Dive Brief:
- Stanley Black & Decker will invest $1 billion to bolster U.S. manufacturing, research and development and workforce training through 2028, the Connecticut-based company said Wednesday.
- About half of the money will go toward capital spending and investments that strengthen Stanley Black & Decker’s domestic manufacturing footprint, according to a news release. The company plans to spend the other half on R&D for next-generation tools and breakthrough technologies.
- The tools maker is also making progress on an existing commitment to invest $60 million in skilled trades training programs through 2030. Of that total, $27 million has been deployed over the past three years, President and CEO Chris Nelson said in a recent earnings call.
Dive Insight:
Stanley Black & Decker said its $1 billion commitment comes as more advanced tools and technologies are needed to boost productivity and bridge a widening skilled trades gap.
The U.S. construction industry alone will need to bring in 456,000 new workers next year to meet construction services demand, according to the Associated Builders and Contractors trade group. The shortage has been exacerbated by an aging workforce and federal immigration crackdowns.
Meanwhile, more young adults are interested in the construction trades, according to the National Association of Home Builders. To support this shift, Stanley Black & Decker’s Dewalt Grow the Trades Initiative awarded $200,000 in scholarships to 40 students across the U.S. and Canada this year, including for trades in welding, electrical and carpentry.
“By advancing technology, investing in U.S. manufacturing and expanding training to skilled trades, Stanley Black & Decker is helping to build a stronger workforce and a more resilient future for communities across the nation,” Nelson said in Wednesday’s announcement.
Stanley Black & Decker recently received a pre-tax gain of $118 million related to the first phase of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act tariff refund process. This had an outsized impact on its second quarter earnings, which tripled to $351.3 million compared to the same period last year. The company plans to use the tariff refunds to “accelerate growth investments” for the rest of the year, Nelson said on the July 29 call. However, investment allocation details were limited at the time.
Stanley Black & Decker has more than 100 manufacturing facilities around the world, with more than 50 in the U.S., according to its website. The company has 43,500 employees across 59 countries, with about 35% of them in the U.S.
Stanley Black & Decker’s investment comes as more companies across industries invest in the United States to be closer to key customers and markets, as well as to circumvent tariffs. In 2025, expenditures by foreign investors to acquire, establish or expand U.S. businesses totaled $232.2 billion, a 49.5% increase from the previous year, according to recent data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Domestic commitments are also on the rise. In May, General Motors pledged to invest $830 million across three U.S. factories, bringing its total U.S. spend to $6 billion over the past year. More recently, semiconductor firm Micron said it will spend more than $250 billion through 2035 to fortify its U.S. supply chain. Meanwhile, pharamceutical giant Eli Lilly has committed more than $16 billion across three domestic facilities with a focus on injectable or oral weight-loss treatments.
