Black Decker

The Baltimore area has seen corporate headquarters disappear before, but the loss of Black & Decker in a corporate merger could hurt more than most in terms of prestige, spinoff jobs and charitable giving, local leaders say. Allan Tibbels, co-executive director of Sandtown Habitat for Humanity, was left wondering what the proposed deal will mean for his nonprofit, which rebuilds housing in West Baltimore. The organization has benefited from Black & Decker's charitable contributions for years, as the manufacturer has donated power tools, employee volunteer hours and funding, Tibbels said.

Black & Decker Corp., the Towson-based toolmaker founded here almost 100 years ago, said Monday that it plans to merge with The Stanley Works in a $4.5 billion all-stock deal that will bring together internationally known brands but reduce the number of local jobs. For the Baltimore region, it is another in a long line of deals relocating corporate headquarters - and the decision-making power, charitable muscle and prestige they represent. Stanley would have controlling interest in the combined company, which would be named Stanley Black & Decker and headquartered in New Britain, Conn.

Black & Decker Corp. said Thursday that it is starting to see demand for its products stabilize, but said that doesn't mean the power tool market is ready for a rebound. "We are not seeing a recovery in demand but continue to see stabilization," said Steve Reeves, Black & Decker's chief financial officer, during a call with analysts to discuss third-quarter earnings. Reeves said retailers that sell the Towson company's products are no longer "destocking" as in the first half of the year, but they are not buying more either.

Phoenix house raffle drawing date pushed back A $100-per-ticket raffle fundraiser with a $1.6 million Baltimore County house as the prize has been extended to early next year, with the Oct. 15 drawing rescheduled for Feb. 26. Organizers of the raffle, Upperco-based nonprofit Universal Peacemakers Foundation, which helps financially troubled homeowners, said they extended the raffle to sell the 20,000 minimum number of tickets required before they can...

Marshall Clayton Roop Jr., a retired Black & Decker Corp. executive whose career with the Towson toolmaker spanned five decades, died of cardiovascular disease Thursday at Gilchrist Center for Hospice Care. The Mays Chapel resident was 77. Mr. Roop was born in Baltimore and raised in Roland Park. He was a 1951 graduate of McDonogh School, where he played varsity football and lacrosse. He served as a submariner in the Navy for several years before earning a bachelor's degree from the University of Maryland, College Park, in 1957.

Power tool company Black & Decker Corp. said Thursday that it was cutting its dividend by 30 cents to conserve cash in response to the global recession and declining revenue. The Towson company is lowering the dividend to 12 cents from the 42-cent quarterly payout that has been in place since 2007. The last time the company cut its dividend was in 1986, said spokesman Roger Young. The company expects to reduce cash outflows by $54 million this year with the dividend at the lower level.

Black & Decker Corp.'s first-quarter profit plunged 93 percent as a weak economy hurt sales of its power tools and other products much worse than it had anticipated. Executives at the Towson-based company don't believe the economy will improve any time soon, saying they expect sales to decline just as much in the second quarter as the first three months of the year. The company also lowered its outlook for the year. The company on Thursday reported earnings for the quarter that ended March 29 of $4.9 million, or 8 cents per diluted share.

Bosses at Avatech Solutions thought they had to slash payroll after sales cratered, but when it came down to it they didn't want to lay off 35 or 40 people. So the Owings Mills company let half that many go and achieved the balance of the savings with a kind of cost-cutting not widely seen since the Great Depression: a pay cut for all remaining employees. Many facets make this downturn unsettling and different: the collapse of Wall Street, the taxpayer dollars laid on the line, the depth of employment loss - underscored by Friday's report that in March the economy shed 663,000 more jobs.

Power tool maker Black & Decker Corp. said Wednesday it is moving to replace its short-term debt with higher-interest long-term debt in light of the recession and recent ratings downgrades. The Towson company floated a $350 million bond offering this week with interest of 8.9 percent. It plans to use net proceeds primarily to pay down $283 million in existing commercial paper and revolving credit borrowings carrying a much lower average interest rate of 2.9 percent, according to documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Power tool maker Black & Decker Corp. is cutting salaries and suspending 401(k) matches for U.S. employees in response to the global recession and declining revenues, the company said yesterday. Starting with the first pay period in April, the Towson company said base salaries of top executives will be cut by 10 percent, salaried employees by 5 percent, and salaried workers who qualify for overtime by 2.5 percent. Black & Decker Chief Executive Officer Nolan D. Archibald, who made $11.1 million in total compensation in 2007, will likely take a $150,000 cut from his $1.5 million base salary.