JOUT Johnson Outdoors Inc

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JOHNSON OUTDOORS INC.

555 MAIN STREET

RACINE, WISCONSIN 53403

January 10, 2025

Dear Fellow Stockholders:

You are cordially invited to join us for our 2025 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, which will be held on Thursday, February 27, 2025, at 8:00 a.m., central standard time. The annual meeting will be a completely “virtual meeting” of stockholders. You will be able to attend the annual meeting as well as vote and submit questions during the live webcast of the meeting by visiting www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/JOUT2025 and entering the 16-digit control number included on your Notice or Proxy Card or the instructions that accompanied your proxy materials.

The Notice of Annual Meeting of Stockholders and the Proxy Statement that follow describe the business to be conducted at the annual meeting. Members of our Board of Directors and executive officer team will participate in the annual meeting and be available to answer questions regarding the Company.

Your vote is very important. Whether or not you attend or participate in the virtual meeting, we encourage you to submit your proxy through the Internet or by mail. This will ensure that your shares are represented at the meeting. Even if you submit a proxy, you may revoke it at any time before it is voted. If you attend the meeting and wish to vote online during the virtual meeting, you will be able to do so using the 16-digit control number included on your Notice of Annual Meeting or Proxy Card or the instructions that accompanied your proxy materials.

We appreciate your continued support of our Company.

 

 

JOHNSON OUTDOORS INC.

555 MAIN STREET

RACINE, WISCONSIN 53403

Shareholders of record at the close of business on Thursday, December 19, 2024, will be entitled to notice of and to vote at the annual meeting and any adjournment or postponement thereof. Holders of Class A common stock, voting as a separate class, are entitled to elect three directors and holders of Class B common stock, voting as a separate class, are entitled to elect the remaining directors. The holders of Class A common stock and Class B common stock, voting together, as a single class, are entitled to vote on the proposal to ratify the appointment of RSM US LLP as the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm for the 2025 fiscal year, the non-binding advisory proposal on executive compensation, and to transact such other business as may properly come before the meeting of any adjournment or postponement thereof. All shareholders of record are cordially invited to attend and participate in the meeting virtually. Shareholders of record may vote and submit questions while connected to the Annual Meeting on the Internet. Whether or not you plan to attend and participate in the virtual annual meeting, please complete, sign, date and return the enclosed proxy in the accompanying self-addressed postage pre-paid envelope or complete your proxy by following the instructions supplied on the proxy card for voting by telephone or via the Internet (or, if your shares are held in “street name” by a broker, nominee, fiduciary or other custodian, follow the directions given by the broker, nominee, fiduciary or other custodian regarding how to instruct it to vote your shares) as soon as possible. If you attend and participate in the virtual meeting and wish to vote during the virtual meeting, you will be able to do so using the 16-digit control number included on your Notice or Proxy Card or the instructions that accompanied your proxy materials.

 

This summary highlights information contained elsewhere in this proxy statement. This summary does not contain all the information you should consider, and you should read the entire proxy statement and our Fiscal 2024 Annual Report on Form 10-K carefully before voting.

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE HIGHLIGHTS

For more information, visit page 35.

JOHNSON OUTDOORS INC.

555 Main Street

Racine, Wisconsin 53403

Important Notice Regarding the Availability of Proxy Materials for the

2025 Virtual Annual Meeting of Shareholders to be held on February 27, 2025:

 

The Notice of Annual Meeting, this Proxy Statement and the Accompanying Annual Report

on Form 10-K are Available at www.proxyvote.com

This Proxy Statement, which is first being mailed on or about January 10, 2025, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on December 19, 2024, is furnished in connection with the solicitation of proxies by the Board of Directors of Johnson Outdoors Inc. (the “Company”), for the purposes set forth in the accompanying Notice of Annual Meeting of Shareholders, to be used at the Annual Meeting of Shareholders of the Company to be held virtually on Thursday, February 27, 2025 at 8:00 a.m., central standard time, at the following weblink: www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/JOUT2025 and at any adjournment or postponement thereof (the “Annual Meeting”).

