Item 1A.—RISK FACTORS

        The various risks related to the Company's business include the risks described below. The business, financial condition or results of operations of Hardinge Inc. could be materially adversely affected by any of these risks. The risks and uncertainties described below or elsewhere in this Form 10-K are not the only ones to which we are exposed. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial may also adversely affect our business and operations. If any of the matters included in the following risks were to occur, our business, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows or prospects could be materially adversely affected.

Our customers' activity levels and spending for our products and services have been impacted by the current global economic conditions, especially deterioration in the credit markets.

        Many of our customers finance their purchases of our products through cash flow from operations, the incurrence of debt or from the proceeds received in connection with an issuance of equity. The recent world-wide financial crisis and related impact on the global financial market generated significant losses due to failures of many dominant financial institutions. The governments of the United States and several foreign countries instituted bailout plans to assist many banks and others impacted by the economic crisis. This crisis has resulted in, among other things, a significant decline in the credit markets and the availability of credit, the impact of which is still being experienced today in some of our markets. Additionally, many of our customers' equity values have substantially declined. The combination of a reduction in borrowing bases under asset based credit facilities and the reduced availability of debt or equity financing may result in a decrease in our customers' spending for our products and may impact the ability of our customers to pay amounts owed to us. In addition, this crisis and economic uncertainty resulted in an overall decrease in consumer and business spending, which negatively impacted the need our customers have for our products. While economic conditions have shown signs of improvement in many of our markets, future slow or negative growth in the global economy may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Changes in general economic conditions and the cyclical nature of our business could harm our operating results.

        Our business is cyclical in nature, following the strength and weakness of the manufacturing economies in the geographic markets we serve. As a result of this cyclicality, we have experienced, and in the future we can be expected to experience, significant fluctuations in sales and operating income, which may affect our business, operating results, financial condition and the market price of our common shares.

        The following factors, among others, significantly influence demand for our products:

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Fluctuations in capacity at both OEMs and job shops;



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The availability of skilled machinists;



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The need to replace machines that have reached the end of their useful life;



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The need to replace older machines with new technology that increases productivity, reduces general manufacturing costs, and machines parts in a new way;



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The evolution of end-use products requiring machining to more specific tolerances;



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Our customers' use of new materials requiring machining by different processes;



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General economic and manufacturing industry expansions and contractions; and



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Changes in manufacturing capabilities in developing regions.

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Our competitive position and prospects for growth may be diminished if we are unable to develop and introduce new and enhanced products on a timely basis that are accepted in the market.

        The machine tool industry is subject to technological change, rapidly evolving industry standards, changing customer requirements, and improvements in and expansion of product offerings, especially with respect to computer-controlled products. Our ability to anticipate changes in technology, industry standards, customer requirements and product offerings by competitors, and to develop and introduce new and enhanced products on a timely basis that are accepted in the market, will be significant factors in our ability to compete and grow. Moreover, if technologies or standards used in our products become obsolete or fail to gain widespread commercial acceptance, our business would be materially adversely affected. Developments by our competitors or others may render our products or technologies obsolete or noncompetitive. Failure to effectively introduce new products or product enhancements on a timely basis could materially adversely affect our business, operating results, and financial condition.

We rely on a limited number of suppliers to obtain certain components, sub-assemblies, assemblies and products. Delays in deliveries from or the loss of any of these suppliers may cause us to incur additional costs, result in delays in manufacturing and delivering our products or cause us to carry excess or obsolete inventory.

        Some components, sub-assemblies, or assemblies we use in the manufacturing of our products are purchased from a limited number of suppliers. Our purchases from these suppliers are generally not made pursuant to long-term contracts and are subject to additional risks associated with purchasing products internationally, including risks associated with potential import restrictions and exchange rate fluctuations, as well as changes in tax laws, tariffs, and freight rates. Although we believe that our relationships with these suppliers are good, there can be no assurance that we will be able to obtain these products from these suppliers on satisfactory terms indefinitely. The present economic environment could also pose the risk of one of these key suppliers going out of business, or cause delays in delivery times of critical components as business conditions rebound and demand increases.

