Free Republic

Stanley Black & Decker acquired the Craftsman brand in 2017 to revitalize it and bring manufacturing back to the United States. The Fort Worth factory, announced in 2019, was meant to take this vision further by forging iconic Craftsman wrenches, ratchets, and sockets from American steel. The company believed that advanced automation would allow the plant to compete cost-effectively with imported products while meeting consumer demand for U.S.-made tools. Former employees revealed that the factory’s automated system experienced critical problems that couldn’t be resolved before the company closed the facility. The pandemic also disrupted the production timeline, preventing proper testing...

Stanley Black & Decker is opening a new $35 million manufacturing plant in the United States to help it rebuild, and perhaps more importantly "re-Americanize," the Craftsman tool brand it just bought from Sears Holdings. While the extra capacity should help get a once-iconic $2 billion a year line back on its feet, the move also potentially offers Stanley Black & Decker another benefit: shielding it from a potential surge in economic nationalism under President-elect Donald Trump. Though Stanley Black & Decker chief executive James Loree did not mention Trump by name in his comments to Wall Street analysts and...

...The straightforward generosity of the corporate sector has been well reported. [D]onations had exceeded $200 million. Besides cash, companies have handed out free drugs, suspended finance payments on cars and mortgages and helped emergency personnel with equipment. As interesting, though, has been the application of corporate best practices-- from supply-chain management to logistics-- to a natural disaster. The private-sector planning began before Katrina hit. Home Depot's "war room" had transferred high-demand items -- generators, flashlights, batteries and lumber -- to distribution areas surrounding the strike area. Phone companies readied mobile cell towers and sent in generators and fuel. Insurers flew...

Matt Kenseth clinched his first career Winston Cup championship Sunday with a fourth-place finish at Rockingham.