FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

13. FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS

The Company measures its financial assets and liabilities at fair value. Fair value is defined as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability (i.e., exit price) in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. Additionally, the Company is required to provide disclosure and categorize assets and liabilities measured at fair value into one of three different levels depending on the assumptions (i.e., inputs) used in the valuation. Level 1 provides the most reliable measure of fair value while Level 3 generally requires significant management judgment. Financial assets and liabilities are classified in their entirety based on the lowest level of input significant to the fair value measurement. Financial instruments are assessed quarterly to determine the appropriate classification within the fair value hierarchy. Transfers between fair value classifications are made based upon the nature and type of the observable inputs. The fair value hierarchy is defined as follows:

Level 1 — Valuations are based on unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities.

Level 2 — Valuations are based on quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities in active markets, or quoted prices in markets that are not active for which significant inputs are observable, either directly or indirectly. For the Company’s corporate and municipal bonds, although quoted prices are available and used to value said assets, they are traded less frequently.

Level 3 — Valuations are based on prices or valuation techniques that require inputs that are both unobservable and significant to the overall fair value measurement. Inputs reflect management’s best estimate of what market participants would use in valuing the asset or liability at the measurement date. The Company used market negotiations to value the Gearing segments assets. The Company used real estate appraisals to value its Clintonville, Wisconsin facility formerly owned by the Company’s wholly-owned subsidiary Broadwind Towers, Inc., a Wisconsin corporation (the “Clintonville Facility”).

The following tables represent the fair values of the Company’s financial assets measured as of December 31, 2016 and 2015:


	December 31, 2016
	Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Total
Assets measured on a recurring basis:
Corporate & municipal bonds and money market funds	$	—	$	5,049	$	—	$	5,049
Assets measured on a nonrecurring basis:
Gearing equipment		—		—		353		353
Gearing Cicero Ave. facility		—		—		560		560
Services assets		—		—		455		455
Total assets at fair value	$	—	$	5,049	$	1,368	$	6,417


	December 31, 2015
	Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Total
Assets measured on a recurring basis:
Corporate & municipal bonds and money market funds	$	—	$	8,001	$	—	$	8,001
Assets measured on a nonrecurring basis:
Gearing equipment		—		—		506		506
Clintonville, WI facility		—		—		554		554
Gearing Cicero Ave. facility		—		—		560		560
Services assets		—		—		3,343		3,343
Total assets at fair value	$	—	$	8,001	$	4,963	$	12,964

Fair value of financial instruments

The carrying amounts of the Company’s financial instruments, which include cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash, A/R, accounts payable and customer deposits, approximate their respective fair values due to the relatively short-term nature of these instruments. Based upon interest rates currently available to the Company for debt with similar terms, the carrying value of the Company’s long-term debt is approximately equal to its fair value.

Assets measured at fair value on a nonrecurring basis

The fair value measurement approach for long-lived assets utilizes a number of significant unobservable inputs or Level 3 assumptions. These assumptions include, among others, projections of the Company’s future operating results, the implied fair value of these assets using an income approach by preparing an undiscounted cash flow analysis, a market‑based approach based on the Company’s market capitalization and market value third-party appraisals, and other subjective assumptions. To the extent assumptions used in the Company’s evaluations are not achieved, there may be a negative effect on the valuation of these assets.

The Clintonville Facility was classified as an Asset Held for Sale in 2013 due to the decision to vacate the property and offer it for sale. At that time, the property was written down by $288 to adjust the carrying value of the Clintonville Facility property to fair value. The Company recorded an additional impairment of $186 in 2015 to value the Clintonville Facility property at its fair value. The Clintonville Facility was subsequently sold during the second quarter of 2016 at its fair value.

The investment in select Gearing segment equipment, shown as $506 at December 31, 2015, is associated with the Company’s activities to update and consolidate the Gearing segment asset base. The reduction in the carrying value to $353 at December 31, 2016, reflects the sale of a portion of the surplus assets.

The carrying value of the land and building comprising the Cicero Avenue Facility of $560 reflects the expected proceeds associated with selling this facility after environment remediation is complete. As the Cicero Avenue Facility is not immediately available for sale, it has not been classified as Assets Held for Sale.

Following the Board’s approval of a plan to divest the Company’s Services segment, the Company has been able to evaluate the value of the segment’s assets on the open market; therefore, the Company has utilized this measurement to determine the fair value of the Services segment assets.

- Definition

The entire disclosure for the fair value of financial instruments (as defined), including financial assets and financial liabilities (collectively, as defined), and the measurements of those instruments as well as disclosures related to the fair value of non-financial assets and liabilities. Such disclosures about the financial instruments, assets, and liabilities would include: (1) the fair value of the required items together with their carrying amounts (as appropriate); (2) for items for which it is not practicable to estimate fair value, disclosure would include: (a) information pertinent to estimating fair value (including, carrying amount, effective interest rate, and maturity, and (b) the reasons why it is not practicable to estimate fair value; (3) significant concentrations of credit risk including: (a) information about the activity, region, or economic characteristics identifying a concentration, (b) the maximum amount of loss the entity is exposed to based on the gross fair value of the related item, (c) policy for requiring collateral or other security and information as to accessing such collateral or security, and (d) the nature and brief description of such collateral or security; (4) quantitative information about market risks and how such risks are managed; (5) for items measured on both a recurring and nonrecurring basis information regarding the inputs used to develop the fair value measurement; and (6) for items presented in the financial statement for which fair value measurement is elected: (a) information necessary to understand the reasons for the election, (b) discussion of the effect of fair value changes on earnings, (c) a description of [similar groups] items for which the election is made and the relation thereof to the balance sheet, the aggregate carrying value of items included in the balance sheet that are not eligible for the election; (7) all other required (as defined) and desired information.

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