ACCESS Newswire Inc. (ACCS) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Greetings, and welcome to ACCESS Newswire, Inc. Annual Meeting of Stockholders. [Operator Instructions]. Please note, this conference is being recorded. I will now turn the conference over to your host, Mr. Brian Balbirnie, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer. Brian, please go ahead.

Ali, thank you. Good morning, everybody. My name is Brian Balbirnie, and I am the Chairperson of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of ACCESS Newswire, Inc. And I would like to welcome everyone to our 2025 Virtual Annual Meeting. The meeting is being webcast via our virtual meeting platform, the URL to which was previously circulated to all stockholders in our proxy statement. First, let's discuss the voting process. You do not need to vote again today if you have already voted. However, if you do wish to vote today, you will find a button on your screen labeled Vote my Shares. This link will allow you to vote online during the meeting. This applies only to registered shareholders. If you are a beneficial holder, meaning you hold your shares in street name through a broker or bank, you will need an e-mail, a request form of legal proxy to Emily White, who is acting as our Inspector of Elections today. The e-mail address is [email protected], and she will provide you additional instructions to vote your shares. Second, let's discuss how you can ask a question during today's meeting. If you would like to ask a question, you will see a button labeled Ask a Question on our virtual platform screen that will allow you to place a question into the queue. The question-and-answer session will conclude today's formal meeting. I would now ask that the official meeting please come to order. I will serve as the Chairperson for today's meeting. I would like to introduce to you the following persons: our Audit Committee Chairperson and Independent Director, Mr. Graeme Rein; our Audit Committee and Compensation Committee member and Independent Director, Mr. Wesley Pollard; our Compensation Committee Chairperson and Independent Director, Mr. Joseph Staples; and our Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Steve Knerr. Mr. Heath Glidewell of Cherry Bekaert; our independent accountant; and Mr. Jeff Quick, our Corporate Legal Counsel, are also in attendance as well. Also, as I mentioned previously, Ms. White will be acting as the Inspector of Elections for today's meeting. Mr. Quick will act as the Secretary of today's meeting. The Chair recognizes Mr. Quick.

Thank you, Brian. The Inspector of Elections has been appointed to receive and count votes and to report on the results of the voting. The inspector has prepared a preliminary report of proxies delivered to the company as of June 12, 2025, and has delivered that report to the Chairperson. Proxies were received in response to a notice of meeting, which was mailed April 30, 2025, to all stockholders of record as of the close of business on April 17, 2025. The preliminary report of the Inspector of Elections indicates that 1/3 of the issued and outstanding shares of the company are represented at this meeting as required by the company's second amended and restated bylaws. I therefore declare a quorum is present and that this meeting is duly and properly convened. I now return the meeting to Brian.

Thank you, Jeff. We will now vote on each of the proposals scheduled to come before today's meeting. The first item of election of directors to serve until our next Annual Meeting of Stockholders. The following are nominees to the Board of Directors: Brian Balbirnie, Wesley Pollard, Graeme Rein, Joseph Staples. We will proceed to the next item. The second and final item to vote on today is the proposal to ratify the appointment of our Audit Committee of the Board of Directors of Cherry Bekaert LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm for the year ended December 31, 2025. The Audit Committee has appointed the firm of Cherry Bekaert independent registered public accounting firm to audit and report on our financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2025. We have engaged Cherry Bekaert as our independent registered public accounting firm since June 2010. The Board of Directors recommends the approval of Cherry Bekaert as the company's independent public accountants. A motion to ratify such appointment would now be in order.

I hereby move for ratification of the appointment of Cherry Bekaert LLP as the independent registered public accountants of the company for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2025. I second the motion.

At this time, if there are any stockholders in attendance who have not yet voted and wish to do so, please click the bottom label Vote my Shares. We will pause for a moment to allow the stockholders this opportunity. [Voting]

We will now hear from the company's Inspector of Elections for this Annual Meeting of Stockholders, who will read the preliminary report of the inspector of elections as to each of the matters of which action will be taken today. The preliminary report reflects only those votes cast by proxies that were received by the company prior to June 13, 2025. And the votes cast today will appear in the final report of the inspector and the permanent records of the company. Emily, would you please present the report?

The preliminary report of the Inspector of Election, subject to correction based on the final report of the Inspector of Election shows that Mr. Brian Balbirnie, Mr. Wesley Pollard, Mr. Graeme Rein, Mr. Joseph Staples have been elected as members of the Board of Directors to serve until the Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be held in 2026. The appointment of Cherry Bekaert LLP as independent accountants of the company for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2025, has been approved.

Thank you, Emily. We have now reached the general question-and-answer portion of the meeting. To ask a question button on your screen. We will wait and pause for any questions at this time. We'll just pause for one more second here. There being no questions, our final order of business is to adjourn the meeting formally. A motion to adjourn would be in order.

I hereby move that the meeting be adjourned. I second the motion.

It has been moved and seconded that this meeting be adjourned. Is there any objection to adjourning the meeting at this time? The motion is carried and the meeting is adjourned. Thank you all for your attendance today. We're clear, Ali.

Thank you, sir. This concludes today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time, and we thank you for your participation.

Guys, before you jump, we'll circulate final votes here shortly, and Jeff will get the final numbers from Emily, and we'll prepare the 8-K and circulate that as well. Thank you.