Stag Industrial, Inc.

Greetings and welcome to the Stagg Industrial 4th Quarter 2021 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A brief question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance during the conference, please press star zero on your telephone keypad. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Steve Zaros. Thank you, Steve. You may begin.

Thank you. Welcome to Stagg Industrial's conference call covering the fourth quarter 2021 results. In addition to the press release distributed yesterday, we have posted an unaudited quarterly supplemental information presentation on the company's website at www.staggindustrial.com under the investor relations section. On today's call, the company's prepared remarks and answers to your questions will contain forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements address matters that are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ from those discussed today. Examples of forward-looking statements include forecasts of core FFO, same store NOI, G&A, acquisition and disposition volumes, retention rates, and other guidance, leasing prospects, rent collections, industry and economic trends, and other matters. We encourage all our listeners to review the more detailed discussion related to these forward-looking statements contained in the company's filings with the SEC and the definitions and reconciliations of non-GAAP measures contained in the supplemental informational package available on the company's website. As a reminder, forward-looking statements represent management's estimates as of today. Stagg Industrial assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements. On today's call, you will hear from Ben Butcher, our Chief Executive Officer, Bill Crooker, our president, and Matt Spenard, our chief financial officer. Also here with us today is Steve Mechie, our chief operating officer, who is available to answer questions specific to operations. I will now turn the call over to Ben.

Thank you, Steve. Good morning, everybody, and welcome to the fourth quarter earnings call for SAG Industrial. We're pleased to have you join us and look forward to telling you about our fourth quarter results. Before we get started, I wanted to touch on the succession announcement we made a little over a month ago. As previously announced, on July 1st, my title will be changing. I will leave the CEO role and become the Executive Chair of the Board of Directors. Bill Crooker, our President, will be taking over my position as CEO. My transition from CEO to Executive Chairman this July will be made without the slightest hesitation or concern. Almost 11 years ago, we had the opportunity to move our successful private equity fund platform to the public markets. The compelling reasons for making this move have all been validated by our experience in the public markets. I take great pride in the company we have built. A company that continues to exceed operational expectations is genuinely a great place to work and grow. We have focused on growing our team from within. This commitment to employee development has provided us with a deep and talented batch of colleagues that we can rely on now and in the future. As we enter 2022, I'm highly confident of the STAG team across all levels of the organization. I want to thank you for the opportunity to be your CEO since you founded the company over 18 years ago. My job has been made easier by the immense level of support I have received from the many stakeholders in Stag. I'm excited for my new role and for the next phase of Stag's journey as a public company. 2021 was another great year for Stag Industrial. Strong execution across all facets of the company allowed us to meet or exceed all our goals and guidance for the year. Our performance in the fourth quarter was no different. The acquisition volume in the quarter was the highest ever, and we produced a high level of same-store NOI growth. We accomplished all of this while maintaining our strong investment-grade balance sheet. Industrial fundamentals remained strong as we started 2022, and are projected to remain healthy for some time. Demand exceeded supply in almost all U.S. markets throughout 2021. This drove the strongest market rent growth we have seen in our portfolio in our operating history. Based on our current projections, we expect to see continued strong market rate growth throughout 2022. As Bill and Matt will discuss shortly, these market dynamics contributed to both our very positive 2021 results and our strong 2022 guidance. Finally, I am proud to report that the company's inaugural Environmental, Social, and Governance Report was published in December. We take great pride in our best-in-class ESG profile and fully expect this to be an annual sustainability report. This report represents an additional tool for us to comprehensively communicate our ESG efforts and provide context for the considerable progress we continue to make. With that, I'll turn it over to Bill, who will discuss our acquisition and disposition results and outlook for 2022.