Birchtech Corp.
For the period ended Dec 31, 2025. Filed Mar 31, 2026.
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FY2025 · Filed Mar 31, 2026
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Item 11. Executive Compensation
The following discussion relates to the compensation of our named executive officers, as determined under applicable SEC rules for smaller reporting companies like us, for the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, consisting of Richard MacPherson, our President and Chief Executive Officer, John Pavlish, Senior Vice President, and James Trettel, Executive Vice President of Operations.
Fiscal Year 2025 and 2024 Summary Compensation Table
| Stock · Stock · All Other | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Awards · Options · Compensation | ||||||||||||
| Name and Principal Position | Year | Salary ($) | Bonus ($) | ($) (4) | ($) (4) | ($)(5) | Total ($) | |||||
| Richard MacPherson | 2025 | 1,000,000 | - | - | - | 146,279 | 1,146,279 | |||||
| President and Chief Executive Officer, Secretary, Director (1) | 2024 | 879,818 | 1,250,000 | 402,666 | 189,664 | 140,244 | 2,862,392 | |||||
| John Pavlish | 2025 | 500,000 | - | - | - | 23,082 | 523,082 | |||||
| Senior Vice President (2) | 2024 | 488,625 | 550,000 | - | 63,221 | 22,143 | 1,123,989 | |||||
| James Trettel | 2025 | 600,000 | - | - | - | 22,093 | 622,093 | |||||
| Executive Vice President of Operations (3) | 2024 | 552,500 | 600,000 | - | 126,443 | 23,217 | 1,302,160 | |||||
| (1) | Mr. MacPherson was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer in March 2015. From January 1, 2024 to May 31, 2024, Mr. MacPherson’s annual base salary was $745,000. See “Executive Employment Agreements” below for information on the amended and restated employment agreement entered into with Mr. MacPherson effective June 1, 2024. During 2022, Mr. MacPherson was granted a retention stock bonus award in the amount of 600,000 shares of common stock. Such award was granted on November 8, 2022, which shares vested 25.0% every six months from the date of grant and became fully vested on November 8, 2024. During 2024, Mr. MacPherson was granted a five-year nonqualified stock option to acquire 60,000 shares of common stock exercisable at $4.40 per share. |
| (2) | Mr. Pavlish was appointed Senior Vice President in November 2014. From January 1, 2024 to May 31, 2024, Mr. Pavlish’s annual base salary was $480,000. See “Executive Employment Agreements” below for information on the amended and restated employment agreement entered into with Mr. Pavlish effective June 1, 2024. During 2024, Mr. Pavlish was granted a five-year nonqualified stock option to acquire 20,000 shares of common stock exercisable at $4.40 per share. |
| (3) | Mr. Trettel was appointed Vice President of Operations in January 2014. From January 1, 2024 to May 31, 2024, Mr. Trettel’s annual base salary was $500,000. See “Executive Employment Agreements” below for information on the employment agreement entered into with Mr. Trettel effective June 1, 2024. During 2024, Mr. Trettel was granted a five-year nonqualified stock option to acquire 40,000 shares of common stock exercisable at $4.40 per share. |
| (4) | Represents the dollar amount recognized for consolidated financial statement reporting purposes of restricted stock awards and stock option awards granted to the executive officers computed in accordance with FASB ASC Topic 718. For a discussion of valuation assumptions, see Note 11 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this report. The dollar amount shown in the “Stock Awards” column for Mr. MacPherson reflects the grant date fair value recognized in 2024 for the retention stock award granted in November 2022 which was subject to a vesting schedule. The full amount for the entire grant was $960,000. The dollar amounts shown in the “Option Awards” column for Mr. MacPherson, Mr. Pavlish and Mr. Trettel reflect the grant date fair value recognized for stock options granted in 2024. There can be no assurance the amounts determined in accordance with FASB ASC Topic 718 will ever be realized. The following table provides information concerning the stock options granted to the executive officers: |
| FASB | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| ASC | |||
| Stock · Topic 718 | |||
| Options · Value | |||
| Name | Year | (#) | ($) |
| Richard MacPherson | 2025 | - | - |
| 2024 | 60,000 | 189,664 | |
| John Pavlish | 2025 | - | - |
| 2024 | 20,000 | 63,221 | |
| James Trettel | 2025 | - | - |
| 2024 | 40,000 | 126,443 | |
| (5) | The amounts shown for 2025 and 2024 in the “All Other Compensation” column are comprised of the following: |
| Life · Auto · Perquisites and | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 401k · Insurance · Allowance · Other | |||||
| Name | Year | Match ($) | Premiums ($) | ($) | Benefits ($) (1) |