        We believe that design changes could be made to our machines to allow sourcing of components, sub-assemblies, assemblies or products from several other suppliers; however, a disruption in the supply from any of our suppliers could cause us to experience a material adverse effect on our operations.

Our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be adversely affected by the political and economic conditions of the countries in which we conduct business and other factors related to our international operations.

        We manufacture a substantial portion of our products overseas and sell our products throughout the world. In 2011, approximately 74% of our products were sold in countries outside of North America. In addition, a majority of our employees are located outside of the United States. Multiple factors relating to our international operations and to particular countries in which we operate could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows. These factors include:

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A prolonged world-wide economic downturn or economic uncertainty in our principal international markets including Asia and Europe;



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Changes in political, regulatory, legal, or economic conditions;



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Restrictive governmental actions, such as restrictions on the transfer or repatriation of funds and foreign investments and trade protection measures, including export duties and quotas, customs duties and tariffs, or trade barriers erected by either the United States or other countries where we do business;

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Disruptions of capital and trading markets;



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Changes in import or export licensing requirements;



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Transportation delays;



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Civil disturbances or political instability;



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Geopolitical turmoil, including terrorism or war;



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Currency restrictions and exchange rate fluctuations;



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Changes in labor standards;



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Limitations on our ability under local laws to protect our intellectual property;



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Nationalization and expropriation;



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Changes in domestic and foreign tax laws;



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Difficulty in obtaining distribution and support; and



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Major health concerns.

        Moreover, international conflicts are creating many economic and political uncertainties that are affecting the global economy. Escalation of existing international conflicts or the occurrence of new international conflicts could severely affect our operations and demand for our products.

We may face trade barriers that could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and result in a loss of customers or suppliers.

        Trade barriers established by the United States or other countries may interfere with our ability to offer our products in those markets. We manufacture a substantial portion of our products overseas and sell our products throughout the world. We cannot predict whether the United States or any other country will impose new quotas, tariffs, taxes, or other trade barriers upon the importation or exportation of our products or supplies, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition. Competition and trade barriers in those countries could require us to reduce prices, increase spending on marketing or product development, withdraw or not enter certain markets, or otherwise take actions adverse to us.

        In addition, our subsidiaries may require future equity-related financing, and any capital contributions to certain of our subsidiaries may require the approval of the relevant authorities in the jurisdiction in which the subsidiary is incorporated. Those approvals may be required from the investment commissions or similar agencies of the particular jurisdiction and relate to any initial or additional equity investment by foreign entities in local entities.

        In all jurisdictions in which we operate, we are also subject to the laws and regulations that govern foreign investment and foreign trade, which may limit our ability to repatriate cash as dividends or otherwise.

Our business is highly competitive, and increased competition could reduce our sales, earnings and profitability.

        The markets in which our machines and other products are sold are extremely competitive and highly fragmented. In marketing our products, we compete primarily with other businesses on quality, reliability, price, value, delivery time, service, and technological characteristics. We compete with a number of U.S., European, and Asian competitors, many of which are larger, have greater financial and other resources, and are supported by governmental or financial institution subsidies. Increased

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competition could force us to lower our prices or to offer additional product features or services at a higher cost to us, which could reduce our earnings.

        The greater financial resources or the lower amount of debt of certain of our competitors may enable them to commit larger amounts of capital in response to changing market conditions. Certain competitors may also have the ability to develop product innovations that could put us at a disadvantage. If we are unable to compete successfully against other manufacturers in our marketplace, we could lose customers, and our sales may decline. There can also be no assurance that customers will continue to regard our products favorably, that we will be able to develop new products that appeal to customers, that we will be able to improve or maintain our profit margins on sales to our customers, or that we will be able to continue to compete successfully in our core markets. While we believe our product lines compete effectively in their markets, we may not continue to do so.

Acquisitions could disrupt our operations and harm our operating results.

