BEZ Baldor Electric CO.

FORT SMITH, Ark., April 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Baldor Electric Company (NYSE:BEZ) markets, designs, and manufactures industrial electric motors, power transmission products, drives, and generators and is based in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Baldor made the following announcements today after the recent Shareholders' and Board of Director Meetings. Management Announcement ... The Board of Directors approved the following Officer appointment effective April 26, 2008. Larry L. Johnston, Vice President - Audit Services Larry joined Baldor in May 2007. He is from Hot Springs, Arkansas and graduated from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 1991 with a BS in Accounting. Larry is a licensed CPA in Arkansas and Oklahoma and has more than 15 years of accounting and auditing experience. He is also a veteran of the United States Marine Corps. Annual Shareholders' Meeting Highlights ... The Company's Annual Shareholders' Meeting was held on April 26, 2008, in Fort Smith and attended by over 400 shareholders and guests. Following are the highlights of the meeting. -- Company directors Jefferson W. Asher, Jr., Richard E. Jaudes and Robert J. Messey were re-elected to serve a three-year term which will expire in 2011. -- Shareholders ratified the appointment of Ernst & Young LLP as the Company's independent registered public accounting firm. -- Shareholders voted in favor of a shareholder proposal to declassify the Company's Board of Directors. As such, the Board will review and consider amendments to the Company's articles of incorporation and by-laws prior to the next meeting of the shareholders. -- At the meeting, presentations were made by John A. McFarland, Chairman and CEO, Ronald E. Tucker, President and COO. A webcast of the meeting can be viewed on the Company's website at http://www.baldor.com/. Cash Dividend ... The Board of Directors declared a cash dividend of $0.17 per share on the Company's common stock payable on June 30, 2008, to shareholders of record on June 9, 2008. DATASOURCE: Baldor Electric Company CONTACT: John A. McFarland, Chairman & CEO, or Ronald E. Tucker, President & COO, or Tracy L. Long, VP Investor Relations, all of Baldor Electric Company, +1-479-648-5769, fax, +1-479-648-5701, Web site: http://www.baldor.com/

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