nLIGHT execs’ pay to be cut

Vancouver-based industrial laser manufacturer nLIGHT plans to temporarily cut the salaries of its three executive officers due to the impact of the COVID-19 crisis, according to a form filed Thursday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

President and CEO Scott Keeney, Chief Financial Officer Ran Bareket and Chief Technology Officer Rob Martinsen will all take salary reductions for a six-month period beginning April 19. The three are expected to return to their current salaries in October, according to the form.

Keeney could not be immediately reached for comment.

Keeney will take the largest reduction, cutting his annual salary of $400,000 by 50 percent during the six months, for a total reduction of $100,000. Bareket will cut his annual salary of $260,000 by 40 percent during the six months, saving $52,000. Martinsen will reduce his roughly $238,000 annual salary by 20 percent during the six months, saving about $24,000.

The compensation committee of nLIGHT’s board of directors approved the reductions Tuesday, according to the filing. The committee also approved awards of Restricted Stock Units to each of the executives, based on their salaries and the company’s average closing price stock in the five days leading up to the grant date.

nLIGHT was one of the first local companies to be impacted when the COVID-19 outbreak began, due to the company’s significant presence in the Chinese industrial laser market. The company operates a manufacturing facility in Shanghai, and travel restrictions in China prevented the factory from immediately resuming operations after the Lunar New Year holiday in February.

In its end-of-year 2019 financial report, the company said it expected to take an $8 million hit in the first quarter of 2020 from the impact of the virus in China. Keeney told The Columbian last month that China’s social distancing measures had prevented any major outbreak in Shanghai, and the Shanghai factory had been able to resume operations.