Star Equity Holdings, Inc.

Greetings, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to STAR Equity Holdings' first quarter 2024 results conference call. Please be advised that the discussions on today's call may include forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements involve certain risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Please refer to STAR Equity's most recent 10-K, 10-Q, and other filings for a more complete description of risk factors that could affect these projections and assumptions. The company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements as a result of due information, future events, or otherwise. Please also note that on this call, management will reference non-GAAP financial measures, including EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net income, and adjusted earnings per share, which are all financial measures not recognized under U.S. GAAP. As required by SEC rules and regulations, these non-GAAP financial measures are reconciled to their most comparable GAAP measures in our earnings release issued this morning. If you did not receive a copy of the earnings release and would like one after the call, please contact Star Equity at 203-489-9500 or its investor relations representative, Lena Cady, of the Equity Group, at 212-836-9611. Also, this call is being broadcast live over the Internet and may be accessed at Star Equity's website via www.starequity.com. Please note, this call is being recorded. Shortly after the call, a replay will also be available on the company's website. It is now my pleasure to introduce Rick Coleman, Chief Executive Officer of Star Equity.

Thank you, operator. Good morning, everyone. Thanks for joining us for our first quarter 2024 results conference call. On the call with me today are our Executive Chairman, Jeff Everwine, and our Chief Financial Officer, Dave Noble. We'll begin today's call with an update on our first quarter 2024 results. And then we'll discuss the acquisition of timber technologies, which we announced earlier this morning. Additional acquisition details can be found on the 8K we filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and on the updated investor presentation on our website at www.starequity.com. Our first quarter 2024 results were weaker than expected due primarily to to the continued impact of economic headwinds facing our business solutions division. Specifically, four large commercial projects, which we expected to be completed in the first quarter, could not be completed due to customer financing delays. Three of these projects slipped into the second quarter and have now been completed, while the remaining project is now financed and is scheduled to be completed this fall. As a result, our first quarter 2024 revenue decreased 26.1% to $9.1 million compared to $12.3 million in the first quarter of 2023. Our gross margin was 17.3% versus 34.6% in the same period last year. And our gross profit decreased by 63.1% year over year. These quarter to quarter fluctuations aren't unusual. and are a key reason for our focus on expanding and diversifying our revenue base. Despite the challenging environment sector-wide, our sales pipeline and signed backlog remain roughly equivalent to historical averages. We believe the impact we're seeing is temporary and that there is strong demand for new construction in the markets we serve. Our reputation as a reliable and high-quality partner is strong. and we continue to focus on all elements of our growth strategy, including business solutions division expansion, acquisitions that would mark our entry into new industries, and exploring new opportunities at our investments division. This focus is exemplified by our acquisition of Timber Technologies, which I'll discuss later. Now I'll turn the call over to Dave Noble, our CFO, to provide additional first quarter consolidated financial highlights.

Dave, please go ahead. Dave.