Velarion · Company Intelligence
Compensation Brief
Fiscal year 2025 · Filings through 2026-07-01

Douglas Dynamics (PLOW)

Fiscal year 2025 executive and director compensation, incentive-plan design, equity activity, and governance — every figure in this brief is traceable to its exact location in the company’s SEC filing — the document, the section, the page, and the table, linked directly.

$3,008,565
Mark Van Genderen total, FY2025
20th
CEO pay percentile vs peers
44.02:1
CEO-to-median pay ratio
95.49%
Say-on-pay support, latest vote
Companies that benchmark against PLOW
6 companies name PLOW as a compensation peer

Each company listed discloses PLOW in its own benchmarking peer group, as disclosed in each company's most recent proxy statement within the last two proxy seasons. Two companies are therefore absent by design: one that named PLOW in an earlier year and no longer does, and one whose own most recent disclosure is older than the last two seasons.

01

Summary Compensation Table — fiscal year 2025

Named executive officerSalaryBonusStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentivePension / NQDCAll otherTotal
Mark Van Genderen$651,421$0$1,110,239$0$1,219,611$0$27,294$3,008,565
President and Chief Executive Officer
Sarah Lauber508,0000847,1330663,817026,5472,045,497
Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Secretary
Christopher Bernauer335,34234,000234,4880404,700015,7401,024,271
President, Work Truck Attachments
James Janik180,8330114,5960000295,429
Executive Chairman and Interim President and Chief Executive Officer

A dash means the company reported no figure in that column; 0 means it reported zero. Figures are as printed in the filing, without adjustment.

Three-year trend — total compensation per named executive

Named executive officerFY2025 totalFY2024 totalFY2023 totalΔ FY20242025
Mark Van Genderen$3,008,565$1,048,387$577,233+1,960,178
Sarah Lauber2,045,4972,454,1431,028,177−408,646
Christopher Bernauer1,024,271
James Janik295,4291,613,188−1,317,759

Prior-year totals as disclosed in the corresponding proxy; deltas are computed values with the derivation shown in the register.

02

Equity transactions since the proxy statement was filed

Every insider equity transaction reported on Form 4 after the 2025 proxy statement — acquisitions, dispositions, exercises, and withholdings — and therefore not reflected in any table in that document.

InsiderRoleTransaction dateCodeSharesPriceValueSecuritySource
James L. JanikDirector2026-04-29A2,737$0$0CommonForm 4 ↗
Bradley M. NelsonDirector2026-04-29A2,73700CommonForm 4 ↗
Lisa R. BacusDirector2026-04-29A2,73700CommonForm 4 ↗
Joher AkolawalaDirector2026-04-29A2,73700CommonForm 4 ↗
Kenneth W. KruegerDirector2026-04-29A2,73700CommonForm 4 ↗
Donald W. SturdivantDirector2026-04-29A2,73700CommonForm 4 ↗
Jennifer I. AnsberryDirector2026-04-29A2,73700CommonForm 4 ↗
James L. JanikDirector2026-05-11D6,00000CommonForm 4 ↗
Sarah LauberEVP & CFO2026-07-01D6,73554363,353CommonForm 4 ↗

Transaction codes per Form 4: A acquisition · S open-market sale · F tax withholding · M option exercise · G gift. Value = shares × price as reported. Dividend-equivalent and fractional-share accrual rows (derivative Class A, under $10,000 and under 2,000 shares) are aggregated per date; every row appears in full below.

03

Grants of plan-based awards — fiscal year 2025

ExecutiveAwardGrant dateThresholdTargetGrantedMaximumGrant-date fair value
James JanikRSU2025-03-034,394$114,595
Christopher BernauerPSU2025-03-031,3322,66478,295
Sarah LauberPSU2025-02-198,77917,558486,433
Mark Van GenderenPSU2025-02-194,4798,958125,475
Sarah LauberRSU2025-02-1913,694360,700
Mark Van GenderenPSU2025-03-034,6599,318136,928
Mark Van GenderenRSU2025-02-198,386220,887
Mark Van GenderenPSU2025-03-0313,978364,546700,0001,400,000
03b

Vehicle mix — grant-date fair value by award type

Named executive officerTime-vested (RSU)Performance-vested (PSU)Options / SARs% performance-vested
James Janik$114,595$0$00.0%
Christopher Bernauer078,2950100.0%
Sarah Lauber360,700486,433057.4%
Mark Van Genderen220,8871,662,403088.3%

% performance-vested = PSU grant-date fair value ÷ (RSU + PSU + Options), a computed value with the derivation shown in the register.

