HYDROFARM HOLDINGS GROUP, INC. 10-Q

ITEM 4. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures Our management, with the participation and supervision of our Chief Executive Officer and our Chief Financial Officer, have evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”)) as of the end of the period covered by this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. Disclosure controls and procedures are controls and other procedures that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in our reports filed or submitted under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized, and reported, within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms. Disclosure controls and procedures include controls and procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in our reports filed under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. Management recognizes that any controls and procedures, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable assurance of achieving their objectives, and management necessarily applies its judgment in evaluating the cost benefit relationship of possible controls and procedures. Our Chief Executive Officer and our Chief Financial Officer have concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective as of June 30, 2021 due to the material weaknesses previously disclosed in our 2020 Annual Report. A “material weakness” is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. Our management determined that the previously disclosed material weaknesses have not been remediated as of June 30, 2021. These material weaknesses could result in a misstatement of account balances or disclosures that would result in a material misstatement to the annual or interim financial statements that would not be prevented or detected. We have taken several actions towards remediating these material weaknesses. In particular, we (i) hired and continue to hire, additional qualified accounting and financial reporting personnel with technical and/or public company experience, (ii) implemented new control procedures over certain areas previously deemed ineffective related to the preparation, review, and analysis of accounting information and financial statements and (iii) engaged and continue to engage an external advisor to assist management in completing a Sarbanes-Oxley Act compliant risk assessment, creating detailed control documentation for in-scope business and information technology processes, identifying further control gaps and providing assistance on remediation procedures, and designing and implementing a Sarbanes-Oxley Act sub-certification process. Although we have taken steps to address the material weaknesses, we are still in the process of completing the remediation; we cannot assure you that the steps we are taking will be sufficient to remediate our material weaknesses or prevent future material weaknesses or significant deficiencies from occurring. We can give no assurance that additional material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting will not be identified in the future. Our failure to implement and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting could result in errors in our financial statements that could result in a restatement of our financial statements and cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations. Changes in Internal Controls over Financial Reporting Other than disclosed above, there were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rule 13a-15(f) of the Exchange Act) that occurred during the period covered by this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting. 38 TABLE OF CONTENTS PART II - OTHER INFORMATION ITEM 1. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS From time to time, we may become involved in various lawsuits and legal proceedings, which arise, in the ordinary course of business. We are currently not aware of any legal proceedings or claims that we believe will have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or operating results.