Craig K. Shere

Ariel Investments LLC (Ariel) is a SEC-registered investment advisor and fund management firm headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The firm was founded by John W. Rogers, Jr. in 1983 and is a subsidiary of ACMI, Inc. Ariel provides investment management services to a variety of individual and institutional clients in the US. The firm also serves institutional separate account clients in Canada and offers certain separate account products to professional investors in Australia and Asia.

Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC (Credit Suisse Securities USA) is the broker/dealer division of Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, an investment banking company headquartered in New York City. The firm was founded in 1998 and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Credit Suisse (USA), Inc., ultimately owned by Credit Suisse Group AG (SWX: CSGN) in Switzerland. Credit Suisse Securities USA offers a suite of equities, solutions and credit products and services which includes global securities sales, trading and execution, prime brokerage and comprehensive investment research. Their clients include financial institutions, corporations, governments, institutional investors, such as pension funds and hedge funds, and private individuals around the world.

Lord Abbett & Co. LLC (Lord Abbett) is an independent, SEC-registered investment advisor and mutual fund manager headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey. Founded in 1929, Lord Abbett provides advisory services to a variety of institutional clients, the Lord Abbett Funds and other registered investment companies sponsored by third parties, the Lord Abbett UCITS Funds, the Lord Abbett Luxembourg Fund, other foreign funds, privately offered commingled funds and various separately managed accounts.

Stephens, Inc. is a full-service investment bank and brokerage firm headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas. The firm was founded in 1933 and is a subsidiary of Susi Holdings, Inc., which is owned by Stephens Financial Services LLC. Stephens provides comprehensive securities sales and trading services, including customized solutions for clients in North America and abroad.

KeyBanc Capital Markets, Inc. is a registered investment bank and broker/dealer headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio. The firm was founded in 1983 and is a subsidiary of KeyCorp. (NYSE: KEY). KeyBanc Capital Markets provides investment banking, commercial lending, treasury management, derivatives, foreign exchange, equity and debt underwriting and trading and syndicated finance products and services to large corporations and middle-market companies.

Eos Partners LP operates as an investment firm with interest in credit, public equity and private equity markets. The company was founded by Steven M. Friedman and Brian D. Young in 1994 and is headquartered in New York, NY.

Credit Agricole Securities (USA), Inc. (Credit Agricole Securities USA) is a full service broker-dealer headquartered in New York City. The firm was founded in 2004 and formerly known as Calyon Securities USA, Inc. and Credit Lyonnais Securities, Inc. They are a subsidiary of Crédit Agricole Global Partners, Inc., which is owned by Rue la Boétie SAS’s Credit Agricole SA (EPA: ACA) in France. Credit Agricole Securities USA provides investors’ customized solutions to ensure they achieve their execution objectives in the tradition of service excellence and product innovation.

Seaport Global Securities LLC is a full service investment bank, capital markets advisory and research platform headquartered in New York City with offices across the US and in Europe. They are a subsidiary of Seaport Global Holdings LLC. The firm offers access to a broad selection of fixed income and equity products, as well as the market intelligence to provide insight to dynamic opportunities for its clients. Seaport Global Securities provides clients access to innovative trading solutions, competitive rates, quality execution, and superior service. Their equity trading team focuses on identifying liquidity in US, Canadian and European markets. The fixed income distribution platform covers all areas of the credit spectrum.

Founded by Richard J. Rosenblatt in 1979, Rosenblatt Securities, Inc. is a broker/dealer headquartered in New York City. The firm provides a full array of trading and execution services for their clients. They do not provide any internal research

Longbow Research LLC is an independent investment research firm headquartered in Independence, Ohio. The firm was founded by David S. MacGregor in 2003 to provide the institutional equity research market with a high quality, independent product, free from the many conflicts of interest that plague bulge-bracket research. Longbow Research provides insights and research coverage on publicly-traded mid-cap companies in the industrial/basic materials, consumer and technology sectors.