        We may elect to increase our product offerings and the markets we serve through acquisitions of other companies, product lines, technologies and personnel. Acquisitions involve numerous risks, including the following:

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Difficulties in integrating the operations, technologies, products and personnel of the acquired companies;



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Diversion of management's attention from normal daily operations of the business;



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Potential difficulties in completing projects associated with in-process research and development;



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Difficulties in entering markets in which we have no or limited direct prior experience and where competitors in such markets have stronger market positions;



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Initial dependence on unfamiliar supply chains or relatively small supply partners;



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Difficulties in predicting market demand for acquired products and technologies and the resultant risk of acquiring excess or obsolete inventory;



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Insufficient revenues to offset increased expenses associated with acquisitions; and



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The potential loss of key employees of the acquired companies.

        Acquisitions may also cause us to:

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Issue common stock that would dilute our current shareholders' percentage ownership;



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Increase our level of indebtedness;



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Assume liabilities;



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Record goodwill and non-amortizable intangible assets that will be subject to impairment testing on a regular basis and potential periodic impairment charges;



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Incur amortization expenses related to certain intangible assets;



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Incur large and immediate write-offs and restructuring and other related expenses; and



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Become subject to litigation.

        Acquisitions are inherently risky, and no assurance can be given that our future acquisitions, if any, will be successful and will not have material adverse affect on our business, operating results or financial condition. Failure to manage and successfully integrate acquisitions we make could harm our business and operating results in a material way. Prior acquisitions have resulted in a wide range of outcomes, from successful introduction of new products, technologies, facilities, and personnel to an

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inability to do so. Even when an acquired business has already developed and marketed products, there can be no assurance that product enhancements will be made in a timely fashion or that pre-acquisition due diligence will have identified all possible issues that might arise with respect to such products.

If we are unable to access additional capital on favorable terms, our liquidity, business, and results of operations could be adversely affected.

        The ability to raise financial capital, either in public or private markets or through commercial banks, is critical to our current business and future growth. Our business is generally working capital intensive requiring a long cash-out to cash-in cycle. In addition, we will rely on the availability of longer-term debt financing or equity financing to make investments in new opportunities. Our access to the financial markets could be adversely impacted by various factors including the following:

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Changes in credit markets that reduce available credit or the ability to renew existing facilities on acceptable terms;



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A deterioration in our financial condition that would violate current loan agreement covenants or prohibit us from obtaining additional capital from banks, financial institutions, or investors;



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Extreme volatility in credit markets that increase margin or credit requirements; and



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Volatility in our results that would substantially increase the cost of our capital.

We are subject to significant foreign exchange and currency risks that could adversely affect our operations and our ability to reinvest earnings from operations.

        Our international operations generate sales in a number of foreign currencies including British Pound Sterling ("GBP"), Chinese Renminbi ("CNY"), Euros ("EUR"), New Taiwanese Dollars ("TWD"), and Swiss Francs ("CHF"). Therefore, our results of operations and financial condition are affected by fluctuations in exchange rates between these currencies and the U.S. dollar ("USD"). In addition, our purchases of components in CNY, EUR, TWD, CHF, and Japanese Yen ("JPY") are affected by inter-currency fluctuations in exchange rates.

        We prepare our financial statements in U.S. Dollars in accordance with U.S. GAAP, but a sizable portion of our revenue and operating expenses are in foreign currencies. As a result, we are subject to significant risks, including:

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Foreign exchange risks resulting from changes in foreign exchange rates and the implementation of exchange controls; and



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Limitations on our ability to reinvest earnings from operations in one country to fund the capital needs of our operations in other countries.

        Changes in exchange rates will result in increases or decreases in our revenues, costs, and earnings, and may also affect the book value of our assets located outside of the United States and the amount of our invested equity. Although we may seek to decrease our currency exposure by engaging in hedges against significant transactions and balance sheet currency exposures where we deem it appropriate, we do not hedge against translation risks. Though we monitor and manage our exposures to changes in currency exchange rates, and utilize currency exchange forward contracts and swaps to mitigate the impact of changes in currency values, changes in exchange rates nonetheless cannot always be predicted or hedged. Consequently, we cannot assure you that any efforts to minimize our risk to currency movements will be successful. To the extent we sell our products in markets other than the market in which they are manufactured, currency fluctuations may result in our products becoming too expensive for customers in those markets.

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Prices of some raw materials, especially steel and iron, fluctuate, which can adversely affect our sales, costs, and profitability.