| Richard MacPherson | 2025 | - | 96,600 | 27,600 | 22,079 |
| 2024 | - | 96,600 | 27,785 | 15,859 | |
| John Pavlish | 2025 | 15,793 | - | - | 7,289 |
| 2024 | 13,833 | - | - | 8,310 | |
| James Trettel | 2025 | 16,093 | - | - | 6,000 |
| 2024 | 17,217 | - | - | 6,000 | |
| (1) | The amount for each of Messrs. MacPherson, Pavlish and Trettel includes $6,000 for a home office allowance in 2025 and 2024. The amount for each of Messrs. MacPherson and Pavlish also includes $16,079 and $1,289, respectively, for medical expense reimbursement in 2025 and $9,859 and $2,310, respectively, for medical expense reimbursement in 2024. |
Executive Employment Agreements
On June 7, 2024, the Company entered into an amended and restated employment agreement with Richard MacPherson, effective as of June 1, 2024, pursuant to which Mr. MacPherson will continue to serve as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company. The agreement has a term of three years which after such three-year term will automatically renew for successive one-year periods unless otherwise terminated by either party prior to the next applicable renewal period. Mr. MacPherson is entitled to a base salary of $1,000,000 per year, which may be increased from time to time solely at the discretion of our Board of Directors (or committee thereof). Mr. MacPherson shall be eligible to receive bonus compensation in such amounts and at such times as our Board of Directors (or committee thereof) at its sole discretion shall from time to time determine and which shall not exceed $1,000,000 annually. He is entitled to participate in benefit plans that are made available to executive employees of the Company, and is entitled to certain other benefits. He is also entitled to receive equity awards subject to the sole discretion of our Board of Directors (or committee thereof). The agreement also provides for certain severance payments in the event the agreement is terminated by the Company without cause or terminated by Mr. MacPherson for good reason (as such terms are defined in the agreement).
On June 7, 2024, the Company also entered into an amended and restated employment agreement with John Pavlish, effective as of June 1, 2024, pursuant to which Mr. Pavlish will continue to serve as Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of the Company. The agreement has a term of three years which after such three-year term will automatically renew for successive one-year periods unless otherwise terminated by either party prior to the next applicable renewal period. Mr. Pavlish is entitled to a base salary of $500,000 per year, which may be increased from time to time solely at the discretion of our Board of Directors (or committee thereof). Mr. Pavlish shall be eligible to receive bonus compensation in such amounts and at such times as our Board of Directors (or committee thereof) at its sole discretion shall from time to time determine and which shall not exceed $500,000 annually. He is entitled to participate in benefit plans that are made available to executive employees of the Company, and is entitled to certain other benefits. He is also entitled to receive equity awards subject to the sole discretion of our Board of Directors (or committee thereof). The agreement also provides for certain severance payments in the event the agreement is terminated by the Company without cause or terminated by Mr. Pavlish for good reason (as such terms are defined in the agreement).
On June 7, 2024, the Company also entered into an employment agreement with James Trettel, effective as of June 1, 2024, pursuant to which Mr. Trettel will serve as Executive Vice President of Operations of the Company. The agreement has a term of three years which after such three-year term will automatically renew for successive one-year periods unless otherwise terminated by either party prior to the next applicable renewal period. Mr. Trettel is entitled to a base salary of $600,000 per year, which may be increased from time to time solely at the discretion of our Board of Directors (or committee thereof). Mr. Trettel shall be eligible to receive bonus compensation in such amounts and at such times as our Board of Directors (or committee thereof) at its sole discretion shall from time to time determine and which shall not exceed $500,000 annually. He is entitled to participate in benefit plans that are made available to executive employees of the Company, and is entitled to certain other benefits. He is also entitled to receive equity awards subject to the sole discretion of our Board of Directors (or committee thereof). The agreement also provides for certain severance payments in the event the agreement is terminated by the Company without cause or terminated by Mr. Trettel for good reason (as such terms are defined in the agreement).
