Willdan Group Inc

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION**

**Washington, D.C. 20549

SCHEDULE 14A

Proxy Statement Pursuant to Section 14(a) of

the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Amendment No. )

Filed by the Registrant☒

Filed by a Party other than the Registrant☐

Check the appropriate box:

WILLDAN GROUP, INC.

(Name of Registrant as Specified In Its Charter)

(Name of Person(s) Filing Proxy Statement, if other than the Registrant)

Payment of Filing Fee (Check the appropriate box):

April 18, 2025

Dear Willdan Stockholder:

You are cordially invited to attend our 2025 Annual Meeting of Stockholders (the “Annual Meeting”) to be held on Thursday, June 12, 2025 at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time. We will be hosting this year’s Annual Meeting via live audiocast on the Internet. To participate, vote or submit questions during the Annual Meeting via live audiocast, please visit: https://meetnow.global/ML2X4HH. You will need the 15-digit control number included on your Notice of Internet Availability or your proxy card or voting instruction form (if you received a printed copy of the proxy materials) or included in the email to you (if you received the proxy materials by email) in order to be able to vote your shares or submit questions during the Annual Meeting. You will not be able to attend the Annual Meeting in person.

We utilize the Internet as our primary means of furnishing proxy materials to our stockholders. We will mail a Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials to our stockholders of record that did not request to receive a printed copy of our proxy materials on or about April 24, 2025 with instructions for accessing the proxy materials and voting via the Internet. The Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials also provides information on how stockholders can obtain paper or email copies of the proxy materials if they so choose. Internet transmission and voting are designed to be efficient, cost-effective and preserve resources.

Thank you for your continued support of Willdan. We look forward to your participation in the Annual Meeting.

Notice of 2025 Annual**

**Meeting of Stockholders

HOW TO VOTE: YOUR VOTE IS VERY IMPORTANT

Dear Willdan Stockholders:

Your vote is very important. We recommend you vote by proxy ahead of the Annual Meeting even if you plan to participate in, and vote at, the virtual Annual Meeting.

If your shares are held in your name, you can vote by proxy in one of three convenient ways:

Refer to "Other Information—How do I vote?" in the Meeting and Voting Information section on page 80 of the accompanying proxy statement for a description of each voting method. Any proxy may be revoked by delivery of a later dated proxy or a written notice of revocation or by attending the Annual Meeting via live audiocast and voting your shares at that time. If you hold shares through someone else, such as an account with a brokerage firm, bank or other nominee, you will receive materials from your brokerage firm, bank or other nominee instructing you how to vote.

Important Notice about the Availability of Proxy Materials. The Notice of the 2025 Annual Meeting, proxy statement, and our 2024 Annual Report on Form 10-K are available at www.proxyvote.com. You are encouraged to access and review all the important information contained in our proxy materials before voting.

Virtual Annual Meeting

The Annual Meeting will be a completely virtual meeting of stockholders conducted through a live audio webcast at https://meetnow.global/ML2X4HH, which will provide stockholders with the ability to participate in the Annual Meeting, vote their shares and ask questions.

Benefits of a Virtual Annual Meeting

Attendance at the Virtual Annual Meeting

Questions at the Virtual Annual Meeting

YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO ATTEND THE ANNUAL MEETING IN PERSON

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This Proxy Statement contains statements that constitute forward-looking statements as that term is defined by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. These statements concern our business, operations and financial performance and condition as well as our plans, objectives and expectations for our business operations and financial performance and condition, which are subject to risks and uncertainties. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this Proxy Statement are forward-looking statements. These statements may include words such as “aim,” “anticipate,” “assume,” “believe,” “can have,” “could,” “due,” “estimate,” “expect,” “goal,” “intend,” “likely,” “may,” “objective,” “plan,” “potential,” “positioned,” “predict,” “should,” “target,” “will,” “would” and other words and terms of similar meaning in connection with any discussion of the timing or nature of future operating or financial performance or other events or trends. For example, all statements we make relating to our plans and objectives for future operations, growth or initiatives and strategies are forward-looking statements.

These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections about our business and the industry in which we operate and our management’s beliefs and assumptions. We derive many of our forward-looking statements from our own operating budgets and forecasts, which are based upon many detailed assumptions. While we believe that our assumptions are reasonable, we caution that predicting the impact of known factors is very difficult, and we cannot anticipate all factors that could affect our actual results.

All of our forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause our actual results to differ materially from our expectations. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations include, but are not limited to:

The above is not a complete list of factors or events that could cause actual results to differ from our expectations, and we cannot predict all of them. All written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to us, or persons acting on our behalf, are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements disclosed under “Risk Factors,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and elsewhere in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 27, 2024, as such disclosures may be amended, supplemented or superseded from time to time by other reports we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including subsequent Annual Reports on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and public communications. You should evaluate all forward-looking statements made in this Proxy Statement and otherwise in the context of these risks and uncertainties.

Potential investors and other readers are urged to consider these factors carefully in evaluating the forward-looking statements and are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements we make. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this Proxy Statement and are not guarantees of future performance or developments and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that are in many cases beyond our control. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements publicly, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.