        We manufacture products with a relatively high iron castings or steel content, commodities for which worldwide prices fluctuate. The availability of and prices for these and other raw materials are subject to volatility due to worldwide supply and demand forces, speculative actions, inventory levels, exchange rates, production costs, and anticipated or perceived shortages. In some cases, those cost increases can be passed on to customers in the form of price increases; in other cases, they cannot. If raw material prices increase and we are not able to charge our customers higher prices to compensate, it would adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Our quarterly results may fluctuate based on customer delivery requirements.

        Our quarterly results are subject to significant fluctuation based on the timing of our shipments of machine tools, which are largely dependent upon customer delivery requirements. With individual machines priced as high as $1.5 million and several machines frequently sold together as a package, a request by a customer to delay shipment at quarter end could significantly affect our quarterly results. Given that a larger percentage of our sales are now from Asia, the impact of the one week to two weeks plant shut downs in that region by us and our customers due to the Lunar New Year, the first quarter sales, income from operations, and net income may be the lowest quarter of the year.

Our expenditures for post-retirement pension obligations could be materially higher than we have predicted if our underlying assumptions prove to be incorrect or we are required to use different assumptions.

        We provide defined benefit pension plans to eligible employees. Our pension expense, the funding status of our plans and related charges in other comprehensive income, and our required contributions to our pension plans are directly affected by the value of plan assets, the projected rate of return on plan assets, the actual rate of return on plan assets and the actuarial assumptions we use to measure our defined benefit pension plan obligations, including the rate at which future obligations are discounted to a present value, or the discount rate.

        Our market-related value of assets recognizes asset losses and gains over a five-year period, which we believe is consistent with the long-term nature of our pension obligations. As a result, the effect of changes in the market value of assets on our pension expense may be experienced in future years rather than fully reflected in the expense for the year immediately following the year in which the fluctuations actually occurred.

        For the year ended December 31, 2011, the value of our Pension Plan Assets decreased by $7.4 million primarily due to decreases in market value of the underlying assets and plan settlement. The investment performance of our pension plan assets could significantly impact the growth of those assets. Should the assets earn a return less than the assumed rate of return over time, it is likely that future pension expenses and funding requirements would increase. Investment earnings in excess of the assumed rate of return may reduce future pension expenses and funding requirements.

        For our domestic and foreign plans, discount rates are based on the yields on high grade corporate bonds in each market with maturities matching the projected benefit payments. Discount rates are used to determine the present value of the projected and accumulated benefit obligation at the end of each year. A change in the discount rate would impact the funded status of our plans. An increase to the discount rate would reduce the pension liability and future pension expense and, conversely, a lower discount rate would increase pension liability and the future pension expense.

        To develop the expected long-term rate of return on assets assumption, for our domestic and foreign plans, we consider the current level of expected returns on risk free investments (primarily government bonds) in each market, the historical level of the risk premium associated with the other

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asset classes in which the portfolio is invested, and the expectations for future returns of each asset class. The expected return for each asset class is then weighted based on the asset allocation to develop the expected long-term rate of return on assets assumption.

        For pension accounting purposes in our U.S. based plan, which is the largest of our plans, the rate of return assumed on the market-related value of plan assets for determining pension expense was 8.00% for 2011 and 2010. The discount rate used for determining the obligation was 5.11% at December 31, 2011 compared to 5.93% at December 31, 2010.

        We have two defined benefit plans in our Swiss subsidiary. When taken as a whole, the two plans are the second largest of our defined benefit plan. The rate of return assumed on the market-related value of plan assets for determining pension expense on plan assets was 3.90% for 2011 and 2010. The discount rate used for determining the obligation was 2.7% for 2011 and 2010.

        Based on current guidelines, assumptions and estimates, including stock market prices and interest rates, we expect to make a cash contribution of approximately $5.7 million to our U.S. pension plans in 2012 and approximately $2.2 million to the foreign plans in 2012. If our current assumptions and estimates are not correct, a contribution in years beyond 2012 may be more or less than the projected 2012 contribution.

