New Products

HERE'S A summer grab bag of contests and new products:Do you have a particularly affectionate relationship with your deck?It's funny how attached people can get to their decks. It can be the place you take your morning cup of coffee, to watch the birds and the squirrels the place where every container is a floral arrangement, lovingly tended the place where everyone gathers for a weekend meal, or the place where you sit at night with a glass of wine, watching fireflies and stars come out.Thompson's, the people who make water-seal products and numerous other products for treating wood, are sponsoring a contest to find the 50 best-loved decks in America.

Municipal Employees Credit Union of Baltimore Inc. announced Thursday that it had agreed to acquire Advance Bank, another Baltimore-based institution. A sale price hasn't been determined and will be based on which Advance assets regulators say MECU can acquire, said Dorothea Stierhoff, senior public relations manager with MECU. MECU, a state-chartered credit union, and Advance Bank, a mutual savings bank, are each owned by their depositors. MECU has about $1.2 billion in assets and nine locations.

DALLAS -- Halfway through another year of double-digit sales growth, Frito-Lay Inc. already is making plans for a slate of new snack products including the possibility of an entirely new brand line that it hopes will generate similar gains in 1996."

Baltimore-based Under Armour hosted a press event in New York City Tuesday to introduce what the company has dubbed "its biggest ever global marketing campaign. " While the new "I Will" campaign recalls the old "Will you protect this house?" commercial that first helped the company become popular -- the respondents always answered "I will!" -- the new spot released Tuesday focuses on an area that has become increasingly important: high-end technology and innovation. Let's just say that the commercial ends with a woman adjusting the composition and color of her clothing by using a touch screen built into her sleeve.

Las Vegas. Flashy 3-D laser light shows, a futuristic kitchen with a holographic command center and a full-size steel house built on the convention center parking lot competed with the nonstop sizzle of the famous Las Vegas Strip when 60,000 home builders and their suppliers met here last weekend.The mood at the 50th annual convention and trade show of the National Association of Home Builders was cautiously upbeat, as the numbers for new home starts and sales continue to climb gradually back up to prerecession levels.

NEW YORK -- Ever try Bunuelitos, the fried pastry that was flavored with sugar and cinnamon? So few people did, General Mills Inc. ushered it to product heaven.Ditto its individually wrapped Fingos cereal and Ocean Spray Cranberries Inc.'s Splash Sparkling fruit juice. And if you're addicted to Hershey Food Corp.'s refrigerated pudding, you'd best stock up on what's in the pipeline. In October, the company pulled the plug on the competition-squeezed Jello clone.Going, going gone. Last year, a record 15,006 new products surged into the marketplace, up 14 percent from 1993, according to Lynn Dornblasser, editor of New Product News.

Boosted by sales of new products, Black & Decker Corp. posted a 5 percent increase in third-quarter profits, a gain limited by the strength of the dollar against European currency, the Towson-based company said yesterday.For the quarter that ended Sept. 28, Black & Decker reported net earnings of $58.4 million, up from $55.7 million in the year-ago period. Earnings per share increased 3 percent, from 58 cents to 60 cents, on sales of $1.22 billion, a 3 percent increase from $1.19 billion.

Black & Decker Corp. Chairman and CEO Nolan D. Archibald yesterday promised shareholders a flurry of new products over the next two years as the company strives to repeat the success of its SnakeLight flashlight and cordless tools."

Lopping 3,500 jobs will be easy for Motorola Inc. as it tries to regain its lost momentum. But coming out with new chart-topping mobile phones -- and getting premium numbers like the Razr once did -- will be a lot tougher, analysts say. Motorola executives laid out plans to cope with a shortfall in profits in a meeting yesterday with Wall Street analysts in New York. Cost cutting, including shedding about 5 percent of its global work force, or 3,500 jobs, should save Motorola $400 million over two years, they said.

These are heady times for Raymond V. Haysbert Sr., chairman and chief executive officer of Parks Sausage Co.A year and a half ago his company moved into its new $16.5 million plant on Parks Industrial Circle in northwest Baltimore. Then, on Sept. 25, Haysbert received the award of Minority Entrepreneur of the Year from President Bush."Shaking hands with the most powerful man in the world since Desert Storm was quite a thrill," Haysbert recalls. "That recognition has to be a high point. Now all I need is some more business."

