I need to add

<dependency>
          <groupId>javax.annotation</groupId>
          <artifactId>javax.annotation-api</artifactId>
          <version>1.3.2</version>
      </dependency>

to the list of dependencies in pom.xml and then select "import the changes" from a prompt window that says "Maven projects need to be imported". Otherwise I get a null pointer exception when I execute the program.