You may vote in any of the following ways:

If you submit a proxy now, your right to vote at the Annual Meeting is not waived should you decide to attend and vote online during the virtual meeting.

Shares represented by a properly executed proxy will be voted at the Annual Meeting and, when instructions have been given by the shareholder, will be voted in accordance with those instructions. If you submit a proxy without giving voting instructions, the persons named as proxies on the proxy card will vote your shares: (1) FOR the election of the directors named in this Proxy Statement, (2) FOR the ratification of RSM US LLP as the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending October 3, 2025, and (3) FOR approval of the non-binding advisory proposal on executive compensation.

As of the date of this Proxy Statement, the Company does not expect any matters to be voted upon at the Annual Meeting other than the proposals set forth in the accompanying Notice of Annual Meeting of Shareholders. If any other matters properly come before the Annual Meeting, including, among other things, consideration of a motion to adjourn the meeting to another time or place, a properly executed proxy gives the persons named as proxies on the proxy card authority to vote on such matters. The individuals named and acting as proxies will have the authority to vote on those matters according to their best judgment to the same extent as the person delivering the proxy would be entitled to vote. If the Annual Meeting is adjourned or postponed, a proxy will remain valid and may be voted at the adjourned or postponed meeting.

You may revoke your proxy at any time before it is actually voted by giving written notice of revocation to the Secretary of the Company, by attending the Annual Meeting virtually and voting online or by submitting a duly executed proxy to the Company bearing a later date. Attendance and participating online in the Annual Meeting will not, by itself, revoke a proxy. If you have given voting instructions to a broker, nominee, fiduciary or other custodian that holds your shares in “street name,” you may revoke those instructions by following the directions given by the broker, nominee, fiduciary or other custodian. If a shareholder properly signs and returns the proxy card but does not specify how to vote, then the shareholder’s shares will be voted FOR the election of the directors listed in the enclosed proxy, FOR the ratification of RSM US LLP as the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm for the 2025 fiscal year, and FOR approval of the non-binding advisory proposal on executive compensation.

Telephone and Internet voting procedures are designed to authenticate shareholders’ identities, to allow shareholders to give their voting instructions and to confirm that shareholders’ instructions have been properly recorded. Shareholders voting via the Internet should understand that there might be costs associated with electronic access, such as usage charges from Internet access providers and telephone companies that the shareholder must bear.

The record date for shareholders entitled to notice of and to vote at the Annual Meeting is December 19, 2024. On the record date, the Company had outstanding and entitled to vote 9,119,752 shares of Class A common stock and 1,207,760 shares of Class B common stock. A majority of the votes entitled to be cast at the Annual Meeting, represented either in person (including attending virtually) or by proxy, shall constitute a quorum with respect to the meeting. Holders of Class A common stock, voting as a separate class, elect three directors and are entitled to one vote per share for directors designated to be elected by holders of Class A common stock. Holders of Class B common stock elect the remaining directors and are entitled to one vote per share for directors designated to be elected by holders of Class B common stock. Holders of Class A common stock and Class B common stock voting together as a single voting group are entitled to vote on the proposal to ratify RSM US LLP as the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm for the 2025 fiscal year and to vote to approve the non-binding advisory proposal on executive compensation. The holders of Class A common stock are entitled to one vote per share, while holders of Class B common stock are entitled to ten votes per share on these proposals where Class A common stock and Class B common stock vote together as a single voting group. Approval of any other matter not specified in the Notice of Annual Meeting of Shareholders that may properly be presented at the Annual Meeting will require that the number of votes properly cast in favor of such matter exceed the number of votes properly cast against such matter, with the holders of the Class A common stock entitled to one vote per share and the holders of Class B common stock entitled to ten votes per share. Abstentions and broker non-votes (i.e., shares held by brokers in “street name,” voting on certain matters due to discretionary authority or instructions from the beneficial owners but not voting on other matters due to lack of authority to vote on such matters without instructions from the beneficial owner) will count toward the quorum requirement but will not count toward the determination of whether the directors are elected or whether such other matters are approved. The Inspector of Election appointed by our Board of Directors will count the votes and ballots.