A.G.P. / Alliance Global Partners Corp. (AGP) is a FINRA-registered broker-dealer headquartered in Westport, Connecticut. Formerly known as Euro Pacific Capital, Inc., the firm was founded by Peter Schiff in 1997 and is a subsidiary of Alliance Global LLC. AGP provides prime brokerage services to hedge funds, family offices, professional traders and top tier small/mid-cap investment funds. It offers multi-clearing, cloud based, high-touch client service solutions tailored to each client’s business needs.

Harvard University engages in the provision of teaching and research. It has twelve degree-granting Schools in addition to the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, offering a global education. The university was founded in 1636 and is headquartered in Cambridge, MA.

Global Factory, Inc. provides collaborative manufacturing execution systems. The firm's software gather, organize & analyze demand, production & quality data from various sources and monitor key indicators & execute business processes to control, manage & optimize distributed manufacturing operations. The company was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Santa Clara, CA.

Fordham University provides college and university. It offers undergraduate colleges and graduate & professional schools. The company was founded in 1841 and is headquartered in Bronx, NY.

The Juilliard School operates as an art school. It provides artistic education for musicians, dancers, and actors. The company was founded in 1905 and is headquartered in New York, NY.

Founded in 1984, Noble Financial Capital Markets is a broker/dealer headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida. The firm is a subsidiary of Noble Financial Group, Inc. Noble Financial Capital Markets' sales & trading team provides strategic insight and reliable solutions to nearly 500 of the dominant small-cap money managers in North America. They are members FINRA, SIPC and MSRB. Noble Financial Capital Markets offers a full array of investment services with a particular focus on under-followed, undervalued, out-of-favor small-cap emerging growth companies. Their research coverage universe includes healthcare, business services & software, defense/defense technology, energy, enterprise hardware, and media & entertainment.

Founded in 2000, EarlyBirdCapital, Inc. is a broker/dealer headquartered in New York City. The firm provides a full array of trading and execution services for their clients. They do not provide any internal research. The firm is a subsidiary of EBC Holdings, Inc. and their ultimate parent is Firebrand Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: FFGI).

National Association of Petroleum Investment Analysts is a Non-Profit organization, which engages in education of its members in their knowledge of the petroleum industry. The company was founded in 1974 and is headquartered in Concord, MA.

Ladenburg Thalmann & Co., Inc. (Broker) is the broker/dealer division of Ladenburg Thalmann & Co., Inc., ultimately held by Advisor Group Holdings, Inc. Headquartered in New York City, the firm was founded in 1876 and offers a full suite of capital markets products and services, including proprietary equity research and a fixed-income trading desk. For institutional asset management clients, the firm provides liquidity, execution, high-quality idea-generating research, and access to corporate management teams. Their institutional coverage includes relationships with over asset management companies all over the world. To corporate clients, they bring access to investor capital, broad distribution capabilities and financial markets advisory. Ladenburg Thalmann is a leader in financing growing middle-market public companies across various industry verticals, including Healthcare & Life Sciences, Yield-Oriented Securities (BDCs, REITs, MLPs), Energy, Power & Infrastructure, and Telecom, Media & Technology.

Founded in 1958, Merrill Lynch Piece Fenner & Smith, Inc. is an SEC registered broker/dealer located in New York City. The firm is a subsidiary of BAC North America Holding Co. and their ultimate parent is Bank of America Corp. (NYSE BAC).

H. C. Wainwright & Co. LLC (H. C. Wainwright) is a full-service broker/dealer headquartered in New York City. The firm was founded in 1868 and is a subsidiary of HCWHC, Inc. H. C. Wainwright delivers industry insights and real-time execution to both public and private small and middle-sized global emerging market companies. With a focus on identifying buyers and sellers in illiquid and difficult to trade equities, the firm specializes in block trading and providing liquidity in these securities with as little market impact as possible.

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. is a broker/dealer located in New York City. The firm provides a comprehensive range of equity execution services exclusively to institutional clients worldwide. Their clients include private banks, mutual funds, hedge funds, independent asset managers and investment advisors and other brokers.

Coker & Palmer, Inc. is an independent registered broker/dealer and financial advisor headquartered in Jackson, Mississippi. The firm was founded by James D. Coker and James Y. Palmer in 1991. Coker & Palmer offers professional services in traditional securities brokerage to individuals and institutions as well as fee based asset management services.