04

Outstanding equity awards at fiscal year-end 2025

ExecutiveAwardShares unvestedExercise priceMarket value unvested
Sarah LauberRSU38,703$1,263,653
Christopher BernauerRSU5,989195,542
Christopher BernauerPSU2,66486,980
Mark Van GenderenRSU37,5891,227,281
Sarah LauberPSU31,5911,031,446
Mark Van GenderenPSU23,882779,747
05

Incentive-plan design — the Compensation Discussion & Analysis

Our compensation philosophy is centered on providing an opportunity for an executive's total annual compensation to exceed what we believe is the general market level of compensation for similar executive roles. Our business is subject to variability of earnings due to year to year variations in snowfall. Accordingly, we have designed our compensation program to provide for a competitive annual salary while offering our named executive officers the opportunity to earn a substantial amount of variable compensation based on our profitability and free cash flow.

CEO STI target (% of salary)100%
CEO LTI target (% of salary)
Independent consultantFrederic W. Cook & Co, Inc.
Clawback policyTrue
Anti-hedgingTrue
Anti-pledgingfalse
06

Say-on-pay — recent advisory votes

Meeting yearMeeting dateForAgainstAbstainSupportOutcome
20262026-04-2918,709,832732,824150,75995.49%Passed
20252025-04-2919,354,476863,482194,29794.82%Passed
20242024-04-2319,176,407479,937101,01497.06%Passed
20232023-04-2519,908,869142,40325,89899.16%Passed
20222022-04-2620,188,374123,865163,87398.59%Passed
20212021-04-2819,929,47583,422135,57898.91%Passed

Rows are labeled by annual-meeting year, with the meeting date beside each; the vote held in a given year acts on the prior fiscal year's compensation.

Say-on-pay — history, company's computation

Meeting yearMeeting dateApproval — company's computation
20262026-04-2995.49%a
20252025-04-2994.82%b
20242024-04-2397.06%c

a. Approved under the standard stated in the filing — “Abstentions will have the effect of votes against this proposal, but broker non-votes will have no effect on approval of this proposal.”.

b. Approved under the standard stated in the filing — “Abstentions will have the effect of votes against this proposal, but broker non-votes will have no effect on approval of this proposal.”.

c. Approved under the standard stated in the filing — “Abstentions will have the effect of votes against this proposal, but broker non-votes will have no effect on approval of this proposal.”.

Approval percentages are the company's own reported computations under its own stated standard, not recomputed by Velarion. Where a company does not state a standard, none is assumed.

07

CEO pay ratio

Ratio (CEO : median employee)44.02 : 1
CEO total compensation$3,057,144
Median employee compensation$69,456
08

Director compensation — fiscal year 2025

DirectorCash feesStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentiveAll otherTotal
Donald W. SturdivantIndependent · Board Chair · Audit · Compensation · Nominating/Governance$120,833$114,596$0$0$235,429
Joher AkolawalaIndependent · Audit (Chair) · Compensation · Nominating/Governance90,000114,59600204,596
Lisa R. BacusIndependent · Audit · Compensation (Chair) · Nominating/Governance87,500114,59600202,096
Margaret DanoIndependent · Audit · Compensation · Nominating/Governance · Departed during FY85,000114,59600199,596
Kenneth W. KruegerIndependent · Audit · Compensation · Nominating/Governance (Chair)75,000114,59600189,596
Jennifer I. AnsberryIndependent · Audit · Compensation · Nominating/Governance · Newly elected059,2470059,247
Bradley M. NelsonIndependent · Audit · Compensation · Nominating/Governance · Newly elected059,2470059,247
James L. JanikNot independent00000
Mark Van GenderenEmployee director · Newly elected00000
09

Board fee structure and ownership guideline

Annual cash retainer$110,000
Annual equity retainer
Per board meeting fee
Committee chair fees (audit / comp / nom-gov)15,000 / 12,500 / 10,000
Stock ownership guideline
09b

Total cost of the board

ComponentFY2025
Cash retainers and fees$458,333
Equity awards (grant-date value)$691,474
All other compensation$0
Total cost of the board$1,149,807

Computed as the sum of the director compensation table rows above; inputs and formula shown in the register.

10

Disclosed peer group — fiscal year 2025

The compensation peer group as the company disclosed it in its own proxy — the reference set behind the percentile above.