        In addition, we cannot predict whether changing market or economic conditions, regulatory changes or other factors will increase our pension expenses or our funding obligations, diverting funds we would otherwise apply to other uses. At December 31, 2011, the excess of consolidated projected benefit obligations over plan assets was $45.3 million and the excess of consolidated accumulated benefit obligations over plan assets was $40.2 million.

Our U.S. defined benefit pension plan is currently underfunded and we will be required to make cash payments to the plan, reducing the cash available for our business.

        We record a liability associated with the U.S. defined benefit pension plan equal to the excess of the benefit obligation over the fair value of plan assets. The liability recorded at December 31, 2011 was $31.6 million. We expect to make estimated funding contributions totaling approximately $5.5 million in fiscal 2012, of which $3.9 million represents a receivable contribution for the 2011 plan year. Contribution levels are largely contingent on asset returns and corporate bond yields. If the performance of the assets in our U.S. defined benefit pension plan does not meet our expectations and/or corporate bond yields decrease, our future contributions to the plan could increase. Our U.S. defined benefit pension plan is subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, or ERISA. Under ERISA, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, or PBGC, has the authority to terminate an underfunded pension plan under limited circumstances.

If we are unable to attract and retain skilled employees to work at our manufacturing facilities our operations and growth prospects would be adversely impacted.

        We conduct substantially all of our manufacturing operations in relatively small urban areas. Our continued success depends on our ability to attract and retain a skilled labor force at these locations. If we are not able to attract and retain the personnel we require, we may be unable to develop, manufacture, and market our products, or to expand our operations in a manner that best exploits market opportunities and capitalizes on our investment in our business. This would materially adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition.

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Due to future technological changes, changes in market demand, or changes in market expectations, portions of our inventory may become obsolete or excessive.

        The technologies within our products change and generally new versions of machines are brought to market in three to five year cycles. The phasing out of an old product involves both estimating the amount of inventory to hold to satisfy the final demand for those machines as well as to satisfy future repair part needs. Based on changing customer demand and expectations of delivery times for repair parts, we may find that we have either obsolete or excess inventory on hand. Because of unforeseen changes in technology, market demand, or competition, we may have to write off unusable inventory at some time in the future, which may adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.

Major changes in the economic situation of our customer base could require us to write off significant portion of our receivables from customers.

        In difficult economic periods, our customers lose work and find it difficult if not impossible to pay for products purchased from us. Although appropriate credit reviews are done at the time of sale, rapidly changing economic conditions can have sudden impacts on customers' ability to pay. We run the risk of bad debt on existing time payment contracts and open accounts. If we write off significant parts of our customer accounts or notes receivable because of unforeseen changes in their business condition, it would adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, and cash flows.

If we suffer damage to our factories, facilities or distribution system due to catastrophe, our operations could be seriously harmed.

        Our factories, facilities, and distribution system are subject to catastrophic loss due to fire, flood, terrorism, or other natural or man-made disasters. In particular, several of our facilities could be subject to a catastrophic loss caused by earthquake due to their locations. Our facilities in Southeast Asia are located in areas with above average seismic activity. If any of our facilities were to experience a catastrophic loss, it could disrupt our operations, delay production, shipments and revenue, and result in large expenses to repair or replace the facility.

We rely in part on independent distributors and the loss of these distributors could adversely affect our business.

        In addition to our direct sales force, we depend on the services of independent distributors and agents to sell our products and provide service and aftermarket support to our customers. We support an extensive distributor and agent network worldwide. In 2011, approximately 69% of our sales were through distributors and agents. In December 2009, we reorganized our U.S. distribution from a joint distributor network and direct sales force to a new group of distributors. Rather than serving as passive conduits for delivery of product, many of our distributors are active participants in the sale and support of our products. Many of the distributors with whom we transact business offer competitive products and services to our customers. In addition, the distribution agreements we have are typically cancelable by the distributor after a relatively short notice period. The loss of a substantial number of our distributors or an increase in the distributors' sales of our competitors' products to our customers could reduce our sales and profits.

We rely on estimated forecasts of our customers' needs and inaccuracies in such forecasts could adversely affect our business.

