settle in Cash. The Company has no obligation to register with any governmental body or organization (including, without limitation, the SEC) any of (a) the offer or issuance of any Award, (b) any Shares issuable upon the exercise of any Award, or (c) the sale of any Shares issued upon exercise of any Award, regardless of whether the Company in fact undertakes to register any of the foregoing. In particular, in the event that any of (x)the above nominees is unable or unwilling to serve. 2. TO RATIFY THE APPOINTMENT OF WEINBERG & COMPANY, P.A., AS THE INDEPENDENT PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS OF THE COMPANY. 3. TO HOLD AN ADVISORY VOTE APPROVING THE FOLLOWING RESOLUTION ENDORSING OUR EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION: “RESOLVED, THAT THE STOCKHOLDERS APPROVE THE COMPENSATION OF THE COMPANY’S EXECUTIVES, AS DISCLOSED IN THE COMPENSATION TABLES AND RELATED NARRATIVE DISCLOSURE IN THE COMPANY’S PROXY STATEMENT FOR THE ANNUAL MEETING.” THIS PROXY IS SOLICITED BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF RESEARCH SOLUTIONS, INC. The undersigned revokes any offer or issuanceother proxy to vote at the Annual Meeting of any Award, (y) any Shares issuable upon exerciseStockholders and hereby ratifies and confirms all that the Proxies, and each of any Award, or (z)them, may lawfully do by virtue hereof. With respect to matters not known at the saletime of any Shares issued upon exercisethe solicitation hereof, said Proxies are authorized to vote in accordance with their best judgment. The undersigned acknowledges receipt of any Award are not registered with any governmental body or organization (including, without limitation,a copy of the SEC), the Company will not under any circumstance be required to settle its obligations, if any, under this Plan in cash.

13.17      Data Privacy.As a conditionNotice of acceptanceAnnual Meeting of an Award, the Participant explicitlyStockholders and unambiguously consentsaccompanying Proxy Statement dated October 12, 2023 relating to the collection, use and transfer,Annual Meeting of Stockholders. Yes No For Against Abstain ! ! ! ! ! ! Please indicate if you plan to attend this meeting. ! ! Note: Please sign exactly as your name or names appear(s) on this proxy. When shares are held jointly, each holder should sign. When signing as executor, administrator, attorney, trustee or guardian, please give full title as such. If the signer is a corporation, please sign full corporate name by duly authorized officer, giving full title as such. If signer is a partnership, please sign in electronic or other form, of personal data as described in this Sectionpartnership name by and among, as applicable, the Company and its Subsidiaries for the exclusive purpose of implementing, administering and managing the Participant’s participation in the Plan. The Participant understands that the Company and its Subsidiaries hold certain personal information about the Participant, including the Participant’s name, home address and telephone number, date of birth, social insurance number or other identification number, salary, nationality, job title, any shares of stock or directorships held in the Company or any Subsidiary, details of all Awards or any other entitlement to Shares awarded, canceled, exercised, vested, unvested or outstanding in the Participant’s favor, for the purpose of implementing, managing and administering the Plan (the “Data”). The Participant further understands that the Company and its Subsidiaries may transfer the Data amongst themselves as necessary for the purpose of implementation, management and administration of the Participant’s participation in the Plan, and that the Company and its Subsidiaries may each further transfer the Data to any third parties assisting the Company in the implementation, management and administration of the Plan. The Participant understands that these recipients may be located in the Participant’s country, or elsewhere, and that the recipient’s country may have different data privacy laws and protections than the Participant’s country. The Participant understands that he or she may request a list with the names and addresses of any potential recipients of the Data by contacting his or her local human resources representative. The Participant, through participation in the Plan and acceptance of an Award under the Plan, authorizes such recipients to receive, possess, use, retain and transfer the Data, in electronic or other form, for the purposes of implementing, administering and managing the Participant’s participation in the Plan, including any requisite transfer of such Data as may be required to a broker or other third party with whom the Participant may elect to deposit any Shares. The Participant understands that the Data will be held only as long as is necessary to implement, manage, and administer the Participant’s participation in the Plan. The Participant understands that he or she may, at any time, view the Data, request additional information about the storage and processing of the Data, require any necessary amendments to the Data, or refuse or withdraw the consents herein in writing, in any case without cost, by contacting his or her local human resources representative. The Participant understands that refusal or withdrawal of consent may affect the Optionee’s ability to participate in the Plan. For more information on the consequences of refusal to consent or withdrawal of consent, the Optionee understands that he or she may contact his or her local human resources representative.authorized person. Signature [PLEASE SIGN WITHIN BOX] Date Signature (Joint Owners) Date 

50

 

 

13.18      Indemnity. To

Important Notice Regarding the extent allowable pursuant to applicable law, each memberAvailability of Proxy Materials for the Committee or of the BoardAnnual Meeting: The Notice and any person to whom the Committee has delegated any of its authority under the Plan shall be indemnifiedProxy Statement and held harmless by the Company from any loss, cost, liability, or expense that may be imposed upon or reasonably incurred by such person in connection with or resulting from any claim, action, suit, or proceeding to which he or she may be a party or in which he or she may be involved by reason of any action or failure to act pursuant to the Plan and against and from any and all amounts paid by him or her in satisfaction of judgment in such action, suit, or proceeding against him or her; provided he or she gives the Company an opportunity,Form 10-K are available at its own expense, to handle and defend the same before he or she undertakes to handle and defend it on his or her own behalf. The foregoing right of indemnification shall not be exclusive of any other rights of indemnification to which such persons may be entitled pursuant to the Company’s articles of incorporation or bylaws, as a matter of law, or otherwise, or any power that the Company may have to indemnify them or hold them harmless.

