Employee Stock Compensation

6 Months Ended

Jul. 31, 2011

Disclosure Of Compensation Related Costs Share Based Payments Abstract

Disclosure of Compensation Related Costs, Share-based Payments [Text Block]

8. Employee Stock Compensation

The Company’s Director’s Plan permits the grant of share options and shares to its Directors for up to 60,000 shares of common stock as stock compensation.  All stock options under this Plan are granted at the fair market value of the common stock at the grant date. This date is fixed only once a year upon a Board Member’s re-election to the Board at the Annual Stockholders’ meeting, which is the third Wednesday in June pursuant to the Director’s Plan and our Company By-Laws. Directors’ stock options vest ratably over a six-month period and generally expire 6 years from the grant date.

The following table represents our stock options granted, exercised and forfeited during the six months ended July 31, 2011.

Stock Options	Number of Shares		Weighted Average Exercise Price per Share		Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Term	Aggregate Intrinsic Value
Outstanding at January 31, 2011		12,200	$	9.02	3.61 years	$	17,030
Outstanding at July 31, 2011		17,200	$	8.81	3.83 years	$	14,570
Exercisable at July 31, 2011		12,200	$	9.02	2.95 years	$	13,270

Restricted Stock Plan and Performance Equity Plan

On June 21, 2006, the stockholders of the Company approved a restricted stock plan (the “2006 Equity Incentive Plan”).  A total of 253,000 shares of restricted stock were authorized under this plan. On June 17, 2009, the stockholders of the Company authorized 253,000 shares under the restricted stock plan (the “2009 Equity Incentive Plan”). Under the restricted stock plan, eligible employees and directors are awarded performance-based restricted shares of the Company common stock. The amount recorded as expense for the performance-based grants of restricted stock are based upon an estimate made at the end of each reporting period as to the most probable outcome of this plan at the end of the three-year performance period. (e.g., baseline, maximum or zero). In addition to the grants with vesting based solely on performance, certain awards pursuant to the plan have a time-based vesting requirement, under which awards vest from two to three years after grant issuance, subject to continuous employment and certain other conditions.  Restricted stock has no voting rights until fully vested and issued, and the underlying shares are not considered to be issued and outstanding until vested.

Under the 2009 Equity Incentive Plan, the Company has granted up to a maximum of 236,458 restricted stock awards as of July 31, 2011. All of these restricted stock awards are nonvested at July 31, 2011 (177,390 shares at “baseline”), and have a weighted average grant date fair value of $7.54. Under the 2006 Equity Incentive Plan, there are also outstanding as of July 31, 2011, unvested grants of 338 shares under the stock purchase match program. The Company recognizes expense related to performance-based awards over the requisite service period using the straight-line attribution method based on the outcome that is probable.

As of July 31, 2011, unrecognized stock-based compensation expense related to restricted stock awards totaled $933,764, consisting of $437 remaining under the 2006 Equity Incentive Plan and $933,327 under the 2009 Equity Incentive Plan, before income taxes, based on the maximum performance award level, less what has been charged to expense on a cumulative basis through July 31, 2011, which was set at baseline. Such unrecognized stock-based compensation expense related to restricted stock awards totaled $460,780 at the baseline performance level. The cost of these nonvested awards is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of three years. The board has estimated its current performance level to be at the baseline level, and expenses have been recorded accordingly. The performance based awards are not considered stock equivalents for Earnings Per Share (“EPS”) calculation purposes.

Stock-Based Compensation

The Company recognized total stock-based compensation costs of $367,882 and $487,777 for the six months ended July 31, 2011 and 2010, respectively, of which $4,029 and $30,523 results from the 2006 Equity Incentive Plan for the six months ended July 31, 2011 and 2010, respectively, $348,397 and $457,254, respectively, from the 2009 Equity Incentive Plan and $15,457 and $0, respectively, from the Director Option Plan. These amounts are reflected in selling, general and administrative expenses.  The total income tax benefit recognized for stock-based compensation arrangements was $134,276 and $175,600 for the six months ended July 31, 2011 and 2010, respectively.