Outstanding Equity Awards as of December 31, 2025
The following table sets forth certain information about the number of unexercised nonqualified stock options held as of December 31, 2025 by each executive named in the Summary Compensation Table.
| Number of · Number of | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| securities · securities | ||||
| underlying · underlying | ||||
| unexercised | unexercised | Option | Option | |
| options (#) | options (#) | Exercise | Expiration | |
| Name | exercisable | unexercisable | Price ($) | Date |
| Richard MacPherson | 150,000 | - | 3.90 | 11/22/2026 |
| 60,000 | - | 4.40 | 01/15/2029 | |
| John Pavlish | 10,000 | - | 5.75 | 02/10/2027 |
| 100,000 | - | 3.90 | 11/22/2026 | |
| 100,000 | - | 1.05 | 05/31/2027 | |
| 20,000 | - | 4.40 | 01/15/2029 | |
| James Trettel | 100,000 | - | 5.75 | 02/10/2027 |
| 100,000 | - | 3.90 | 11/22/2026 | |
| 100,000 | - | 1.05 | 05/31/2027 | |
| 40,000 | - | 4.40 | 01/15/2029 | |
Other Benefits
Our executive officers are eligible to participate in all of our employee benefit plans, such as medical and dental, our employee stock purchase plan, and our 401(k) plan, in each case on the same basis as other employees, subject to applicable law, should such benefits exist. Our 401(k) plan allows eligible employees to defer a portion of their compensation before federal income tax to a qualified trust. All employees who are at least 21 years of age are eligible to participate in the 401(k) plan. The participants may choose from multiple investment options for the investment of their deferred compensation. In addition, we match 100% of each participant’s salary deferral, for the first 4% of their salary, with a cash contribution. For the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, we contributed $88,813 and $71,909, respectively, to the 401(k) plan. We also provide vacation and other paid holidays to all employees, including our executive officers, which are comparable to those provided at peer companies. Certain other perquisites and benefits are provided to our executive officers as reflected in the tables above.
Policies Regarding Recovery of Awards
Our Board of Directors has adopted a clawback policy that requires us to make retroactive adjustments to any cash or equity-based incentive compensation paid to executive officers (or others) where the payment was predicated upon the achievement of financial results that were subsequently the subject of a restatement. Our clawback policy complies with NYSE American’s clawback rules promulgated under Section 10D of the Exchange Act and the rules promulgated thereunder.
Tax and Accounting Treatment of Compensation
Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code places a limit of $1.0 million per person on the amount of compensation that we may deduct in any one year with respect to our Chief Executive Officer and certain of our other executive officers. While our Board of Directors considers deductibility factors when making compensation decisions, our Board of Directors also looks at other considerations, such as providing our executive officers with competitive and adequate incentives to remain with us and increase our business operations, financial performance, and prospects, as well as rewarding extraordinary contributions.
We account for equity compensation paid to our employees under the rules of FASB ASC Topic 718, which requires us to estimate and record an expense for each award of equity compensation over the service period of the award. Accounting rules also require us to record cash compensation as an expense at the time the obligation is accrued. We have not tailored our executive compensation program to achieve particular accounting results.
Policies on Ownership, Insider Trading, Hedging, and 10b5‑1 Plans
We do not have formal stock ownership guidelines for our employees or directors, because our Board of Directors is satisfied that stock and option holdings among our employees or directors, are sufficient at this time to provide motivation and to align this group’s interests with those of our stockholders. In addition, we believe that stock ownership guidelines are rare in companies at our stage, which means that ownership requirements would put us at a competitive disadvantage when recruiting and retaining high-quality executives.