Nine directors are to be elected at the Annual Meeting to serve until the next annual meeting of shareholders or until their respective successors have been duly elected. The Company’s Articles of Incorporation provide that holders of the Company’s Class A common stock have the right to elect 25 percent, or the next highest whole number, of the authorized number of directors and the holders of the Company’s Class B common stock are entitled to elect the remaining directors. At the Annual Meeting, holders of Class A common stock will be entitled to elect three directors and holders of Class B common stock will be entitled to elect six directors. John M. Fahey, Jr., Paul G. Alexander and Jeffrey M. Stutz (the “Class A Directors”) are the Board nominees designated to be voted on by the holders of Class A common stock, and Helen P. Johnson-Leipold, Katherine Button Bell, Edward F. Lang, Richard (“Casey”) Sheahan, Edward Stevens, and Liliann Annie Zipfel (the “Class B Directors”) are the Board nominees designated to be voted on by the holders of Class B common stock. As indicated below, the individuals nominated by our Board of Directors are all incumbent directors.

Properly completed proxies (whether by Internet, telephone or mail) received from holders of Class A common stock will, unless otherwise directed, be voted for the three nominee Class A Directors and properly completed proxies (whether by Internet, telephone or mail) received from holders of Class B common stock will, unless otherwise directed, be voted for the six nominee Class B Directors. Proxies of holders of Class A common stock cannot be voted for more than three persons and proxies of holders of Class B common stock cannot be voted for more than six persons. Class A Directors are elected by a plurality of the votes cast by the holders of Class A common stock and Class B Directors are elected by a plurality of the votes cast by the holders of Class B common stock, in each case assuming a quorum is present at the Annual Meeting. “Plurality” means that the individuals who receive the largest number of votes cast by holders of the class of common stock entitled to vote in the election of such directors are elected as directors up to the maximum number of directors to be chosen at the Annual Meeting by such class. Consequently, the nine directors receiving the most votes, taking into account the Company’s two class voting structure, will be elected to the Board of Directors.

The following table provides information as of the date of this Proxy Statement about each nominee for election to the Board of Directors at the Annual Meeting. The Company anticipates the nominees for election as directors will be candidates when the election is held. However, if any of the nominees should be unable or unwilling to serve, the proxies, pursuant to the authority granted to them by the Board of Directors and taking into account our two class voting structure, will have discretionary authority to select and vote for substituted nominees (except where the proxy withholds authority with respect to the election of directors). The information presented includes information each nominee or director has given the Company about his or her age, his or her principal occupation and business experience for at least the past five years, and the names of other publicly-held companies of which he or she currently serves as a director or has served as a director during the past five years. The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee regularly evaluates the mix of experience, qualifications, attributes and skills of the Company’s directors using a matrix of areas that the Committee considers important for the Company’s business and its strategic objectives. In addition to the information presented below regarding the nominee’s specific experience, qualifications, attributes and skills that led the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee to the conclusion that the nominee should serve as a director, the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee also considered the qualifications and criteria described below under “Corporate Governance Matters – Director Nominations” with the objective of creating a complementary mix of directors. Moreover, additional information regarding Board diversity is set forth below under “Corporate Governance Matters – Board Diversity and Disclosure.”

The Board of Directors has standing Executive, Audit, Compensation, and Nominating and Corporate Governance Committees. During the year ended September 27, 2024 (“fiscal 2024”), there were seven meetings of the Board of Directors, seven meetings of the Audit Committee, four meetings of the Compensation Committee, three meetings of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee and no meetings of the Executive Committee. Each director attended at least 75 percent of the aggregate number of (i) meetings of the Board of Directors held during the period for which he or she was a director during fiscal 2024 and (ii) meetings of the committees on which the director served during fiscal 2024.

Executive sessions or meetings of outside (non-management) directors without management present are held regularly for a general discussion of relevant subjects. In fiscal 2024, the outside directors met in executive session at least two times in accordance with the requirements of the NASDAQ Stock Market.

The Board of Directors has adopted a written charter for each of its Committees which may be amended from time to time. The Company makes available copies of each of these charters on its website at www.johnsonoutdoors.com, 24 hours a day and free of charge. The Company is not including the information contained on or available through its website as part of, or incorporating such information by reference into, this Proxy Statement.