Baltimore-based money managers T. Rowe Price and Legg Mason Inc. may offer actively managed exchange-traded funds after receiving a thumbs up from regulators. The Securities and Exchange Commission approved Price's application earlier this month to be allowed to issue active ETFs - the first, and most difficult, regulatory hurdle to entering the market. Legg received similar approval in mid-November, and now awaits the second step: the green light from the SEC to launch a specific fund.

Microsoft led off the lineup of developers and publishers who will be showcasing everything new in digital entertainment at this week's E3expo in Los Angeles. While the news out of Redmond was very heavy on the Xbox's capabilities as a media center, there was still plenty of gaming news and announcements for the coming fall and following year on the world's best-selling console. Microsoft Studios president Phil Spencer proclaimed this year as the “biggest year ever for games on the Xbox.” Not surprisingly, Microsoft opened the event with an extended trailer for “Halo 4” (in stores Nov. 6)

The Under Armour brand is poised for continued growth with a soon-to-be-released football cleat that's expected to drive footwear sales, as well as plans to keep expanding into international markets, executives told stockholders Tuesday. Consumers who choose Under Armour over other sports apparel brands do so because the products help solve problems for athletes, said Kevin Plank, the company's chairman, president and CEO, during the company's annual stockholders' meeting at its South Baltimore headquarters.

APG Federal Credit Union, Harford and Cecil County's largest credit union, has announced Thomas J. Arena recently joined the credit union's marketing department in the new position of product manager. Arena brings more than 10 years of product development, management and marketing experience to the credit union. As a key member of APGFCU's marketing team, he will be responsible for developing and managing new and existing products, services and making other improvements to enhance the member experience.

McCormick & Co. enjoyed a double-digit increase in profit during the last quarter on the strength of new products, higher sales and price increases, the Sparks-based spicemaker reported Thursday. Net income for the March-to-May period rose 11 percent to $73.6 million, or 55 cents per share, from $66.2 million, or 49 cents per share, in the corresponding period last year. Sales in McCormick's consumer and industrial businesses increased nearly 11 percent to $883.7 million, up from $798.3 million.

The actor Paul Morella has been on stage for his whole life, though in the early years, his platforms rarely came with the traditional proscenium arch and wings. As the eldest child of former Rep. Constance A. Morella, young Paul made frequent campaign appearances that included a script of sorts. ("Elect my mother," he would tell potential voters, "and get her off the streets. ") In theater and politics, private lives are exposed for a public viewing. Performers in both arenas are taught to look natural while hitting their marks.

On Nov. 1, Alexander Trotman, 60, will take over as president, chairman and chief executive of Ford Motor Co., as Harold "Red" Poling, a 42-year Ford veteran and chairman since 1990, retires. Mr. Trotman heads Ford's worldwide automotive operations, and previously ran Ford's European operations.Mr. Trotman is known for his emphasis on new products. He was the one who challenged a group of young engineers and designers to redo the venerable Mustang sports coupe on the cheap -- the only way Ford could afford to keep the car alive.

SAN FRANCISCO -- GTx Inc. Chief Executive Officer Mitchell S. Steiner is seeking a partner for the company's first product, a prostate cancer drug, and there's one thing clearly at the top of his wish list: control. "I don't want to be Pfizer's little boy" or anybody's, Steiner said in a recent interview. "I want to be able to build name recognition for when product No. 2 reaches the market." He might get his wish. As big drugmakers, increasingly desperate for new products, race to buy rights to treatments invented by small biotechnology companies, it has become a seller's market, investors and company executives say. The competition is changing the kinds of deals being made and forcing companies to bid earlier in the testing of new treatments.

Sparks-based spice maker McCormick & Co. Inc. on Thursday said earnings climbed 8 percent in the fourth quarter, helped by acquisitions and cost-cutting. Net income rose to $121.5 million, or 87 cents per share, in the three months that ended Nov. 30, compared with $111.2 million, or 62 cents per share, in the fourth quarter of 2008. The manufacturer said it expects strong sales and earnings in the current fiscal year thanks to new products and boosts in marketing. The results ended a strong fiscal year for the spice maker that included its biggest holiday marketing campaign ever.

Under Armour's New Year's resolution: Make it a rebuilding year. The Baltimore company, known for its athletic clothing that wicks sweat from the body, will open 15 new outlet stores, revamp its running shoes, upgrade its information technology systems, invest in its Web business and focus more on designing new products. But all the new investment also means that spending and costs will outpace revenue growth, Brad Dickerson, Under Armour's chief financial officer, said in a quarterly earnings conference call with analysts Tuesday.