ESE ESCO TechnologiesCECO CECO Environmental Corp.EPAC Enerpac Tool Group Compass MineralsFSS Federal Signal Corp.HURC Hurco Companies, Inc.LNN Lindsay CorporationMEC Mayville Engineering Co. Northwest Pipe Co.KAI Kadant CorporationALG Alamo Group Inc.ASTE Astec IndustriesFSTR L.B. Foster CompanyMPAA Motorcar Parts of AmericaSHYF The Shyft GroupTWIN Twin Disc, Incorporated
10a

Peer reciprocity

Of the companies Douglas Dynamics names as compensation peers, which name it back in their own disclosed peer groups. A peer set the market reciprocates reads differently from one selected in a single direction.

ESCO Technologies (ESE)45 CECO Environmental Corp. (CECO)46 Enerpac Tool Group (EPAC) Federal Signal Corp. (FSS) Hurco Companies, Inc. (HURC) Lindsay Corporation (LNN)47 Mayville Engineering Co. (MEC) Kadant Corporation (KAI)48 Alamo Group Inc. (ALG) Astec Industries (ASTE) L.B. Foster Company (FSTR) Motorcar Parts of America (MPAA) The Shyft Group (SHYF) Twin Disc, Incorporated (TWIN)

Reciprocity shown where the peer's own current proxy has been read — each mark is cited in the register to that peer's filing. A dash means the peer's current proxy was read and names no reciprocal group including Douglas Dynamics.

10b

Chief executive pay against the peer group

Most recent fiscal-year chief executive compensation at each disclosed peer, taken from that company's own proxy statement.

RankCompanyFYChief executiveSalaryStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentiveTotal
1Enerpac Tool Group2025Paul Sternlieb$929,423$4,520,634$0$951,332$6,548,272
2ESCO Technologies2025Bryan Sayler830,5003,052,88601,661,0005,586,139
3Kadant Corporation2025Jeffrey Powell970,9003,036,18101,491,8005,519,261
4Lindsay Corporation2025Randy Wood837,7442,375,165749,9691,117,6985,095,625
5CECO Environmental Corp.2024Todd Gleason717,3831,627,505289,575382,6563,051,771
6Douglas Dynamics2025Mark Van Genderen651,4211,110,23901,219,6113,008,565
7Hurco Companies, Inc.2025Gregory Volovic675,8001,249,991002,023,603
Federal Signal Corp.not in coverage universe
Mayville Engineering Co.not in coverage universe
Alamo Group Inc.not in coverage universe
Astec Industriesnot in coverage universe
L.B. Foster Companynot in coverage universe
Motorcar Parts of Americanot in coverage universe
The Shyft Groupnot in coverage universe
Twin Disc, Incorporatednot in coverage universe

Each peer's compensation is from its most recently filed proxy; fiscal years differ by company. Each peer's figures come from its own filings; the subject company is highlighted. Peers whose chief executive compensation is outside our coverage universe are stated as such, never left blank.

10c

Incentive design against the same peers

CompanyAnnual incentive payoutLong-term vehicle mixPSU measures include TSRCompensation consultant
Douglas Dynamics174.2%PSU 50 · RSU 50Yes — Relative TSRFrederic W. Cook & Co, Inc.
Alamo Group Inc.not disclosednot disclosednot disclosednot disclosed
Astec Industriesnot disclosednot disclosednot disclosednot disclosed
CECO Environmental Corp.40%PSU 75 · Options 25NoMeridian Compensation Partners LLC
Enerpac Tool Group100.7%PSU 60 · RSU 40NoMercer, LLC
ESCO Technologies200%PSU 70 · RSU 30NoPay Governance LLC
Federal Signal Corp.not disclosednot disclosednot disclosednot disclosed
Hurco Companies, Inc.not disclosedPSU 55 · RSU 45NoPay Governance, LLC
Kadant Corporation148%PSU 80 · RSU 20NoWillis Towers Watson
L.B. Foster Companynot disclosednot disclosednot disclosednot disclosed
Lindsay Corporation132%PSU 50 · RSU 25 · Options 25YesMeridian Compensation Partners, LLC
Mayville Engineering Co.not disclosednot disclosednot disclosednot disclosed
Motorcar Parts of Americanot disclosednot disclosednot disclosednot disclosed
The Shyft Groupnot disclosednot disclosednot disclosednot disclosed
Twin Disc, Incorporatednot disclosednot disclosednot disclosednot disclosed

Read from each company's Compensation Discussion and Analysis: annual incentive payout as a percentage of target, the disclosed long-term vehicle mix, whether performance-share measures include a total shareholder return component, and the retained compensation consultant. “Not disclosed” appears only where the company's filing does not state the item.

11

Source register

Each figure's location is given both for the eye (section · page · table · row · column) and for a script (table/row/column index and exact character span in the filed document). Any figure can be independently confirmed against the source.