The Company is committed to establishing and maintaining high standards of corporate governance, which are intended to serve the long-term interests of the Company and its shareholders. The Board of Directors has adopted Corporate Governance Guidelines which the Company has published on its website at www.johnsonoutdoors.com.

The Board of Directors has determined that the Company is a “Controlled Company,” as defined in NASDAQ Stock Market Listing Rule 5615(a)(7). The Board has based this determination on the fact that Helen P. Johnson-Leipold is deemed to be the beneficial owner of more than 50 percent of the voting power of the Company. The Company, therefore, is exempt from certain independence requirements of the NASDAQ Stock Market rules, including the requirement to maintain a majority of independent directors on the Company’s Board of Directors and the requirement to maintain a Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee and a Compensation Committee composed entirely of independent directors. Notwithstanding such exemption, the Board of Directors has reviewed the independence of the nominees for election to the Board at the Annual Meeting under the applicable standards of the NASDAQ Stock Market. Based upon this review, of the nine nominees, the Board of Directors has determined that each of the following nominee directors was independent under the NASDAQ listing standards:

The Board of Directors determined that Ms. Johnson-Leipold was not independent in accordance with the NASDAQ standards because she is an executive officer of the Company.

The Board of Directors determines whether it is appropriate to combine or separate the roles of Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer depending on the Company’s circumstances at the time. Ms. Johnson-Leipold currently serves as the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and as Chairman of the Board of Directors. Ms. Johnson-Leipold possesses extensive experience in the industries in which the Company operates, and in-depth knowledge of the issues, opportunities and challenges the Company faces, and is thus best positioned to develop agendas and highlight issues that ensure that the Board of Directors’ time and attention are focused on the most critical matters. In addition, the Board of Directors has determined that this leadership structure is optimal because it believes that having one leader serving as both the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer provides decisive, consistent and effective leadership, as well as clear accountability. Having one person serve as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer also enhances the Company’s ability to communicate its message and strategy clearly and consistently to its shareholders, employees, and business partners, particularly during times of turbulent economic and industry conditions. Although the Company believes that the combination of the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer roles is appropriate under current circumstances, it will continue to review this issue periodically to determine whether, based on the relevant facts and circumstances, separation of these offices would serve the Company’s best interests and the best interests of its shareholders.

John M. Fahey, Jr., serves as the Company’s Lead Independent Director/Vice Chairman of the Board. In his capacity as lead outside or independent director, Mr. Fahey coordinates the activities of the independent directors and serves as a liaison between the Chairman and the independent directors. Mr. Fahey also presides at the executive sessions of the independent directors and has the authority to call additional executive sessions or meetings of the independent directors.

The following table reflects Johnson Outdoors’ Board Diversity Matrix as of September 27, 2024, disclosed in accordance with former Nasdaq Rule 5606, as self-disclosed by the current incumbent directors to Johnson Outdoors. In light of a recent federal court of appeals decision to vacate the rule, Johnson Outdoors will reevaluate the benefit of continuing to disclose the Board diversity matrix in future proxy statements based on various relevant facts and circumstances, including whether disclosure would serve the Company’s best interests and the best interests of its shareholders.

The Company has established a Risk Committee, which is primarily responsible for the Company’s enterprise risk assessment and enterprise risk management oversight. The Risk Committee is co-chaired by the Company’s Chief Financial Officer and Chief Legal Officer and includes various other members of senior management. The role of the Board of Directors in the Company’s risk oversight process includes receiving reports and presentations from the Risk Committee or other senior management leaders on areas of material risk to the Company, including operational, financial, legal and regulatory, strategic, reputational, cybersecurity and Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”) related risks and any measures taken to mitigate such risks. In addition, the Board of Directors regularly reviews and discusses areas of material risk at its meetings. In essence, the Board of Directors oversees a company-wide approach to risk management, carried out by Company management. With respect to cybersecurity risk, the Board (through the Audit Committee) periodically reviews information on management’s policies and processes related to the Company’s cybersecurity and data-protection, including related to monitoring, controlling and mitigating against such risks, and the entire Board receives periodic updates on the Company’s cybersecurity risk management processes.