        We generally sell our products pursuant to individual purchase orders instead of long-term purchase commitments. Therefore, we rely on estimated demand forecasts, based upon input from our customers and the general economic environment, to determine how much material to purchase and product to manufacture. Because our sales are based on purchase orders, our customers may cancel,

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delay, or otherwise modify their purchase commitments with little or no consequence to them and with little or no notice to us. For these reasons, we generally have limited visibility regarding our customers' actual product needs. The quantities or timing required by our customers for our products could vary significantly. Whether in response to changes affecting the industry or a customer's specific business pressures, any cancellation, delay, or other modification in our customers' orders could significantly reduce our revenue, cause our operating results to fluctuate from period to period and make it more difficult for us to predict our revenue. In the event of a cancellation or reduction of a customer order, we may not have enough time to reduce inventory purchases or our workforce to minimize the effect of the lost revenue on our business. During 2011 and 2010, net orders and related sales were impacted by order cancellations of $15.9 million and $10.2 million, respectively, primarily due to the global economic conditions.

We could face potential product liability claims relating to products we manufacture, which could result in us having to expend significant time and expense to defend these claims and to pay material amounts in damages or settlement.

        We face a business risk of exposure to product liability claims in the event that the use of our products is alleged to have resulted in injury or other adverse effects. We currently maintain product liability insurance coverage; however, such insurance does not cover all types of damages that could be assessed against us in a product liability claim and the coverage amounts are subject to limitations under the applicable policies. We may not be able to obtain product liability insurance on acceptable terms in the future. Product liability claims can be expensive to defend and can divert the attention of management and other personnel for long periods of time, regardless of the ultimate outcome. An unsuccessful product liability defense could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations or prospects. In addition, we believe our business depends on the strong brand reputation we have developed. In the event that our reputation is damaged, we may face difficulty in maintaining our pricing positions with respect to some of our products, which would reduce our sales and profitability.

Current employment laws or changes in employment laws could increase our costs and may adversely affect our business.

        Various federal, state and foreign labor laws govern the relationship with our employees and affect operating costs. These laws include minimum wage requirements, overtime, unemployment tax rates, workers' compensation rates, citizenship requirements, and costs to terminate or layoff employees. Significant additional government-imposed increases in the following areas could materially affect our business, financial condition, operating results, or cash flow:

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minimum wages;



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mandated health benefits;



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paid leaves of absence;



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mandatory severance payments; and



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employment taxes.

We are subject to environmental laws that could impose significant costs on us and the failure to comply with such laws could subject us to sanctions and material fines and expenses.

        Our operations are subject to extensive federal, state, local and foreign laws and regulations relating to environmental matters.

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        Certain environmental laws can impose joint and several liabilities for releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances upon certain statutorily defined parties regardless of fault or the lawfulness of the original activity or disposal. Hazardous substances and adverse environmental effects have been identified with respect to certain property we own and on adjacent areas.

        In particular, our Elmira, NY manufacturing facility is located within the Kentucky Avenue Wellfield on the National Priorities List of hazardous waste sites designated for cleanup by the United States Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") because of groundwater contamination. The Kentucky Avenue Wellfield Site (the "Site") encompasses an area which includes sections of the Town of Horseheads and the Village of Elmira Heights in Chemung County, NY. In February 2006, the Company received a Special Notice Concerning a Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study ("RI/FS") for the Koppers Pond (the "Pond") portion of the Site. The EPA documented the release and threatened release of hazardous substances into the environment at the Site, including releases into and in the vicinity of the Pond. The hazardous substances, including metals and polychlorinated biphenyls, have been detected in sediments in the Pond.

        A substantial portion of the Pond is located on our property. The Company, along with Beazer East, Inc., the Village of Horseheads, the Town of Horseheads, the County of Chemung, CBS Corporation and Toshiba America, Inc. (the Potentially Responsible Parties or "PRPs") has agreed to voluntarily participate in the Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study ("RI/FS") by signing an Administrative Settlement Agreement and Order of Consent on September 29, 2006. On September 29, 2006, the Director of Emergency and Remedial Response Division of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region II, approved and executed the Agreement on behalf of the EPA. The PRPs also signed a PRP Member Agreement, agreeing to share the cost of the RI/FS study on a per capita basis.

