As we enter the New Year, it is time to reflect on the change that we brought to 2023. It was a very challenging but rewarding year. We did not benefit from the tailwind that was expected to close out the year, and general engineering did not perform as anticipated; however, we flourished in the high-performance areas. With your support and that of everyone in your organizations, we were able to show our combined value to the market. We are also proud to have added Adam Wojciechowski to our business development team as a distributor manager supporting Crystal Graff. This has allowed us to continue to develop the strong, sustainable partnerships that enable market share gains. I could not be prouder of the progress that the team has made and their continued commitment to all of you. 

Without constant change, there is no progress. We saw increased merger and acquisition activity; through it all, we focused on improving processes and building relationships. Many of you grew above market, and we are grateful. Administratively, we updated our Distributor Practices, which we are looking forward to share soon. We also finalized our new Distributor Agreements and updated our Code of Conduct; we thank you all for reviewing these documents and providing your approval. These are all very important accomplishments to continue to support you in best possible manner. Lastly, with the help of past Distributor Advisory Council (DAC) members, we believe to have improved our Test Tool Policy and revamped our Co-Op Program. Again, these to serve you better and ensure we have effective programs.  

I could not be happier to work with all of you. Change will continue at a rapid pace, and knowing that we can talk about any disruptions and plan together to meet any challenge is the Seco spirit we embody!