As noted above, the Company has established a Risk Committee, which is primarily responsible for the Company’s enterprise risk assessment and overseeing enterprise risk management. Notwithstanding such delegation of responsibility by the Company’s Board of Directors, the Board has reserved to the Company’s Compensation Committee primary oversight responsibility to ensure that compensation programs and practices

of the Company do not encourage unreasonable or excessive risk-taking and that any risks are subject to appropriate controls. As part of this process, the Company (with the oversight of the Compensation Committee) designs the Company’s overall compensation programs and practices, including incentive compensation for both executives and non-executive employees, in a manner intended to support its strategic priorities and initiatives to enhance long-term sustainable value without encouraging unnecessary or unreasonable risk-taking. At the same time, the Company recognizes that its goals cannot be fully achieved while avoiding all risk. The Compensation Committee (along with assistance from management) periodically reviews the Company’s compensation programs and practices in the context of its risk profile, together with its other risk mitigation and risk management programs, to ensure that these programs and practices work together for the long-term benefit of the Company and its shareholders. Based on its recently completed review of the Company’s compensation programs, the Compensation Committee concluded that the Company’s incentive compensation policies for both executive and non-executive employees have not materially and adversely affected the Company by encouraging unreasonable or excessive risk-taking in the recent past, are not likely to have a material adverse effect in the future and provide for multiple and reasonably effective safeguards to protect against unnecessary or unreasonable risk-taking.

Effective June 3, 2022, the Company’s Board of Directors adopted Stock Ownership Guidelines for certain Company executives and all of the non-employee members of the Company’s Board of Directors, which are effective beginning on the five-year anniversary of the adoption date. The Guidelines establish minimum levels of stock ownership for certain executives and all the non-employee members of the Board and are administered by the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors believes these Guidelines will help further align the interests of management and the Board with the interests of shareholders and to focus the Company’s directors and executives on the long-term success of the Company. A copy of the Company’s Stock Ownership Guidelines, which may be amended from time to time, is available on its website at www.johnsonoutdoors.com, 24 hours a day and free of charge. The Company is not including the information contained on or available through its website as part of, or incorporating such information by reference into, this Proxy Statement.

The Company has a standing Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. Based upon the review described under “Corporate Governance Matters – Director Independence,” the Board of Directors has determined that each member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee is independent under the applicable standards of the NASDAQ Stock Market.

The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee will consider director nominees recommended by shareholders. Recommendations for consideration by the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee should be sent to the Secretary of the Company in writing, together with appropriate biographical information concerning each proposed nominee, including the following information: (1) the name, address (business and residence), date of birth and principal occupation or employment (present and for the past five years) of each person whom the shareholder proposes to be considered as a nominee; (2) the number of shares of the common stock (of each class) beneficially owned (as defined by section 13(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended) by each such proposed nominee; (3) any other information regarding such proposed nominee that would be required to be disclosed in a definitive proxy statement to shareholders prepared in connection with an election of directors pursuant to section 14(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended; and (4) the name and address (business and residential) of the shareholder making the recommendation and the number of shares of the common stock (regardless of class) beneficially owned (as defined by section 13(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended) by the shareholder making the recommendation. The Company may require any proposed nominee to furnish additional information as may be reasonably required to determine the qualifications of such proposed nominee to serve as a director of the Company. The Company’s Bylaws also set forth certain requirements for shareholders wishing to nominate director candidates directly for consideration by the shareholders. With respect to an election of directors to be held at an annual meeting, a shareholder must, among other things, give notice of intent to make such a nomination to the Secretary of the Company in advance

