Black & Decker to add 400 jobs with new Middle River facility, aided by $2M state loan
The Baltimore Sun | Pamela Wood
Stanley Black & Decker plans to add 400 jobs in Baltimore County as the tool company opens an $8.5 million facility in Middle River.
The company plans to add office space for its “global tools and storage” business in the Greenleigh at Crossroads development, the Baltimore County government announced Tuesday. The office will have employees who work in electrical and electromechanical engineering, marketing, industrial design, finance and human resources.
Officials said the average annual salary for the new jobs will be $60,000.
Stanley Black & Decker plans to move this summer into the already completed, 660,000-square-foot building, said Tim Perra, the New Britain, Conn.-based company’s vice president of public affairs.
Part of the project will be funded by a $2 million conditional loan from the state and a $200,000 conditional loan from Baltimore County. Conditional loans can be converted into grants that don’t have to be paid back if the recipient meets certain employment requirements.
In this case, the loan can be forgiven in 10 years if Stanley Black & Decker keeps at least 2,000 employees between its Towson and Middle River offices during that time period, according to county and state officials.
Such conditional loans are a common tool used by governments to assist businesses. In Baltimore County, state and county conditional loans have been granted to companies including McCormick & Co., Amazon, Under Armour and Sinclair Broadcasting in the last few years.
Neither company nor government officials elaborated on how they arrived at the $2.2 million figure for the loans.
Stanley Black & Decker considered “many different options” both in Maryland and out of state for the new office, Perra said. The company settled on the Middle River site because of its proximity to the headquarters of its Black & Decker brand in Towson, he said.
Black & Decker was founded in Towson in 1910 by Duncan Black and Alonzo Decker. It merged with Stanley Works in 2010 to create the existing company, which last year ranked 250th on the Fortune 500 list.
The Baltimore County Council will discuss a resolution in support of the loans during a work session on Feb. 13, with a vote scheduled for Feb. 20.
The resolution notes that county officials have deemed the Stanley Black & Decker expansion as a “priority” project worthy of the conditional loans.
“This major expansion by a global industrial leader shows their confidence in Baltimore County’s innovation economy and our highly skilled workers,” Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz said in a statement. Kamenetz, a Democrat, is running for governor.
The company also will be eligible for tax credits, including the state’s Job Creation Tax Credit, state officials said.
Stanley Black & Decker official Jeff Ansell said in the county news release that the county and state are “strong partners… working hard to help our innovative, high-performing company grow in Maryland.”
The company also announced last week that it is leasing 6,600 square feet of space in a newly renovated office building at 210 Allegheny Ave. in Towson. That space will be used as the headquarters for the company’s Stanley Engineered Fastening division.
With the expansion into Middle River, Stanley Black & Decker will have 2,700 employees in Maryland.