#SupportsDocumentFiledAccessionLocation in document
1Section 01, Mark Van GenderenDEF 14A2026-03-200001437749-26-009126Section “Summary Compensation Table for Fiscal Year Ended December”. As printed: 3,008,565. Filing ↗machine: t83 · r2 · c29 · span 498646–498655
2Section 01, Sarah LauberDEF 14A2026-03-200001437749-26-009126Section “Summary Compensation Table for Fiscal Year Ended December”. As printed: 2,045,497. Filing ↗machine: t83 · r7 · c29 · span 523735–523744
3Section 01, Christopher BernauerDEF 14A2026-03-200001437749-26-009126Section “Summary Compensation Table for Fiscal Year Ended December”. As printed: 1,024,271. Filing ↗machine: t83 · r10 · c29 · span 538867–538876
4Section 01, James JanikDEF 14A2026-03-200001437749-26-009126Section “Summary Compensation Table for Fiscal Year Ended December”. As printed: 295,429. Filing ↗machine: r5 · c28 · span 513630–513637
5Section 03, James Janik RSUDEF 14A2026-03-200001437749-26-009126Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: t93 · r8 · c38 · span 611433–611440
6Section 03, Christopher Bernauer PSUDEF 14A2026-03-200001437749-26-009126Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: t93 · r14 · c26 · span 639454–639459
7Section 03, Sarah Lauber PSUDEF 14A2026-03-200001437749-26-009126Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: t93 · r10 · c26 · span 619505–619510
8Section 03, Mark Van Genderen PSUDEF 14A2026-03-200001437749-26-009126Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: t93 · r2 · c38 · span 581531–581538
9Section 03, Sarah Lauber RSUDEF 14A2026-03-200001437749-26-009126Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: t93 · r11 · c38 · span 626208–626215
10Section 03, Mark Van Genderen PSUDEF 14A2026-03-200001437749-26-009126Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: t93 · r4 · c38 · span 591912–591919
11Section 03, Mark Van Genderen RSUDEF 14A2026-03-200001437749-26-009126Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: t93 · r3 · c38 · span 586723–586730
12Section 03, Mark Van Genderen PSUDEF 14A2026-03-200001437749-26-009126Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: t93 · r6 · c19 · span 599795–599804
13Section 07, pay ratioDEF 14A2026-03-200001437749-26-009126Section “CEO Pay Ratio”. As printed: 44.02 : 1. Filing ↗machine: span 819042–819051
14Section 08, Donald W. SturdivantDEF 14A2026-03-200001437749-26-009126Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 235,429. Filing ↗machine: t140 · r2 · c11 · span 1106503–1106510
15Section 08, Joher AkolawalaDEF 14A2026-03-200001437749-26-009126Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 204,596. Filing ↗machine: t140 · r6 · c11 · span 1116861–1116868
16Section 08, Lisa R. BacusDEF 14A2026-03-200001437749-26-009126Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 202,096. Filing ↗machine: t140 · r5 · c11 · span 1114286–1114293
17Section 08, Margaret DanoDEF 14A2026-03-200001437749-26-009126Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 199,596. Filing ↗machine: t140 · r4 · c11 · span 1111713–1111720
18Section 08, Kenneth W. KruegerDEF 14A2026-03-200001437749-26-009126Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 189,596. Filing ↗machine: t140 · r3 · c11 · span 1109081–1109088
19Section 08, Jennifer I. AnsberryDEF 14A2026-03-200001437749-26-009126Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 59,247. Filing ↗machine: t140 · r7 · c7 · span 1118795–1118801
20Section 08, Bradley M. NelsonDEF 14A2026-03-200001437749-26-009126Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 59,247. Filing ↗machine: t140 · r8 · c7 · span 1121424–1121430
21Section 08, James L. JanikDEF 14A2026-03-200001437749-26-009126Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 0. Filing ↗
22Section 08, Mark Van GenderenDEF 14A2026-03-200001437749-26-009126Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 0. Filing ↗
23Section 02, James L. Janik 2026-04-29Form 42026-04-300000897069-26-000987Insider equity transaction reported since the proxy statement. Filing ↗
24Section 02, Bradley M. Nelson 2026-04-29Form 42026-04-300000897069-26-000990Insider equity transaction reported since the proxy statement. Filing ↗
25Section 02, Lisa R. Bacus 2026-04-29Form 42026-04-300000897069-26-000985Insider equity transaction reported since the proxy statement. Filing ↗