of the meeting in compliance with the terms and within the time period specified in the Bylaws. Pursuant to these requirements, a shareholder must give a written notice of intent to the Secretary of the Company not earlier than the close of business on the 120^th day and not later than the close of business on the 90^th day prior to the first anniversary date of the preceding year’s annual meeting; provided, however, that in the event that the date of the annual meeting is more than 30 days before or more than 60 days after such anniversary date, notice by the shareholder must be so delivered not earlier than the close of business on the 120^th day prior to the date of such annual meeting and not later than the close of business on the later of the 90^th day prior to the date of such annual meeting or, if the first public announcement of the date of such annual meeting is less than 100 days prior to the date of such annual meeting, the 10^th day following the day on which public announcement of the date of such meeting is first made by the Company. The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee will consider any nominee recommended by a shareholder in accordance with the preceding paragraph under the same criteria as any other potential nominee. In identifying and evaluating nominees for director, the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee of the Board of Directors seeks to ensure that the Board of Directors possesses, in the aggregate, the strategic, managerial and financial skills and experience necessary to fulfill its duties and to achieve its objectives, and seeks to ensure that the Board of Directors is comprised of directors who have broad and diverse backgrounds, possessing knowledge in areas that are of importance to the Company. In addition, the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee believes it is important that at least one director have the requisite experience and expertise to be designated as an “audit committee financial expert.” The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee looks at each nominee on a case-by-case basis regardless of who recommended the nominee. In looking at the qualifications of each candidate to determine if their election would further the goals described above, the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee takes into account all factors it considers appropriate, which may include strength of character, mature judgment, career specialization, relevant technical skills or financial acumen, diversity of viewpoint and industry knowledge. At a minimum, each director nominee must have displayed the highest personal and professional ethics, integrity, values and sound business judgment. In addition, the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee believes that the following specific qualities and skills are necessary for all Company directors to possess:

In 2019, based on a recommendation from the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, the Board of Directors adopted a director retirement age of 75 in the Company’s Corporate Governance Guidelines, which are posted on the Company’s website located at www.johnsonoutdoors.com.

Shareholders may communicate with the Board of Directors by writing to the Board of Directors (or, at the shareholder’s option, to a specific director) care of the Secretary of the Company at Johnson Outdoors Inc., 555 Main Street, Suite 342, Racine, Wisconsin 53403. Subject to the conditions described below, the Secretary will ensure that this communication (assuming it is properly addressed to the Board of Directors or to a specific

director) is delivered to the Board of Directors or the specified director, as the case may be. Each such communication should indicate that the sender is a shareholder of the Company and that the sender is directing the communication to one or more individual directors or to the Board of Directors as a whole.

All communications will be compiled by the Company’s Secretary and submitted to the Board of Directors or the individual directors on an as needed basis unless such communications are considered, in the reasonable judgment of the Secretary, to be improper for submission to the intended recipient(s). Examples of shareholder communications that would be considered improper for submission include, without limitation, customer complaints, solicitations, communications that do not relate directly or indirectly to the Company or its business or communications that relate to improper or irrelevant topics. The Secretary may also attempt to handle a communication directly where appropriate, such as where the communication is a request for information about the Company or where it is a stock-related matter.

Directors are encouraged to attend the Company’s Annual Meeting of Shareholders. All the incumbent directors who were serving as a director at the time of the meeting attended the Company’s Virtual Annual Meeting of Shareholders that occurred on February 28, 2024.

The Company has adopted an Employee Code of Business Conduct (the “Code of Conduct”). The Company requires all directors, officers and employees to adhere to the Code of Conduct in addressing legal and ethical issues encountered in conducting their work. The Code of Conduct requires the Company’s directors, officers and employees to avoid conflicts of interest, comply with all applicable laws and other legal requirements, conduct business in an honest and ethical manner and otherwise act with integrity and in the Company’s best interests. The Company has placed a copy of the Code of Conduct on its website located at www.johnsonoutdoors.com. In addition, all directors, officers and salaried employees are required to complete compliance training on the Code of Conduct and certain other subjects.

The Company also adopted a Code of Ethics for the Chief Executive Officer and Senior Financial and Accounting Officers (the “Code of Ethics”), which governs the conduct of the Company’s Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer and its other senior financial and accounting officers and executives. The Code of Ethics supplements the Code of Conduct and is intended to deter wrongdoing and to promote honest and ethical conduct, including the ethical handling of conflicts of interest; provide full, fair, accurate, timely and understandable disclosure in the Company’s public documents; promote compliance with applicable laws and regulations; ensure the prompt reporting of violations of the Code of Ethics; and provide accountability for adherence to the Code of Ethics. The Company has placed a copy of the Code of Ethics on its website located at www.johnsonoutdoors.com. The Company intends to disclose any amendments to, or waivers from, the Code of Ethics on its corporate website.

