Historically, the Board has had three standing committees: the Audit Committee, the Compensation Committee, and the Nomination and Governance Committee, each of which is comprised of independent directors, as defined by applicable SEC and Nasdaq rules. Each of the committees has a written charter approved by the Board. In October 2016, the Board created a Strategy Committee and approved a written charter for its operation, but disbanded this Committee in 2019 as its duties were assumed by the full Board of Directors.
Audit Committee
The current members of the Audit Committee are Ms. Owen (Chair), Mr. Rackoff, and Ms. Rowland. The Board has determined that Ms. Owen is an “audit committee financial expert” as defined under applicable rules of the SEC and is independent as defined by applicable NASDAQ and SEC rules.
The Audit Committee, which held five meetings during 2019, one of which was telephonic, is responsible for overseeing, with management, the work and findings of the independent registered public accounting firm, as well as the effectiveness of the Company’s internal auditing department and the adequacy of our internal controls and the accounting principles employed in financial reporting. The Audit Committee also is responsible for the appointment and compensation of our independent registered public accounting firm and for reviewing and, if appropriate, approving transactions with related persons. The Audit Committee’s Charter is posted on the Company’s investor relations website, lbfostercompany.gcs-web.com under the “Governance” tab.
Compensation Committee
The current members of the Compensation Committee are Messrs. Purgason (Chair), Jungé, Rackoff, and Vizi.
The Compensation Committee, which met on five occasions in 2019, is responsible for approving executive compensation programs, officer compensation (and submits the CEO’s compensation for ratification by the Board), and equity awards to employees. The Compensation Committee has the authority under its charter to delegate its duties and responsibilities (or functions) to one or more members of the Committee or the Board, or to the Company’s officers, when appropriate, but no such delegation shall be permitted if the authority is required by law, regulation, or listing standard to be exercised by the Compensation Committee as a whole or is otherwise prohibited by law, regulation, or listing standard. The Compensation Committee has delegated authority to the Company’s CEO to grant restricted stock awards under the 2006 Omnibus Incentive Plan (the “2006 Omnibus Incentive Plan”) to non-executive employees in an amount not to exceed 15,250 shares. The Compensation Committee’s Charter is available at the Company’s investor relations website lbfostercompany.gcs-web.com under the “Governance” tab.
The Compensation Committee currently uses a “Comparator Group” of nineteen similarly-sized companies based on the recommendation of the Committee’s executive compensation consultant.
The Compensation Committee has authority to engage consultants, legal counsel, and other advisors, and retained Pay Governance, LLC (the “Consultant”) to provide consulting services on the Company’s executive compensation practices and appropriate levels of, and structures for, executive compensation. The use of a consultant provides additional assurance that our executive compensation programs are reasonable, competitive, and consistent with our objectives. The Consultant is engaged directly by the Compensation Committee, regularly participates, as appropriate, in its meetings, including executive sessions of the Committee that exclude management, and advises the Compensation Committee with respect to compensation trends and best practices, plan design, and the reasonableness of compensation awards. In addition, with respect to the CEO, the Consultant prepares specific compensation analyses for the Compensation Committee’s consideration. The CEO does not participate in the development of these analyses. The Consultant has served as the Committee’s independent compensation consultant since 2007, and the Committee believes that its Consultant is able to advise the Compensation Committee independent of management’s influence. For information regarding the role of consultant in non-employee director compensation, see “Nomination and Governance Committee.”
For the year ended December 31, 2019, the Consultant provided no services to the Company other than executive compensation consulting services to the Compensation Committee and the Nomination and Governance Committee as described below. The Compensation Committee assessed the independence of the Consultant pursuant to SEC rules and concluded that the Consultant’s involvement does not raise a conflict of interest. At least annually, the Committee reviews the types of advice and services provided by the Consultant and the fees charged for those services. The Consultant reports directly to the Compensation Committee on all executive compensation matters;