(16) employee benefits Plans the Company maintains a profit sharing plan for eligible employees. Contributions to the plan are made in the form of  matching contributions to employee 401k deferrals, as well as discretionary profit sharing amounts determined by the  Board of Directors to be funded by March 15 following each fiscal year. Contributions were approximately $750,000,  $800,000 and $760,000 in 2014, 2013 and 2012, respectively. the Company has a partially self-insured health insurance program that covers all eligible participating employees. the  maximum liability is limited by a stop loss of $150,000 per insured person, along with an aggregate stop loss determined by  the number of participants. the Company has an executive, non-qualified “excess” plan (“the plan”), which is a deferred compensation plan available  to certain executives. the plan permits participants to defer receipt of part of their current compensation to a later date as  part of their personal retirement or financial planning. participants have an unsecured contractual commitment from the  Company to pay amounts due under the plan. there is currently no security mechanism to ensure that the Company will  pay these obligations in the future. the compensation withheld from plan participants, together with gains or losses determined by the participants’ deferral  elections is reflected as a deferred compensation obligation to participants, and is classified within retirement and other  liabilities in the accompanying balance sheets. At December 31, 2014 and 2013, the balance of the deferred compensation  liability totaled approximately $1.5 million and $1.7 million, respectively. the related assets, which are held in the form of a  Company-owned, variable life insurance policy that names the Company as the beneficiary, are reported within other assets  in the accompanying balance sheets, and are accounted for based on the underlying cash surrender values of the policies,  and totaled approximately $2.0 million and $1.8 million as of December 31, 2014 and 2013, respectively. Financial instruments recorded at fair value in the balance sheets, or disclosed at fair value in the footnotes, are categorized  based upon the level of judgment associated with the inputs used to measure their fair value. Hierarchical levels defined  by AsC 820, Fair value Measurements and Disclosures, and directly related to the amount of subjectivity associated with  inputs to fair valuation of these assets and liabilities, are as follows: Level 1  – valued based on unadjusted, quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities at the measurement  date. An active market for the asset or liability is a market in which transactions for the asset or liability occur with sufficient  frequency and volume to provide pricing information on an ongoing basis. Level 2  – valued based on either directly or indirectly observable prices for the asset or liability through correlation with  market data at the measurement date and for the duration of the instrument’s anticipated life.  Level 3  – valued based on management’s best estimate of what market participants would use in pricing the asset or  liability at the measurement date. Consideration is given to the risk inherent in the valuation technique and the risk inherent  in the inputs to the model.  the Company has no assets and liabilities that are measured at fair value on a recurring basis. On December 31, 2012, the Company acquired substantially all of the assets of packaging Alternatives Corporation  (“pAC”), a Costa Mesa, California-based foam fabricator, for $5.7 million. pAC specialized in the fabrication of technical  urethane foams primarily for the medical industry. this acquisition brought to the Company further access and expertise  in fabricating technical urethane foams, a more significant presence on the west coast and a seasoned management team. the Company has leased the former pAC facility for a period of two years through December 31, 2014. the following table summarizes the consideration paid and the acquisition date fair value of the assets acquired and  liabilities assumed relating to the transaction (in thousands): (18) acquisition (17) Fair value of Financial instruments Pac acquisition  december 31, 2012 Consideration: Cash  $ 4,400  purchase holdback  600  Contingent note payable, at present value   692 Fair value of total consideration transferred  $ 5,692 acquisition costs (professional fees) included in SG&a  $ 57 Recognized amounts of identifiable assets acquired:  32