In addition, the Company has adopted a set of Corporate Governance Guidelines (the “Corporate Governance Guidelines”). The Corporate Governance Guidelines have been established to assist the Board of Directors in the exercise of its responsibilities and to reflect the Board’s commitment to monitoring the effectiveness of policy and decision making at both the Board and management levels. The Corporate Governance Guidelines address issues such as composition of the Board, director retirement requirements, independence criteria for Board members, Board leadership, evaluating performance of the Board, directors’ responsibilities, the Board’s relationship with senior management, Committee matters and director continuing education. The Company has placed a copy of the Corporate Governance Guidelines on its website located at www.johnsonoutdoors.com.

Further, the Company has established “whistle-blower procedures” which provide a process for the confidential and anonymous submission, receipt, retention and treatment of complaints regarding accounting, internal accounting controls or auditing matters. These procedures provide protections to employees who report possible Company misconduct.

The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee is responsible for annually reporting to the Board of Directors regarding the Committee’s assessment and evaluation of the performance of the Board as a whole. This report and assessment is discussed with the full Board and includes specific review of performance areas in which the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee believes a better contribution could be made. The purpose of this assessment and evaluation is to increase the effectiveness of the Board as a whole and not necessarily to focus on individual Board members.

The Company has adopted an Insider Trading Policy applicable to all of the Company’s and its designated subsidiaries’ employees, officers, directors and consultants with respect to transactions in the Company’s securities. A copy of this Policy is available on the Company’s website at www.johnsonoutdoors.com, 24 hours a day and free of charge. This Policy has been reasonably designed to promote compliance by the Company and its employees, officers, and directors with all applicable insider trading laws, rules and regulations and with applicable listing standards of the Nasdaq Stock Market on which the Company’s Class A common stock trades. Moreover, as part of this Policy, the Company’s stock trading policies prohibit directors and the Company’s employees, including its executive officers, from (i) purchasing any financial instrument that is designed to hedge or offset any decrease in the market value of the Company’s common stock, including zero-cost collars and forward sale contracts; (ii) engaging in short sales related to the Company’s common stock; and (iii) maintaining margin accounts. Pursuant to the terms and condition of the Company’s Insider Trading Policy, all transactions in Johnson Outdoors securities by directors and executive officers must be pre-cleared with the Company’s Chief Financial Officer and Chief Legal Officer.

The Audit Committee is currently comprised of four members of the Company’s Board of Directors. Based upon the review described under “Corporate Governance Matters – Director Independence,” the Board of Directors has determined that each member of the Audit Committee is independent under the applicable standards and rules of the NASDAQ Stock Market and the rules of the SEC. The duties and responsibilities of the Company’s Audit Committee are set forth in the Audit Committee Charter, which may be found on the Company’s website at www.johnsonoutdoors.com.

In accordance with its written charter adopted by the Board of Directors, the Audit Committee has oversight responsibility for the quality and integrity of the financial reporting practices of the Company. While the Audit Committee has oversight responsibility, the primary responsibility for the Company’s financial reporting, disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting and related internal controls and procedures rests with management, and the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm is responsible for auditing the Company’s financial statements. In discharging its oversight responsibility as to the audit process, the Audit Committee has:

Based upon the above-described review and discussions with management and the independent registered public accounting firm, the Audit Committee recommended to the Company’s Board of Directors that the audited consolidated financial statements be included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 27, 2024 for filing with the SEC.

The Company’s Board of Directors has determined that at least one of the members of the Audit Committee, Edward F. Lang, qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert” as defined by the rules of the SEC based on his work experience and education.

The following table summarizes the fees the Company was billed for audit and non-audit services rendered by the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm, RSM US LLP, related to fiscal years 2024 and 2023.

The Audit Committee of the Board of Directors of the Company considered that the provision of the services and the payment of the fees described above are compatible with maintaining the independence of RSM US LLP.

