During our 50 year history, we have experienced and successfully navigated through an amazing transformation of the telecommunications industry as they went from plain old telephone service to delivering robust broadband. In the utility industry, we have watched and assisted in the transmission from a sleepy analog industry to a dynamic, smart grid-enabled enterprise powered by fossil fuels as well as renewables like wind and solar. Although NISC is not immune from the global, political, and economic volatility of the industries we serve. We have a great deal to be thankful for as we consider the historical stability of our organization. We are seeing a growing number of companies that we have competed against for 30 plus years simply go out of business or make a last-gasp effort at a merger, consolidation, or a sale. Without a doubt, we are seeing a massive consolidation in this industry, and there will certainly be winners and losers. And make no mistake we are laser focused on being a winner. The deployment to iVUE as well as our recent acquisition of EDD and Affinegy are increasing the scope of the breakthrough innovative products that comprise NISC enterprise solution. In the marketplace, our brand has never been stronger or more relevant. Our commitment to delivering an elevated member experience is unwavering and emphasized by our "Membership Amplified" advertising campaign. While we have our challenges, member expectations, employee expectations, and deadlines to meet, my confidence in our organization has never been greater. We are nearing the end of our fiscal year, which will once again be record setting with highest revenues, margins, and a robust pipeline of new business. The best in our history. How cool is that? While those financial metrics are very important as an organization, we have chosen a different path. We have chosen to embrace a culture that places emphasis on the well-being of our employees both at work and at home. Working to create and build a healthy and productive work environment as well as supporting the work-life balance of our employees at home. It's a tough balance, especially in this 24 by seven world that we operate in and admittedly we don't get this balance right all the time. But we are relentless in working towards that goal. I have come to understand that our ability to continue building and improving the member experience, the robustness of our products, and the strength and consistency of our culture is all based on the quality of the individual contributions of each of our employees. Our People Services Division and the Vice President group is continually questioning if we're doing the right things, If we're doing enough focused on the right things the pay, the benefits, the policies, the employee events, the amenities. Are we focusing on the things that really matter to our employees? Our quarterly Pulse survey gives us a good indication if we're making progress in those areas and where we need to improve. For the past 16 years, we have held our breath when the Computerworld Best Places to Work survey results were released hoping upon hope that we would once again see NISC name on that coveted list. This year's survey did not disappoint as NISC was ranked 19th in the midsize company category. It should be noted that this was the first year that NISC was moved up from the small company category to midsize and we can only expect that as our employee population grows and we move up in the categories, the competition will get stiffer. There are many best of surveys out there. The majority of them require you to purchase advertising or pay a designated amount to be included in the list. As NISC, we have chosen to avoid all of those surveys as we do not believe that they accurately represent the sentiments and perspective of our employees and tend to be biased and not entirely honest. On the other hand, the Computerworld survey directly and independently surveys our employees. NISC has never made any payment to Computerworld and is very confident that the results have a great deal of integrity and credibility. On another note, my thanks to Brett Wetzel. Shannon Bogren, Joe Vonarx and Amy Gietzen for the role that they played in the red letter video that was posted today on the community. If you haven't seen the video, I strongly recommend that you take a look. Their stories are heartfelt and the production by our Communication Division, as we have come to expect, is simply outstanding. So today we celebrate our Computerworld ranking with a traditional red-letter day. Our way of saying thanks for the commitment each of you has made, the contribution of your skills, experience, dedication, and imagination to this organization. We are very grateful. We will never take your contributions for granted, and we will work tirelessly to create a workplace and a culture that is challenging, invigorating, provides career and learning opportunities, and a place that you are proud to work for. A place that treats you with the respect that you deserve. Thank you for listening. I appreciate you, Vern