26Section 02, Joher Akolawala 2026-04-29Form 42026-04-300000897069-26-000981Insider equity transaction reported since the proxy statement. Filing ↗
27Section 02, Kenneth W. Krueger 2026-04-29Form 42026-04-300000897069-26-000994Insider equity transaction reported since the proxy statement. Filing ↗
28Section 02, Donald W. Sturdivant 2026-04-29Form 42026-04-300000897069-26-000992Insider equity transaction reported since the proxy statement. Filing ↗
29Section 02, Jennifer I. Ansberry 2026-04-29Form 42026-04-300000897069-26-000983Insider equity transaction reported since the proxy statement. Filing ↗
30Section 02, James L. Janik 2026-05-11Form 42026-05-130000897069-26-001119Insider equity transaction reported since the proxy statement. Filing ↗
31Section 02, Sarah Lauber 2026-07-01Form 42026-07-010000897069-26-001474Insider equity transaction reported since the proxy statement. Filing ↗
32Section 06, 2026 voteForm 8-K2026-05-010001437749-26-014317Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 95.49% (votes for as printed: 18,709,832). Filing ↗
33Section 06, 2025 voteForm 8-K2025-05-020001437749-25-014195Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 94.82% (votes for as printed: 19,354,476). Filing ↗
34Section 06, 2024 voteForm 8-K2024-04-260001437749-24-013307Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 97.06% (votes for as printed: 19,176,407). Filing ↗
35Section 01 trend, Δ column (computed)ComputedcomputedΔ = current-FY total − prior-FY total per named officer.machine: formula: Δ = FY(n) − FY(n−1)
36Section 03b vehicle mix (computed)ComputedcomputedRSU / PSU / Options grant-date fair values summed per officer from the grants table; % performance-vested = PSU ÷ (RSU+PSU+Options).machine: formula: sums + PSU ratio
37Section 09b board cost (computed)ComputedcomputedCash 458,333 + equity 691,474 + all other 0 = 1,149,807, summed across the director compensation table rows.machine: formula: Σ = 1,149,807
38Enerpac Tool Group, Section 10b CEO totalDEF 14A2025-12-220001140361-25-046276CEO total compensation as printed in Enerpac Tool Group's own proxy. As printed: 6,548,272. Filing ↗machine: t136 · r2 · c24 · span 758100–758109
39ESCO Technologies, Section 10b CEO totalDEF 14A2025-12-100001104659-25-119876CEO total compensation as printed in ESCO Technologies's own proxy. As printed: 5,586,139. Filing ↗machine: t222 · r4 · c8 · span 656741–656751
40Kadant Corporation, Section 10b CEO totalDEF 14A2026-04-010000886346-26-000027CEO total compensation as printed in Kadant Corporation's own proxy. As printed: 5,519,261. Filing ↗machine: t17 · r2 · c18 · span 358569–358578
41Lindsay Corporation, Section 10b CEO totalDEF 14A2025-11-210001193125-25-290521CEO total compensation as printed in Lindsay Corporation's own proxy. As printed: 5,095,625. Filing ↗machine: r3 · c26 · span 632813–632822
42CECO Environmental Corp., Section 10b CEO totalDEF 14A2025-04-100001558370-25-004649CEO total compensation as printed in CECO Environmental Corp.'s own proxy. As printed: 3,051,771. Filing ↗machine: t106 · r5 · c17 · span 876582–876591
43Douglas Dynamics (subject), Section 10b CEO totalDEF 14A2026-03-200001437749-26-009126CEO total compensation as printed in Douglas Dynamics's own proxy. As printed: 3,008,565. Filing ↗machine: t83 · r2 · c29 · span 498646–498655
44Hurco Companies, Inc., Section 10b CEO totalDEF 14A2026-01-280001104659-26-007238CEO total compensation as printed in Hurco Companies, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 2,023,603. Filing ↗machine: r1 · c41 · span 754495–754504
45Section 10a, ESCO Technologies reciprocityDEF 14A0001104659-25-119876ESCO Technologies's most recent proxy was read; its disclosed peer group does not include Douglas Dynamics. Filing ↗
46Section 10a, CECO Environmental Corp. reciprocityDEF 14A0001558370-25-004649CECO Environmental Corp.'s most recent proxy was read; its disclosed peer group does not include Douglas Dynamics. Filing ↗
47Section 10a, Lindsay Corporation reciprocityDEF 14A0001193125-25-290521Lindsay Corporation names Douglas Dynamics in its own disclosed peer group (read from its most recent proxy). Filing ↗
48Section 10a, Kadant Corporation reciprocityDEF 14A0000886346-26-000027Kadant Corporation's most recent proxy was read; its disclosed peer group does not include Douglas Dynamics. Filing ↗