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Stanley Black & Decker Commits $10+ Million to Employees, Communities

The news comes two weeks after the company announced plans to slash spending and reduce staffing while navigating the ongoing pandemic.

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Stanley Black & Decker, which announced plans to slash spending and reduce staffing earlier in April, on Tuesday announced details of financial commitments aimed to help its communities and employees with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Highlights of the announcement, which the company said is aligned with its “For Those Who Make The World” purpose, include the following measures:

  • $5 million for a COVID-19 employee emergency relief fund, administered by an independent organization, to provide financial assistance for employees and their families who have been severely and catastrophically impacted by the pandemic. This fund will be available to all employees who wish to make personal contributions, as well
  • $4 million in financial contributions directed by the company to COVID-19 focused nonprofit organizations, in addition to funds already committed to community-based organizations across the globe
  • Enhancements to SBD’s company matching program, specifically doubling the match amount to supplement any employee's personal donations to qualified charitable organizations of their choice, including, but not limited to, the new COVID-19 employee emergency relief fund
  • A purchase of 3 million face masks, as well as large quantities of other personal protective equipment, for front-line healthcare workers and first responders to be allocated to healthcare systems and other organizations in need in the communities in which SBD operates
  • The formation of a global, company-wide COVID-19 Community Response Task Force to allocate the company's time, talents, innovation capabilities and other expertise to help mitigate societal COVID-19-related challenges, under the leadership of SBD chief technology officer Mark Maybury

“Throughout this unprecedented period, we remain focused on our number one priority of ensuring the safety and health of our employees, while at the same time continuing to serve our customers, maintaining our financial strength and doing our part to help communities and governments mitigate the effects of the virus," said James Loree, Stanley Black & Decker president & CEO. "Today's humanitarian and economic crises require everyone to contribute to the best of their abilities. We are seeing the best of humankind, and it is inspiring to see the response by corporations, governments, NGOs, communities and individuals, who are all working together to address these daunting challenges.”

On April 1, SBD outlined actions it is taking to manage business operations amid the impacts of COVID-19. Those actions included adjusting SBD’s supply chain and manufacturing labor base; substantially reducing indirect spending; suspending acquisition-related activity; reducing capital spending; reducing non-essential staffing and the capture of significant raw material deflation.

Those new actions follow the company’s previously-announced plan five months earlier to reduce headcount and its production footprint amid slowing demand.

New Britain, CT-based SBD had 2019 total sales of $14.4 billion and profit of $956 million.

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