Our Legacy

Baldor Electric Company, founded in 1920 in St. Louis, Missouri, has a long rich history dating back to 1878. Through the evolution of our products and our company, we’ve been focused on the customer for more than 136 years!

• 1878 - Wallace Dodge manufactures Studebaker wagon jacks in Mishawaka, Indiana.
• 1880 - Dodge Manufacturing Company founded by Wallace Dodge

• 1881 - Wallace Dodge patents the original Wood Split Pulley

• 1904 - John Lincoln and Peter Hitchcock form Lincoln Electric Manufacturing Co. in Cleveland, Ohio
• 1905 - Lincoln Electric introduces the first adjustable-speed direct current motor

• 1909 - Lincoln Electric Manufacturing Co. name changes to Reliance Electric & Engineering Co.
• 1920 - Baldor Electric Company is formed in St. Louis, Missouri by Edwin Ballman and Emil Doerr to build a better motor which is one that uses less electricity

• 1943 - Dodge Manufacturing Company introduces the Type-E bearing to the industry
• 1949 - The TorqueArm gear reducer is introduced by Dodge Manufacturing Company
• 1956 - Baldor moves AC motor production to Fort Smith, Arkansas
• 1957 - Baldor introduces the employee Profit Sharing Plan
• 1961 - Baldor’s corporate offices move to Fort Smith
• 1967 - The Fort Smith motor plant moves to its current location on the Fort Smith campus
• 1967 - Reliance Electric acquires Dodge Manufacturing Co.
• 1976 - Baldor becomes a public company, selling 338,00 shares on the American Stock Exchange for $12 per share
• 1976 - Baldor is recognized by the Federal Energy Administration for design and manufacture of high efficiency motors
• 1978 - Baldor produces its 1,000,000th motor
• 1980 - Baldor’s management team creates the company’s Mission Statement
• 1980 - R.S. Boreham, Jr. introduces the Value Formula
• 1983 - The Super-E© Premium Efficiency Motor Line is introduced
• 1986 - Baldor introduces the Flex Flow Manufacturing process in its plants
• 1994 - Reliance Electric becomes part of Rockwell Automation
• 1997 - Baldor is named one of the Best 100 Companies to Work for in America by Fortune Magazine
• 1998 - Baldor is named one of the Best 100 Companies to Work for in America by Fortune Magazine
• 2000 - The Baldor Technology Center opens on the campus of University of Arkansas at Fort Smith
• 2001 - Baldor is named one of America’s Top 100 Companies for Training
• 2007 - Baldor adds Power Systems from Rockwell Automation, including Reliance Electric and Dodge
• 2010 - Baldor Electric Company Foundation is established to grant scholarships to employees’ children, gifting over $800,000 to more than 300 children in the first 5 years
• 2010 - Baldor annual revenue is approximately $2.0 billion, and the company produces nearly 3,000,000 motors per year
• 2011 - Baldor becomes a member of the ABB group
• 2013 - Baldor’s Belton, South Carolina plant achieves 16 years without a lost time accident
• 2014 - Baldor’s St. Louis plant named a Top Workplace by the St. Louis Post Dispatch
• 2014 - Fort Smith motor plant achieves 10,000,000 hours without a lost time accident