        In May 2008, the EPA approved the RI/FS Work Plan. The PRPs commenced field work in the spring of 2008 and on September 7, 2011 submitted the draft Remedial Investigation Report to the EPA. The PRPs are continuing to address EPA comments and to perform the tasks required by the RI/FS Work Plan and Administrative Settlement Agreement.

        Until receipt of this Special Notice in February 2006, the Company had never been named as a PRP at the Site nor had the Company received any requests for information from the EPA concerning the Site. Environmental sampling on our property within this Site under supervision of regulatory authorities had identified off-site sources for such groundwater contamination and sediment contamination in the Pond, and had found no evidence that our operations or property have contributed or are contributing to the contamination. We have not established a reserve for any potential costs relating to this Site, as it is too early in the process to determine our responsibility as well as to estimate any potential costs to remediate. We have notified all appropriate insurance carriers and are actively cooperating with them, but whether coverage will be available has not yet been determined and possible insurance recovery cannot now be estimated with any degree of certainty.

        Although we believe, based upon information currently available that, except as described in the preceding paragraphs, we will not have material liabilities for environmental remediation, it is possible that future remedial requirements or changes in the enforcement of existing laws and regulations, which are subject to extensive regulatory discretion, will result in material liabilities to the Company.

The loss of current members of our senior management team and other key personnel may adversely affect our operating results.

        The loss of senior management and other key personnel could impair our ability to carry out our business plan. We believe our future success will depend in part on our ability to attract and retain highly skilled and qualified personnel. The loss of senior management and other key personnel may

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adversely affect our operating results as we incur costs to replace the departing personnel and potentially lose opportunities in the transition of important job functions.

If we fail to maintain an effective system of internal controls, we may not be able to report our financial results accurately or prevent fraud.

        Effective internal controls are necessary for us to provide reliable financial reports, to prevent fraud and to operate successfully as a publicly traded company. Our efforts to maintain an effective system of internal controls may not be successful, and we may be unable to maintain adequate controls over our financial processes and reporting in the future. Ineffective internal controls subject us to regulatory scrutiny and a loss of confidence in our reported financial information, which could have an adverse effect on our business and would likely have a negative effect on the trading price of our common stock.

Anti-takeover provisions in our charter documents and under New York law may discourage a third party from acquiring us.

        Certain provisions of our certificate of incorporation and bylaws may have the effect of discouraging a third party from making a proposal to acquire us and, as a result, may inhibit a change in control of the Company under circumstances that could give the shareholders the opportunity to realize a premium over the then-prevailing market price of our common shares. These include:

        A Staggered Board of Directors.     Our certificate of incorporation and bylaws provide that our Board of Directors, currently consisting of eight members, is divided into three classes of directors, with each class consisting of two or three directors, and with the classes serving staggered three-year terms. This classification of the directors has the effect of making it more difficult for shareholders, including those holding a majority of our outstanding shares, to force an immediate change in the composition of our Board of Directors.

        Removal of Directors and Filling of Vacancies.     Our certificate of incorporation provides that a member of our Board of Directors may be removed only for cause and upon the affirmative vote of the holders of 75% of the securities entitled to vote at an election of directors. Newly created directorships and Board of Director vacancies resulting from death, removal or other causes may be filled only by a majority vote of the then remaining directors. Accordingly, it is more difficult for shareholders, including those holding a majority of our outstanding shares, to force an immediate change in the composition of our Board of Directors.

        Supermajority Voting Provisions for Certain Business Combinations.     Our certificate of incorporation requires the affirmative vote of at least 75% of all of the securities entitled to vote and at least 75% of shareholders who are not Major Shareholders (defined as 10% beneficial holders) in order to effect certain mergers, sales of assets or other business combinations involving the Company. These provisions could have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change of control of the Company.

        In addition, as a New York corporation we are subject to provisions of the New York Business Corporation Law which may make it more difficult for a third party to acquire and exercise control over us pursuant to a tender offer or request or invitation for tenders. These provisions could have the effect of deterring or delaying changes in incumbent management, proxy contests or changes in control.