Company: XXII
Filing Date: 2025-06-06
Form Type: PRER14A
Source: 0001641172-25-013953
Chunk: 11

Company: 22nd Century Group, Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-06-06
Form: PRER14A
Chunk 11
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     |     2022 |     | Yes         |
| David        
 Keys         |     |  68 |     | Independent             
 Director Nominee        |     |      N/A |     | Yes         |

| 5 |

Nominees for Election at the Annual Meeting

Class II Directors — Term Expiring 2028

Lawrence Firestone

Mr. Firestone has served as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board since December 2023. Mr. Firestone brings over 40 years of enterprise, operations, and financial management experience in both public and private companies, including tenures as CEO, CFO and COO across multiple industry sectors. Mr. Firestone most recently served as Chief Financial Officer of Oakland Manager, a privately-held purveyor of cannabis with both retail and wholesale market penetration, and as Chairman of FirePower Technology, a privately held manufacturer of ATX power supplies for the IT and instrumentation markets. In the public company sector, Mr. Firestone has served as Chief Executive Officer of Eastside Distilling, Inc. (NASDAQ: EAST), Chief Executive Officer of Qualstar Corporation (NASDAQ: QBAK), Chief Financial Officer of Advanced Energy Industries (NASDAQ: AEIS), and Chief Financial Officer of Applied Films Corporation (NASDAQ: AFCO). He has served on numerous boards, including those of Eastside Distilling, Qualstar, CVD Equipment Corporation (NASDAQ: CVD), Amtech Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: ASYS) and HyperSpace Communications, Inc. (NYSE: HYPR). Mr. Firestone received his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a concentration in Accounting from Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Firestone’s prior public company experience led to the conclusion that he should serve as a director.

Class II Director Nominee for a Term Expiring 2028

David Keys

Mr. Keys began his career with Deloitte serving in the audit group in the Las Vegas and New York City executive offices. David was the Executive Vice President, CFO and member of the executive committee of the Board of Directors of American Pacific Corporation, a chemical company that was publicly traded on The Nasdaq Stock Market for the entirety of the time he was a director and executive officer. Since 2004, Mr. Keys has been an independent financial and operations consultant. Mr. Keys currently serves as Chairman of the Audit Committee of SurgPays Inc (NASDAQ:SURG) since July 2019. Mr. Keys currently serves on the Board and is the Chair of the Audit