During 2017, the Company, with the approval of shareholders, created the 2017 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2017 Plan”). The 2017 Plan permits the award of up to 800 thousand shares to the Company’s directors and employees to attract and retain exceptional personnel, motivate performance and most importantly to help align the interests of the Company’s executives with those of the Company’s shareholders. There were 37,413 service time based share awards and 67,651 performance based share awards granted under the 2017 Plan during the nine month period ended September 30, 2019, as shown in the table below. The actual number of performance based shares issued will depend on the relative performance of the Company’s average return on equity compared to a group of peer companies over a three year vesting period, ending December 31, 2021.

The restricted stock awards were granted with a fair value price equal to the market price of the Company’s common stock at the date of the grant. Expense recognized was $360 thousand and $1.0 million for the three and nine month periods ended September 30, 2019, respectively. During the prior periods, the expense recognized was $441 thousand and $1.2 million for the three and nine month periods ended September 30, 2018, respectively. As of September 30, 2019, there was $1.9 million of total unrecognized compensation expense related to the nonvested shares granted under the Plans. The remaining cost is expected to be recognized over 2.7 years.

The following is the activity under the Plans during the nine month period ended September 30, 2019.

	Nine Months Ended September 30, 2019
	Maximum Awarded Service Units			Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value		Maximum Awarded Performance Units			Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value
Beginning balance - non-vested shares		87,955		$	13.04		203,828		$	11.96
Granted		37,413			13.92		67,651			13.50
Vested		(43,703	)		11.73		(78,814	)		8.98
Forfeited		0			0		0			0
Ending balance - non-vested shares		81,665		$	14.14		192,665		$	13.72

The 122,517 shares that vested during the nine month period ended September 30, 2019 had a weighted average fair value of $9.97 per share.