EXHIBIT
10.13
HICKORYTECH CORPORATION
EXECUTIVE INCENTIVE
PLAN
(February 16, 2005
Amended & Restated)
Section I. Establishment and
Purpose
A.
Establishment
HickoryTech Corporation, a Minnesota
corporation (the “Company”), has established, effective
January 1, 1989, the HICKORYTECH EXECUTIVE INCENTIVE PLAN,
which has since been amended (the “Plan”).
B.
Purpose
The
purpose of this Plan is to provide a means whereby key executives
of the Company may be rewarded according to their impact on, and
contribution to, the operating success of the Company and its
component organizations. It is also the purpose of this Plan
to motivate such executives to achieve a continuing, high level of
personal effectiveness.
Section II. Definitions, Gender and
Number
A.
Definitions
As
used in this Plan, the following terms are defined as indicated
unless the context clearly requires a different meaning:
1.
“ Adjusted Cash Flow” means EBITDA less CAPEX,
debt principal repayment required by the Company’s debt
agreements, interest and taxes. Taxes are the actual cash
payment of taxes versus the GAAP/book accrual concept.
2. “
Annual Award ” means the total annual cash award
earned under the provisions of this Plan.
3. “ Board
of Directors ” or “ Board ” means the
Board of Directors of the Company.
4. “
Chair ” means the Chair of the Board of the
Company.
5. “
Committee ” or “ Compensation Committee
” means a committee appointed by and responsible to the Board
to administer this Plan, among other things, and whose members
shall be ineligible to participate in this Plan.
6. “
Company ” means Hickory Tech Corporation, a Minnesota
corporation and any successor thereto, including all
Subsidiaries.
7. “
EBITDA ” means earnings before interest expense,
income taxes, depreciation, and amortization. In years where
employee profit sharing expense is recorded, EBITDA for the Plan
shall be after the employee profit sharing expense at a 1% payout
level and before the incremental employee profit sharing expense at
a 2% payout level.
8. “
EBITDA Minus CAPEX ” means EBITDA minus the capital
and expenditures for property, plant and equipment, and capitalized
software and any other capitalized expenditures approved by the
Compensation Committee to be included in this definition.
9. “ Net
Income” means after-tax net income as defined by
Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.
10. “ Participant
” means an executive of the Company who has been selected to
participate in the Plan.
11. “ Performance
Account ” means an account maintained in the name of a
Participant with credits in Company stock.
12. “ Plan ”
means the HickoryTech Executive Incentive Plan, as stated herein
and as further amended from time to time.
13. “ Plan Year
” means any fiscal year of the Company for which the Plan is
in effect.
14. “ Pre-Tax
Earnings ” means operating revenues and other income
minus operating and other expenses.
15. “ Retirement
” means termination for any reason (other than death or
permanent and total disability) after attaining age 55 with ten
years of service or after attaining age 62 irrespective of
service.
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16. “ Return on
Invested Capital” means earnings before interest and
taxes divided by total capital (debt and equity).
17. “ Revenue
” means operating revenues, and excludes other income from
such sources as interest and dividends. For purposes of this plan,
the inter-company transactions between or among its Subsidiaries
are considered to be at an arms length (i.e., at fair market
value), and thus are not eliminated. In contrast, the transactions
between the Company (parent Company) and its Subsidiaries,
consisting mainly of cost allocations and interest on inter-company
loans, will be eliminated in the calculation to determine
“Revenue”. Significant variances due to non-operating
income will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
18. “ Subsidiary
” means a corporation, the majority of whose stock is owned
by the Company.
19. “ Trustee
” means Trustee for the Trust under the HickoryTech
Corporation Executive Plan. This Trust holds shares of Company
Stock for the Participants’ Performance Award Accounts.
B.
Gender and Number
Except when otherwise indicated by the context,
any masculine terminology when used in the Plan shall also include
the feminine gender, and the definition of any term herein in the
singular shall also include the plural.
Section III. Summary of
Plan
A.