The Audit Committee is responsible for reviewing and pre-approving any non-audit services to be performed by the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm. These non-audit services are evaluated by the Audit Committee taking into account scope, fees, and applicable laws and regulations (including SEC rules) related to the independence of the independent registered public accounting firm. The Audit Committee has delegated its pre-approval authority to the Chairman of the Audit Committee to act between meetings of the Audit Committee for amounts up to $50,000. Any pre-approval given by the Chairman of the Audit Committee pursuant to this delegation is presented to the full Audit Committee at its next regularly scheduled meeting.

Each new engagement of the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm to perform non-audit services has been approved in advance by the Audit Committee or the Chairman of the Audit Committee pursuant to the foregoing procedures.

Our Audit Committee has appointed RSM US LLP as the independent registered public accounting firm to audit the Company’s consolidated financial statements for the fiscal year ending October 3, 2025. Unless otherwise directed, proxies will be voted FOR the ratification of such appointment.

Although this appointment is not required to be submitted to a vote of shareholders, our Board of Directors believes it appropriate as a matter of policy to request that our shareholders ratify the appointment. If shareholder ratification is not received, the Board of Directors will reconsider the appointment, and may retain that firm or another firm without resubmitting the matter to the Company’s shareholders. Even if the appointment is ratified, the Audit Committee may, in its discretion, direct the appointment of a different firm at any time during the fiscal year if it determines that such change would be in the Company’s best interests.

It is expected that a representative of RSM US LLP will participate in the virtual Annual Meeting, will have the opportunity to make a statement if he or she desires to do so and will be available to respond to appropriate questions.

If a quorum exists, the approval of the ratification of RSM US LLP requires that the number of votes properly cast for this proposal exceed the number of votes properly cast against this proposal. Abstentions and broker non-votes will not count toward the determination of whether this proposal is approved and will have no impact on the vote.

The following table sets forth certain information as of September 27, 2024 regarding the beneficial ownership of each class of Company common stock by each director, each person known by the Company to own beneficially more than 5 percent of either class of the Company’s common stock (including any “group” as set forth in Section 13(d)(3) of the Exchange Act), each of the officers named in the Summary Compensation Table in this Proxy Statement (the “named executive officers”), and all directors and current Section 16 executive officers as a group based upon information furnished by such persons or in information otherwise publicly available in filings with the SEC.

The Company has determined beneficial ownership in accordance with the rules of the SEC. Except as indicated in the footnotes, the persons listed below have sole voting and investment power over the shares beneficially owned. Shares of common stock subject to options that are either currently exercisable or exercisable within 60 days of September 27, 2024 or restricted stock units (with each unit representing one share of Class A common stock issuable on such vesting date) which are vested or which vest within 60 days of September 27, 2024 are treated as outstanding (but only to the extent the reporting person has not made an election to defer receipt of the underlying shares as of such vesting date) and beneficially owned by the holder for the purpose of computing the percentage ownership of the holder. However, these shares are not treated as outstanding for the purpose of computing the percentage ownership of any other person, except with respect to restricted stock units that have vested and been issued as shares of Class A common stock. The table lists applicable percentage ownership based on 9,093,978 shares of Class A common stock outstanding as of September 27, 2024 plus restricted stock units which vested within 60 days of that date and 1,207,760 shares of Class B common stock outstanding as of September 27, 2024.

As of September 27, 2024, the Johnson Family beneficially owned 3,651,939 Class A Shares, or approximately 40.2% of the outstanding Class A Shares, and 1,204,946 Class B Shares, or approximately 99.8% of the outstanding Class B Shares.

The following table provides information as of the date of this Proxy Statement about each of the Company’s current executive officers who are not nominees for election to the Board of Directors at the Annual Meeting. The information presented includes information each executive officer has given the Company about his or her age and his or her principal occupation and business experience for the past five years:

This CD&A addresses the Company’s compensation philosophy and objectives, describes the elements of our executive compensation programs, and explains how the Compensation Committee of our Board of Directors (the “Compensation Committee”) arrived at its compensation decisions for our fiscal 2024 named executive officers (“NEOs”) each of whom are listed below: