1293 South Main Street — Akron, Ohio 44301
March 21, 2023
Dear Fellow Shareholders,
It is a privilege to work on behalf of Myers Industries’ shareholders as its board Chair. As is my custom with this letter, I am writing to update you on the board’s work throughout the year.
Despite an operating environment during 2022 that included supply chain challenges, inflationary pressures, a tight labor market, and rising interest rates, the management team worked to deliver impressive financial results. Adjusted operating income increased by 69% and adjusted earnings per share increased by 73%. The Myers team delivered record financial results. During the year, we expanded the reach of our Distribution segment by acquiring Mohawk Rubber Sales. While we are blessed with a relatively strong balance sheet, we are mindful that we are stewards of our shareholders’ funds and have also passed on a number of potential acquisition opportunities.
We continue to make progress toward our goal of integrating all the Company’s business units into “One Myers.” Our CEO, Mike McGaugh, who joined Myers in March 2020, has made substantial strides in making Myers a better company. Please read his Shareholder Letter in our 2022 Annual Report to Shareholders for more details on operations.
During the year, the board held formal educational sessions on cyber security and corporate governance and a presentation on our employees’ values and culture, all led by outside advisors. We also toured one of our manufacturing plants in Wadsworth, Ohio. While the board annually undergoes self-evaluations, last year we used an outside independent party to conduct our evaluation process (a practice we have utilized every three years).
At this year’s Annual Meeting, Sarah Coffin will be retiring from the board. Sarah has been the longest-serving director (since 2010). She has chaired both our Compensation and Governance Committees, and we thank Sarah very much for her years of dedicated service.
Your board continues to emphasize recruitment and refreshment. One-fourth of the independent directors on this year's slate are women, we have diverse representation on the board, and only one of our director nominees has served over 10 years.
With regard to Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Matters, the board meets regularly to discuss best practices and our continued progress toward these goals. Early in 2022, Myers issued its first ESG Report. This rather comprehensive 48-page report, which was the culmination of over a year’s work gathering data, is available on the Myers website. We also issued an updated annual ESG report in March of this year.
For the seventh consecutive year, we reached out to all shareholders owning more than 1% of Myers’ outstanding shares, offering to meet on governance matters. We contacted shareholders representing more than seventy-five percent of outstanding shares, and met with fellow owners to discuss governance, strategy, compensation, risk, and ESG, among other important topics. We were gratified by the results of the “say on pay” vote at last year’s annual meeting, with more than 98% of the total shares voted being in favor of the proposal.
Recognizing that it is a short-term measure of performance, we were gratified with the total return of Myers’ stock during 2022. Last year – a year in which the S&P 500’s return was approximately negative 18% -- Myers’ total return was approximately positive 14%. We remain quite positive about the long-term prospects for Myers.
As always, we welcome feedback from our shareholders. Shareholders may send communication by email to governance@myersind.com or by mail or courier delivery addressed as follows: Board of Directors (or Committee Chair, Board Member, or Non-Management Directors, as the case may require), c/o Secretary, Myers Industries, Inc. 1293 Main Street South, Akron, Ohio, 44301, as outlined more completely in our Communication Procedures for Interested Parties and Shareholders available on the Company’s website, www.myersindustries.com.