Annual Award Opportunity
Each fiscal year, an award opportunity will be
established for each Plan Participant, expressed as a percent of
the Participant’s fiscal-year base salary earnings (See
Attachment A).
B.
Performance Goals
Performance goals, by which Participants’
performance will be measured for Plan purposes, will be established
at the beginning of the fiscal year. Such goals will relate to
Company, Subsidiary or division organizational
performance.
C.
Award Determination
At
fiscal year-end the organizational performance will be evaluated,
and a percentage achievement will be determined. An incentive
award, called an Annual Award, will be determined, such being the
total of the awards earned.
D.
Disposition of Awards
Annual Awards will be paid in cash as soon as
is practicable following the end of the fiscal year but no later
than March 15 of the following calendar year.
E.
Shareholder Protection
It
is the policy of the Company to establish fiscal goals under this
Plan which will provide, first, for the protection of the
shareholders. Accordingly, no awards will be paid which, by their
payment, would cause the Company to experience Adjusted Cash Flow
of less than 50% of HickoryTech’s budgeted Adjusted Cash Flow
for the fiscal year.
Section IV. Eligibility
A.
Eligibility
Executives who, by virtue of their position,
exert a significant impact on Company performance are eligible to
participate in this Plan. Participation is at the recommendation of
the President/CEO, with the approval of the Board of
Directors.
Section V. Annual Plan
A.
Basis of Awards Earned
Awards earned under this Plan are earned on a
fiscal-year basis.
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B.
Annual Award Opportunity
An
annual target award opportunity will be assigned to each
Participant, expressed as a percent of fiscal year base salary
earnings. This will establish the dollar award target for the
executive, as follows:
|
|
|
Base
|
|
Target
|
|
Target
|
|
|
Position
|
|
Salary
|
|
Award%
|
|
Award
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Executive A
|
|
$
|
140,000
|
|
40
|
%
|
$
|
56,000
|
|
|
Executive B
|
|
$
|
90,000
|
|
30
|
%
|
$
|
27,000
|
|
|
Executive C
|
|
$
|
60,000
|
|
25
|
%
|
$
|
15,000
|
|
C.
Annual Award Make-up
1. Annual Award
make-up will reflect the impact of the Participant’s position
and performance on the operating results of the Company. As such,
award make-up may vary among positions.
Example
|
|
|
Percent of Award Relating to—
|
|
|
|
|
Organizational Performance
|
|
|
|
|
Corporate
|
|
Subsudiary or
Division
|
|
|
Position
|
|
Financial
Results
|
|
Financial
Results
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Executive A
|
|
100
|
%
|
—
|
|
|
Executive B
|
|
25
|
%
|
75
|
|
|
Executive
C
|
|
45
|
%
|
55
|
|
2. Each award
segment will be determined separately, and the resulting awards
will be aggregated into a total award.
3. Organizational
performance will reflect equally on Participant awards.
D.
Organizational Goals
1. Organizational
goals will be established in the areas of financial achievement or
operational achievement. These areas will be weighted and the
weightings will be reviewed annually and may be adjusted at the
time of review.
2. Goals will be
established prior to the start of the fiscal year for purposes of
the Plan and approved by the Board of Directors. Such goals will
relate to, but may not necessarily be, the Company’s annual
operating budget goals.
E.
Award Calculations
1.
Organizational Awards
a.
Organizational performance will be evaluated in terms of actual
versus planned results for each result area.
(i)
The target award for the results area will be reduced 3% for each
1% by which actual performance is less than planned
performance.
(ii)
The target award for the results area will be increased 3% for each
1% by which actual performance exceeds planned performance.
(iii)
No award will be paid for the Net Income results area unless actual
performance is at least 100% of planned performance. For other
organizational awards, no award will be paid for a results area if
actual performance is less than 85% of planned performance.
b.
The sum of awards for all results areas will be payable as the
organizational award.
c.
Award calculations will be interpolated where actual results are
other than even percentages of the planned amount.
d.
There will be a cap, or maximum, for award payments as a result of
actual performance that exceeds the planned amount. This cap shall
be 200% payout maximum for each award segment.
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