13.19     Captions. The captions in the Plan are for convenience of reference only, and are not intended to narrow, limit or affect the substance or interpretation of the provisions contained herein.

51

RESEARCH SOLUTIONS, INC.

November 21, 2017

Please date, sign and mail your proxy card in the envelope provided as soon as possible.

âân

THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS RECOMMENDS A VOTE “FOR” PROPOSALS 1, 2, 3 and 4.

PLEASE SIGN, DATE AND RETURN PROMPTLY IN THE ENCLOSED ENVELOPE. PLEASE MARK YOUR VOTE IN BLUE OR BLACK INK.

1. TO ELECT THE FOLLOWING FIVE NOMINEES AS DIRECTORS:

JOHN REGAZZI              CHAD J. COOPER                              PETER VICTOR DERYCZ

GENERAL MERRILL MCPEAK                                                  JANICE PETERSON

_______ FOR NOMINEES LISTED (EXCEPT AS MARKED TO THE CONTRARY BELOW)

_______ WITHHELD

(INSTRUCTION: To withhold authority to vote for any individual nominee, write that nominee’s name in the space below:)

 ——————————————————————-

The undersigned hereby confer(s) upon the Proxies and each of them discretionary authority with respect to the election of directors in the event that any of the above nominees is unable or unwilling to serve.

2. TO RATIFY THE APPOINTMENT OF WEINBERG & COMPANY, P.A., AS THE INDEPENDENT PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS OF THE COMPANY.

____ FOR ____ AGAINST ____ ABSTAIN

THIS PROXY IS SOLICITED BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF RESEARCH SOLUTIONS, INC.

The undersigned revokes any other proxy to vote at the Annual Meeting of Stockholders and hereby ratifies and confirms all that the Proxies, and each of them, may lawfully do by virtue hereof. With respect to matters not known at the time of the solicitation hereof, said Proxies are authorized to vote in accordance with their best judgment.

This proxy will be voted in accordance with the instructions set forth above. Where a vote is not specified, the proxies will vote the shares represented by the proxy “FOR” Proposals 1, 2, 3 and 4 as said proxy shall deem advisable on such other business as may come before the Annual Meeting of Stockholders, unless otherwise directed.

3. TO ADOPT THEwww.proxyvote.com. D91952-P81484 RESEARCH SOLUTIONS, INC. 2017 OMNIBUS INCENTIVE PLAN AUTHORIZING THE ISSUANCE OF UP TO 1,874,513 SHARES OF COMMON STOCK PURSUANT TO AWARDS GRANTED THEREUNDER.

____ FOR ____ AGAINST ____ ABSTAIN

4. TO HOLD AN ADVISORY VOTE APPROVING THE FOLLOWING RESOLUTION ENDORSING OUR EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION: “RESOLVED, THAT THE STOCKHOLDERS APPROVE THE COMPENSATION OF THE COMPANY’S EXECUTIVES, AS DISCLOSED IN THE COMPENSATION TABLES AND RELATED NARRATIVE DISCLOSURE IN THE COMPANY’S PROXY STATEMENT FOR THE ANNUAL MEETING.”

____ FOR ____ AGAINST ____ ABSTAIN

The undersigned acknowledges receipt of a copy of the Notice of Annual Meeting of Stockholders and accompanying Proxy Statement dated September 25, 2017 relating to the Annual Meeting of Stockholders.

Please check here if you plan to attend the meeting.¨

To change the address on your account, please check the box below and indicate your new address in the address space below. Please note that changes to the registered name(s) on the account may not be submitted via this method.¨  

Signature of StockholderDate:Signature of StockholderDate:

Note:Please sign exactly as your name or names appear on this proxy. When shares are held jointly, each holder should sign. When signing as executor, administrator, attorney, trustee or guardian, please give full title as such. If the signer is a corporation, please sign full corporate name by duly authorized officer, giving full title as such. If signer is a partnership, please sign in partnership name by authorized person.

52

RESEARCH SOLUTIONS, INC.

Proxy for Annual Meeting of Stockholders

November 21, 201714, 2023 11:00 A.M.

THIS PROXY IS SOLICITED BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF RESEARCH SOLUTIONS, INC. The undersigned, a stockholder of Research Solutions, Inc., a Nevada corporation (the “Company”), hereby appoints PETER VICTOR DERYCZROY W. OLIVER and ALAN URBANWILLIAM NURTHEN or either of them, the proxies of the undersigned (the “Proxies”), each with full power of substitution, to attend, vote and act for the undersigned at the Annual Meeting of Stockholders of the Company, to be held on November 21, 201714, 2023 at 11:00 A.M., and any postponements or adjournments thereof, and in connection herewith to vote and represent all of the shares of the Company which the undersigned would be entitled to vote as follows:

(Continued This proxy will be voted in accordance with the instructions set forth on the reverse side. Where a vote is not specified, the proxies will vote the shares represented by the proxy “FOR” all nominees listed in Proposal 1, “FOR” Proposals 2 and 3, and as said proxy shall deem advisable on such other business as may come before the Annual Meeting of Stockholders, unless otherwise directed. (Continued and to be signed on the reverse side)

53