9. STOCK-BASED COMPENSATION

Summary of Stock Option Plans and Activity

In March 2008, our shareholders approved the 2008 Stock Option Plan (the “Plan”) to replace the 1997 Outside Director Stock Option Plan and the 1997 Employee Stock Option Plan. The purpose of the Plan was to promote our long-term interests by providing a means of attracting and retaining officers, directors and key employees. The Compensation Committee administered the Plan and approves the particular officers, directors or employees eligible for grants. Under the Plan, employees were granted the option to purchase our common shares at fair market value on the date of the grant. Generally, options granted vest and become exercisable in four equal installments commencing one year from date of grant and expire upon the earlier of the employee’s termination of employment with us, or ten years from the date of grant.

In March 2018, our shareholders approved the amendment and restatement of the Plan in the form of the Amended and Restated 2018 Equity Incentive Plan (the “Equity Plan”) and future equity awards will be granted from the Equity Plan. The purpose of the Equity Plan is to promote our long-term interests by providing a means of attracting and retaining officers, directors and key employees. The maximum number of new common shares that may be granted under the Equity Plan is 700 shares plus the remaining shares from the 2008 Stock Option Plan. At September 30, 2019, 270 shares remained available for grants under the Plan.

The Compensation Committee has also issued non-qualified stock option grants with vesting periods different from the Plan. As of September 30, 2019 and 2018, respectively, total non-qualified stock options outstanding were 15.

In fiscal 2019, 503 options were granted to employees and independent directors. In fiscal 2018, 198 options were granted to employees and independent directors. The weighted-average assumptions used to compute the fair value of options granted for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2019 and 2018 were as follows:


	2019		2018
Risk-free interest rate	2.47	%	2.31	%
Dividend yield	0.00	%	0.00	%
Volatility of the expected market price of the Company’s common shares	70.8%-72.5	%	83.70	%
Expected life of the options (years)	8.0		8.0

A summary of our stock option activity for all options and related information for the year ended September 30, 2019, is as follows (in thousands except for share prices):


						Weighted-
		Weighted-		Weighted-		Average
		Average		Average		Remaining	Aggregate
	Options	Exercise		Grant Date		Contractual	Intrinsic
	(shares)	Price		Fair Value		Life	Value

Outstanding - October 1, 2018	301	$	1.73
Exercised	(15)	$	1.19	$	0.99
Granted	503	$	1.52	$	1.11
Forfeited	(13)	$	1.65
Outstanding - September 30, 2019	776	$	1.61	$	1.22	7.98	$	1,536

Exercisable at September 30, 2019	168	$	1.64	$	1.33	5.23	$	327

The aggregate intrinsic value is the product of the total options outstanding and the net positive difference of our common share price on September 30, 2019 and the options’ exercise price. As of September 30, 2019, our total unrecognized compensation cost related to non-vested stock options was $492 and is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average service period of 1.2 years.

During the year ended September 30, 2019, we granted a total of 55 shares, of which 20 shares are restricted, to our CEO under the terms of his employment agreement and to our new Chief Human Resources Officer. A summary of our restricted share activity for the year ended September 30, 2019 is as follows:


		Restricted Shares

Outstanding - September 30, 2018		—
Granted		55
Unrestricted at Grant		(35)
Forfeited		—
Outstanding - September 30, 2019		20

As of September 30, 2019, our total unrecognized compensation cost related to non-vested restricted stock was $31 and is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average service period of 1.6 years. The total fair value of the unrestricted shares granted during the year ended September 30, 2019 was $44.

Stock-based compensation expense for employee stock options and restricted stock for the years ended September 30, 2019 and 2018 was $278 and $134, respectively. The additional expense in the fiscal year ended September 30, 2019 was due to the grants issued to our new Chief Executive Officer in January 2019, option grants to all employees that were issued as of February 6, 2019 as well as option grants for employees related to the Smithers Avanza acquisition, as described in Note 11.