Employee & Non-Employee Benefits

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Employee & Non-Employee Benefits

Employee & Non-Employee Benefits

12. Employee & Non-Employee Benefits

401(k) Savings Plan

We maintain a 401(k) Savings Plan which covers substantially all full-time employees who meet the plan’s eligibility requirements. Participants are allowed to make tax-deferred contributions up to limitations specified by the Internal Revenue Code. We make 25% matching contributions for amounts that do not exceed 4% of the participants’ compensation. The matched contributions to the employees are subject to a 5 year vesting provision, with credit given towards vesting for employment during prior years. We made matching contributions to the plan totaling approximately $493,000, $733,000 and $406,000 in 2011, 2010 and 2009, respectively.

Restricted Stock, Stock Warrants and Options Issued to Non-employees

On September 15, 2011, our Compensation Committee approved and granted, under our 1994 Plan, the award of options to purchase 10,000 shares of our common stock to each of our non-employee members of our board. These options were issued at an exercise price of $6.24 with a ten-year term, and vests quarterly over a two-year term.

On August 18, 2010, our Compensation Committee approved and granted, under our 1994 Plan, the award of options to purchase 10,000 shares of our common stock to each of our non-employee members of our board. These options were issued at an exercise price of $4.22 with a ten-year term, and vests quarterly over a two-year term. See Note 3 for more information on our accounting for stock-based compensation.

On March 2, 2010, our Compensation Committee approved and granted, under our 1994 Plan, the award of options to purchase 20,000 shares of our common stock to a third-party investor relations consultant. The options were issued at an exercise price of $4.76 with a five-year term and vest quarterly over a one-year term. We valued the options at fair value at grant date based on a Black-Scholes fair value calculation and the options were measured at fair value at each subsequent reporting period, with changes in value recorded over the twelve month performance period of the option.

On August 21, 2009 and July 31, 2008, our Compensation Committee approved and granted, under our 1994 Plan, the award of 7,500 shares and 4,000 shares, respectively, of restricted stock to each of our non-employee members of our board for a total award of 22,500 shares and 12,000 shares of restricted stock. The restricted stock awards each vest quarterly in equal amounts over a one year period from the date of grant.