Item 13. CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS, AND DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE.

Certain Relationships and Related Transactions: Other than compensation agreements and other arrangements which are described above in Item 11 “Executive Compensation,” since September 28, 2019, there has not been a transaction or series of related transactions to which the Company was or is a party involving an amount in excess of $120,000 and in which any director, executive officer, holder of more than five percent (5%) of any class of our voting securities, or any member of the immediate family of any of the foregoing persons, had or will have a direct or indirect material interest. In January 2008, the Board of Directors adopted a written related person transaction approval policy, which was amended in November 2018, and which sets forth the Company’s policies and procedures for the review, approval or ratification of any transaction required to be reported in its filings with the SEC. The Company’s policy with regard to related person transactions is that all related person transactions between the Company and any related person (as defined in Item 404 of Regulation S-K) or their affiliates, in which the amount involved is equal to or greater than $120,000, be reviewed by the Company’s General Counsel and approved by the Audit Committee. In addition, the Company’s Code of Business Conduct and Ethics requires that employees discuss with the Company’s Compliance Officer any significant relationship (or transaction) that might raise doubt about such employee’s ability to act in the best interest of the Company.

Director Independence: Each year, the Board of Directors reviews the relationships that each director has with the Company and with other parties. Only those directors who do not have any of the categorical relationships that preclude them from being independent within the meaning of applicable Nasdaq Rules and who the Board of Directors affirmatively determines have no relationships that would interfere with the exercise of independent judgment in carrying out the responsibilities of a director are considered to be independent directors. The Board of Directors has reviewed a number of factors to evaluate the independence of each of its members. These factors include its members’ current and historic relationships with the Company and its competitors, suppliers, and customers; their relationships with management and other directors; the relationships their current and former employers have with the Company; and the relationships between the Company and other companies of which a member of the Company’s Board of Directors is a director or executive officer. After evaluating these factors, the Board of Directors has determined that a majority of the members of the Board of Directors, namely, Alan S. Batey, Kevin L. Beebe, Timothy R. Furey, Christine King, David P. McGlade, Robert A. Schriesheim, and Kimberly S. Stevenson, do not have any relationships that would interfere with the exercise of independent judgment in carrying out their responsibilities as directors and that each such director is an independent director of the Company within the meaning of applicable Nasdaq Rules.