Good morning, and welcome to the 2026 Annual Meeting of Shareholders of Myers Industries, Inc. I'm Aaron Schapper, President and Chief Executive Officer of Myers Industries, and I will act as Chair for this meeting. Before we commence with the meeting, I refer you to the safe harbor disclosures regarding any forward-looking statements we make today. I hereby call the meeting to order. Thank you for joining, whether here in person or via the live webcast. Before proceeding with the official business of the meeting, I'd like to make a few introductions. In addition to the other members of the company's management and board of directors who are attending the meeting today, Samantha Rutty, the company's Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, and Kari Brashear, our Chief Legal Officer, Corporate Secretary, and Senior Vice President of Business Development, are attending.
Kari will serve as the secretary of this meeting. Also attending is Michael Walsh, representative of Ernst & Young, the company's independent registered public accounting firm for the year ending December 31st, 2025. I would also like to report that the company has appointed Broadridge Financial Solutions as Inspector of Election for this meeting. Richard Lizza from the Corradino Group is the representative selected by Broadridge to participate in this meeting. The Inspector of Election will count and report the number of shares represented at this meeting based upon his determination of the validity and effect of proxies and ballots collected today, count all votes cast on matters voted on at this meeting, report preliminary results to the company during the meeting, and provide final certified results following the meeting.
Mr. Lizza has executed an oath of office and submitted it to the company secretary for filing with the records of this meeting. To ensure that the meeting proceeds in an efficient and orderly manner, individuals who want to raise questions or comments will be required to follow the rules of conduct provided with the agenda as you join the meeting, either in person or online. At this time, I invite Kari to report on the affidavit of mailing and other materials and other matters of record for the meeting.
Thank you, Aaron. First, on March 13th, 2026, written notice of this annual meeting, a proxy statement, a form of proxy, and the company's 2025 annual report on Form 10-K containing the company's consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2025, were mailed to all shareholders of record as of March 4th, 2026. Certified proof of the mailing will be filed with the records of this meeting, and our 2025 annual report and 2026 proxy statement are available on the investor relations section of our website. Second, Broadridge, as the transfer agent and registrar for the company's common shares, has prepared and certified a list of the shareholders of record at the close of business on the record date of March 4th, 2026, which is open for inspection by shareholders during the course of this meeting.
I have been advised by the transfer agent that at the close of business on the record date, there were 37,403,228 common shares of the company outstanding and entitled to vote at this meeting. Third, we have received an affidavit of a representative of Broadridge showing that beginning on March 13th, 2026, copies of the notice, proxy statement, proxy cards, and annual report were made available to all shareholders of record as of the record date. A copy of the notice of meeting, together with the affidavit of mailing of notice, will be incorporated in the records of this meeting.
The Inspector of Election has taken a preliminary poll of the common shares represented in person, virtually, online, or by proxy at this meeting. If any shareholder of record has not yet submitted his or her proxy card, please submit your vote online if participating in the virtual meeting. Kari, please report on the existence of a quorum.
The Inspector of Election has informed me that there are present at this meeting in person, virtually, online, or by proxy, holders of record of an aggregate of at least a majority of the voting power of the company. This total, in accordance with the amended and restated Code of Regulations of the company, constitutes a quorum for all purposes.
We now turn to the proposals that have been submitted to our shareholders for their approval. After the proposals have been brought before the meeting, there will be an opportunity for shareholders and proxy holders to discuss the proposals. Please hold any discussion until that time. As described in the proxy statement, the first proposal to be acted upon is to elect the following eight candidates nominated by the board of directors to serve a one-year term until the next annual meeting or until their successors are duly elected and qualified. Yvette Bright, Ronald DeFeo, Jack Liebau, Bruce Lisman, Helmuth Ludwig, Lori Lutey, Patricia Warfield, and myself, Aaron Schapper. The second proposal to be acted upon is a non-binding advisory resolution to approve the compensation of the company's named executive officers.
Our executive compensation is designed to attract and retain talent and experienced executives and other key employees, align our executives with shareholders to help ensure that the actual compensation paid to executive officers correlates with our financial performance, motivate our executive officers to achieve short and long-term company goals intended to increase shareholder value, and reward executives whose knowledge, skills, and performance are crucial to our success. The third proposal to be acted upon is to ratify the appointment of Ernst & Young as the independent registered public accounting firm of Myers Industries for the fiscal year ending December 31st, 2026. I will now open the floor for any questions on the proposals submitted in accordance with the rules of conduct set forth for this meeting. If there are no further discussion, I declare the poll open for voting on these proposals
If any shareholder wishes to vote virtually online, or if any shareholder previously submitted a proxy and now wishes to change their vote online, click on the Vote Here option to vote now. If you have already submitted a proxy, there is no need to cast a ballot unless you wish to change your vote. The proxy agents will vote your shares as indicated on the proxy you have already submitted. If no direction was made on your proxy card, the proxy agents will vote your shares for each of the proposals as noticed in the proxy statement. Each ballot is to be signed by the shareholder or by the proxy agent to assure that votes cast here by ballots are properly reflected in the final voting total. After the Inspector of Election completes the final tally, all ballots will be deposited with the Secretary.
The Inspector of Election has indicated that no further voting is occurring, so I hereby declare the polls closed and ask Kari to report on the preliminary vote totals.
I've been informed by the Inspector of Election that the proxies submitted and ballots voted at this meeting have been tabulated, and based on the preliminary vote totals, the results are as follows. On the matter of the election of directors, each nominee received the required affirmative vote of a majority of votes cast of the shares represented in person or by proxy at this annual meeting. With respect to the non-binding advisory vote on the compensation of the company's named executive officers, the proposal has been approved. With respect to the ratification of the appointment of Ernst & Young LLP as the company's independent registered public accounting firm of Myers Industries for the fiscal year ending December 31st, 2026, the proposal has been approved. The company will publicly announce the final results of the voting as promptly as possible after they have been certified by the Inspector of Election.
Thank you, Kari. There being no more formal business to come before this meeting, I now adjourn this meeting. In closing, I'd like to thank all of you for joining this meeting in person or via the live webcast and express my appreciation to all the shareholders who submitted their proxies. I also once again thank our associates for their efforts in 2025 and their commitment to the company's success in 2026. Myers Industries certainly appreciates the continued confidence of our valued customers and our shareholders. Thank you for your presence today.