Allen L. Danzey
DIXIE GROUPAbout Allen L. Danzey
Allen L. Danzey, 55, is Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of The Dixie Group (DXYN), serving as CFO since January 2020 after progressing through corporate and divisional finance roles (Director of Accounting, Commercial Division Controller, and Residential Division Controller/Senior Accountant) since 2005 . Company TSR (value of $100 initial investment) deteriorated over 2022–2024 from 30 to 12, while revenues declined and profitability remained negative, underscoring a challenging backdrop during his tenure . Education is not disclosed in the company filings reviewed; executive officer biographies list internal roles and tenure but do not include degrees .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Dixie Group, Inc. | Chief Financial Officer | Jan 2020 – Present | Senior finance leadership during significant operational and market transition, including Nasdaq delisting and OTCQB transition in Oct 2024 . |
| The Dixie Group, Inc. | Director of Accounting | May 2018 – Dec 2019 | Corporate accounting leadership . |
| The Dixie Group, Inc. | Commercial Division Controller | Jul 2009 – May 2018 | Divisional finance leadership . |
| The Dixie Group, Inc. | Residential Division Controller and Senior Accountant | Feb 2005 – Jul 2009 | Divisional finance and accounting roles . |
External Roles
- No public company board roles or external directorships were disclosed for Danzey in the executive officer biographies reviewed .
Company Performance Context (during Danzey’s CFO tenure)
| Metric | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue ($USD) | 303,570,000 | 276,343,000 | 265,026,000 |
| EBITDA ($USD) | -15,927,000* | 7,470,000* | 1,954,000* |
| Net Income ($USD) | -35,079,000 | -2,718,000 | -13,000,000* |
- S&P Global disclaimer: Values marked with an asterisk were retrieved from S&P Global.
Company TSR (value of $100 initial investment):
| Year | Value of $100 Investment ($) |
|---|---|
| 2022 | 30 |
| 2023 | 29 |
| 2024 | 12 |
Additional market context:
- On Oct 3, 2024, DXYN was suspended and delisted from Nasdaq; it began trading on OTC pink sheets and was upgraded to OTCQB on Oct 4, 2024 .
Fixed Compensation
- The executive compensation program includes base salary, retirement plan participation, and customary benefits; specific base salary for the CFO was not disclosed in the 2024–2025 proxy as he was not a Named Executive Officer .
- Retirement plan contributions were made by the company (e.g., 2% to the qualified plan in 2024), with executives able to defer compensation; no above-market or preferential earnings on deferred compensation are provided .
Performance Compensation
2024 Plan outcomes:
- For 2024, no cash incentives, Primary Long-Term Incentive Share Awards, or Career Share Awards were paid/granted to the Named Executive Officers; the plan structure applied to executive officers, with committee discretion and financial and individual goals, though CFO-specific payouts were not disclosed .
2025 Plan design (applies to executive officers; CFO-specific terms highlighted):
| Incentive Type | Metric(s) | Weighting | Target/Opportunity | Payout/Grant Timing | Vesting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annual Cash (CFO) | Operating income from continuing operations (company-level, adjusted for unusual items) | 100% | 15%–75% of base salary (range) | If earned, paid March 2026 | N/A (cash) |
| Primary Long-Term Incentive Shares | Committee program; value-based | N/A | Up to 35% of base salary plus any cash incentive | If earned, granted in 2026 | Vests ratably over 3 years |
| Career Share Awards | Value-based | N/A | 20% of base salary for CFO | If earned, granted in 2026 | If age ≥61: vests over 2 years; if ≤60: vests ratably over 5 years after reaching age 61 |
Additional mechanics and policies:
- A $5.00 deemed minimum price per share is used when determining the number of restricted shares awarded, limiting share count inflation at low prices .
- Share award vesting accelerates upon death, disability, or change in control; termination without cause accelerates all Career Shares and the expensed portion of LTI shares .
- Policies expressly prohibit hedging or hypothecation of restricted stock awards prior to vesting .
Stock options (program-wide grant mechanics; not CFO-specific):
- On May 25, 2023, the company granted five-year options to certain key employees and executive officers at a $1.00 strike (10% above $0.90 fair market value), with vesting only after a two-year hold and if the stock trades at or above $3.00 for five consecutive trading days during the option term .
- These options are designed with a market condition that mitigates near-term dilution and ties value to sustained share price recovery .
Equity Ownership & Alignment
- Beneficial ownership for the CFO was not separately disclosed; as of March 10, 2025, all directors and executive officers as a group (10 persons) beneficially owned 2,190,236 shares of Common Stock (14.3%) and 1,249,302 shares of Class B Common Stock (100%) .
- Hedging/hypothecation of executive restricted stock awards before vesting is prohibited by policy .
- Restricted stock award determinations use a $5.00 minimum price for share calculations, reducing dilution when the market price is below $5 .
- The year-end 2024 closing price of $0.651/share was used to value unvested restricted stock for NEOs (illustrative of valuation basis) .
Employment Terms
- Change in control: Immediate vesting of all share awards .
- Termination without cause: Immediate vesting of all Career Shares and the expensed portion of LTI shares .
- Retirement: At retirement age (plan-defined), restricted stock vests to the extent expensed; as of year-end 2024, only the CEO was eligible for this treatment (illustrative of plan operation) .
- Additional forfeiture provisions allow awards to be forfeited for post-termination competitive or injurious activities; repricing of options is prohibited under the Omnibus Equity Incentive Plan .
- No CFO-specific employment agreement, severance multiple, or non-compete terms were disclosed in the reviewed proxy filings.
Say-on-Pay & Shareholder Feedback
| Year | Say-on-Pay Approval |
|---|---|
| 2020 | >94% “For” |
| 2021 | >98% “For” |
| 2023 | >93% “For” |
| 2024 | >93% “For” |
Risk Indicators & Red Flags
- Nasdaq delisting and OTCQB transition in October 2024 increase financing and liquidity risk, raising execution pressure on finance and operations .
- Sustained losses and declining revenues, with TSR collapsing to $12 value on a $100 base by 2024, reflect challenging performance conditions under which incentive plans will be tested .
- Equity plan uses strict market-vesting conditions for options (e.g., $3.00 for five days) and prohibits hedging/hypothecation pre-vesting, limiting misalignment but also making equity realizations more difficult in depressed markets .
Investment Implications
- Pay-for-performance alignment: CFO’s 2025 cash incentive is fully tied to company operating income (15%–75% of salary), while equity awards are value-capped and long-vesting with a $5/share award-calculation floor—this concentrates incentives on operational recovery and prudent share issuance .
- Selling pressure: 2024 paid no incentives to NEOs and equity awards were not granted under the 2024 Plan for NEOs; with strict option hurdles and vesting schedules, near-term insider selling pressure from new grants appears limited, though CFO-specific grants/holdings are not disclosed .
- Alignment/retention: Hedging prohibitions and multi-year vesting support retention and alignment; however, absence of CFO-specific ownership disclosures limits visibility into “skin in the game” at the individual level .
- Execution risk: Negative net income, declining revenues, TSR compression, and the 2024 OTCQB transition increase the bar for incentive realization; the structure should reward turnaround execution, but the financial baseline suggests elevated risk to achieving payouts .