Afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I am Ted Harris, President, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Balchem Corporation. On behalf of the company, I want to welcome you and thank you for joining us at this virtual meeting of shareholders of Balchem Corporation. At this time, I call the meeting to order. As a preliminary matter, a virtual meeting is one that takes place via an electronic format.
An audio feed from this meeting is being webcast as we speak. The webcast incorporates shareholder validation capabilities, which means that any shareholder can vote in real time during the meeting until the polls are closed and any shareholder may submit questions while the meeting is in progress. We believe that holding a virtual annual meeting will expand shareholder access. Our shareholders in any part of the country can attend this meeting and non shareholders can listen to this webcast over the Internet. I hope you entered this meeting by using your 16 digit control number.
If you did not, you will be unable to vote your shares or submit questions during this meeting. The polls to vote online are now open. If you have already given your proxy to management, you need not vote again, because the person designated as proxies will vote for you. However, you may revoke your proxy by voting virtually at this meeting. After the meeting has been adjourned, I will answer questions submitted on the website in the field provided for shareholders.
We may not have enough time to answer all questions submitted by shareholders during the meeting. So if you would like a direct response after this meeting, Services LLC will act as Inspector of Elections. He has taken the customary oath of office, which will be filed with the permanent records of this meeting. Will the Inspector please identify yourself so that shareholders know who are participating will know who you are? Good afternoon, everyone.
I am John Holliwa, CFA from American Election Services LLC. I would like to take this opportunity to introduce some of the officers and directors who are present at this meeting. From our Board of Directors, Doctor. John Telavantos, Lead Director Paul Coombs, David Fisher, Dan Knudson, Perry Prendes and Matt Weiniger. Also present is Ed McMillan, who is retiring from Balchem's Board effective today.
Ed has been a member of Balchem's Board since 2003, and we thank him for his dedicated service to the company. His insight and wisdom will be missed, and we wish him all the best in his retirement. Also present from the company are Terry Coelho, CFO and Treasurer and Mark Stack, General Counsel and Secretary. Mr. Stack will act as Secretary of this meeting.
Will the Secretary please report the number of shares outstanding and entitled to vote at this meeting? The close of business on April 23, 2018 is the record date for determining shareholders entitled to vote at this meeting. A certified list of shareholders entitled to vote at the meeting is available at the offices of the company and may be inspected by any shareholder. As of the record date, 32,701,245 shares of the company were outstanding with each share being entitled one vote to all matters properly brought before this meeting. Also available for inspection by the shareholders in the offices of the company are copies of the notice of meeting and proxy statement, the proxy of the annual report to shareholders and an affidavit of mailing certifying to the timely mailing on or about April 30, 2018 of the proxy materials to all shareholders of record as of the record date.
Copies of the notice of meeting and proxy statement, the proxy and the annual report are also posted on the virtual meeting site. The Secretary is directed to file the list of shareholders with the records of the company and to file the notice of meeting and proxy statement, proxy annual report and affidavit of mailing with the minutes of the meeting. Under the company's bylaws, the presence in person or by proxy of shareholders entitled to cast the majority of all the votes entitled to be cast at this meeting constitutes Aquarum. A preliminary tally by the inspector indicates that Aquarum is present. The presence of a quorum will be confirmed by the inspector when he completes the tally of the proxies and ballots.
This meeting has been called to consider and vote upon the following matters, each of which is described in detail in the proxy statement. 1st, to consider and vote on a proposal to elect 2 Class 2 directors to the company's Board of Directors to serve until their respective terms expire and their successors are duly elected and qualified. 2nd, to consider and vote on a proposal to ratify the appointment of RSM US LLP as the independent auditors of the company for its fiscal year ending December 31, 2018. 3rd, the approval on an advisory basis of the compensation of named executive officers as disclosed in the company's 2018 proxy statement in accordance with the compensation rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission. And 4th, to consider and vote on such other business as may properly come before the annual meeting.
We will now proceed to the items of business before the meeting today. Because each of these items was listed in the notice of meeting, I will not ask for a motion or a second to approve any of these items. The first item of business is the election of 2 directors to serve until the annual meeting in 2021 or until their successors are duly elected and qualified. As indicated in the proxy statement, Paul Coombs and Dan Knudson have been nominated by the Board of Directors for election as directors to serve as members of Class 2 of the Board. The second item of business is the ratification of the appointment of RSM US LLP as independent auditors of the company for its fiscal year ending December 31, 2018.
The 3rd item of business is to approve on an advisory basis the compensation of named executive officers as disclosed in the company's 2018 proxy statement in accordance with compensation rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission. The 4th item of business is such other business as may properly come before the Annual Meeting. Please note your shares now with respect to these matters, if you have not already voted by proxy before this meeting. If you wish to rescind your proxy and vote on your own behalf, you must submit a ballot now. Polls are now officially closed.
This concludes the voting portion of the meeting. Inspector, please tell us the preliminary results for the election of the nominees to the Board of Directors. Mr. President, as Inspector of Elections, I have reviewed the proxies received prior to the meeting and the ballots collected during the meeting. Based on a preliminary count of the proxies and ballots, each nominee has been elected to the Board of Directors by the vote of at least majority of all votes cast at this meeting in person or by proxy.
Inspector, please tell us the preliminary results for the ratification of the appointment of RSM US LLP as independent auditors of the company for its fiscal year ending December 31, 2018. Based on a preliminary count of all proxies and balance, the appointment of RSM US LLP as independent auditors of the company for its fiscal year ending December 31, 2018 has been ratified by a vote of the holders of at least a majority of the shares of common stock present at this meeting in person or by proxy. Inspector, please tell us the preliminary results for approval on an advisory of the compensation of named executive officers as disclosed in the company's 2018 proxy statement in accordance with the compensation rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Based on a preliminary account of all proxies and balance, the approval on an advisory basis of the compensation of named executive officers as disclosed in the company's 2018 proxy statement in accordance with compensation rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission has been ratified by those of the holders of at least a majority of the shares of common stock present at this meeting in person or by proxy. That concludes the formal business for this meeting.
I would like to adjourn the formal portion of the meeting and ask for a motion for adjournment. This is John Philavantes. I move that the meeting be adjourned. May I have a second? This is Paul Coombs, and I second the motion.
All in favor, I declare the 2018 Annual Meeting of Shareholders of Balchem Corporation to be adjourned. At this point, I will pause to answer questions that may have been submitted by our shareholders. We have allotted 10 minutes to answer questions and then the members of the Board and I will be excusing ourselves for a Board meeting. There appear to be no questions. So I would like to conclude by thanking everyone for participating in this year's Annual Meeting of Shareholders of Balchem Corporation.
Thank you again and goodbye. The meeting has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.