We have established an insider trading policy which provides guidelines to officers, directors and employees with respect to transactions in the Company’s securities. The Company’s insider trading policy prohibits certain actions by such individuals relating to buying and selling common stock of the Company, and discourages certain other actions in other situations. Such individuals are authorized to enter into trading plans established according to Section 10b5‑1 of the Exchange Act with an independent broker-dealer. Under these plans, the individual must not exercise any influence over the amount of the securities to be traded, the price at which they are to be traded or the date of the trade. The plan must either specify the amount, pricing and timing of transactions in advance or delegate discretion on these matters to an independent third party. Such plans provide a defense from insider trading liability. No director or named executive officer has a trading plan in place.
Stockholder Advisory Vote on Executive Compensation
Our Company held an advisory vote on executive compensation in 2024 and takes such action annually. Our Board of Directors intends to periodically reevaluate our executive compensation philosophy and practices in light of our performance, needs and developments, including the outcome of future non-binding advisory votes by our stockholders.
Stock Option Grant Practices
Our Company has certain practices relating to the timing of grants of stock options. For option grants to our employees, including executive officers, and non-employee directors, grants of options are currently made by and at meetings of our Board of Directors, or by unanimous written consent in lieu of a meeting, under our Amended and Restated 2017 Equity Incentive Plan. While our Board of Directors does not currently have a formal policy regarding the timing and terms of stock option awards while in possession of material non-public information, our Board of Directors expects to defer grants until a date on which the Company is not in possession of material non-public information. It is the Company’s practice not to time the disclosure of material non-public information for the purpose of affecting the value of executive or director compensation.
Director Compensation
Director Compensation Table for Year Ended December 31, 2025
The following table sets forth information regarding the compensation for 2025 of each non-executive member of our Board of Directors. Christopher Greenberg resigned from our Board of Directors on July 1, 2025.
| Fees | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Earned | |||||||
| or · Stock · Option | |||||||
| Paid in · Awards($) · Awards | |||||||
| Name | Cash ($) | (1) | ($) (1) | Total ($) | |||
| Christopher Greenberg | 75,000 | - | - | 75,000 | |||
| David M. Kaye | 75,000 | - | - | 75,000 | |||
| Troy Grant | 112,500 | 1,668 | - | 114,168 | |||
| Mitzi H. Coogler | 75,000 | - | 40,071 | 115,071 | |||
| (1) | Represents the aggregate grant date fair value recognized in 2025 computed in accordance with FASB ASC Topic 718. For a discussion of valuation assumptions, see Note 11 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this report for the year ended December 31, 2025. There can be no assurance the amounts determined in accordance with FASB ASC Topic 718 will ever be realized. The following table provides information concerning the restricted stock units (“RSUs”) and stock options granted to the Directors for 2025: |
| FASB ASC · FASB ASC | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stock · Topic · Stock · Topic | |||||||||
| Awards · 718 Value · Options · 718 Value | |||||||||
| Name | (#) | ($) | (#) (1) | ($) | |||||
| Christopher Greenberg | - | - | - | - | |||||
| David M. Kaye | - | - | - | - | |||||
| Troy Grant | 10,000 | (1) | 1,668 | - | - | ||||
| Mitzi H. Coogler | - | - | 20,000 | (2) | 40,071 | ||||
| (1) | On January 15, 2024, the Company granted 10,000 RSUs to Mr. Grant. The RSUs vest one year from the grant of grant on January 15, 2025. Once vested, each RSU represents the right to receive one share of the Company’s common stock. |
| (2) | On January 9, 2025, the Company granted a nonqualified stock option to Ms. Coogler to acquire 20,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.80 per share. The option is fully vested and exercisable as of the grant date. |
During 2025, Mr. Greenberg received $75,000 in compensation for his service as Chairman of our Board of Directors from January 1, 2025 until his resignation, effective July 1, 2025. Each of Mr. Kaye, Mr. Grant and Ms. Coogler received $75,000 during 2025 for service on our Board of Directors. Mr. Grant also received an additional $37,500 during 2025 for his service as Chairman of the Audit Committee. Effective July 1, 2025, Mr. Grant no longer receives this additional compensation. Mr. Grant is no longer Chairman of the Audit Committee.
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