Beaird-Poulan becomes a division of Emerson Electric
The Poulan Super XXV Counter- Vibe made the company an innovator in the casual user market
In February, 1973, James M. Conly, Jr., who had joined the Poulan brothers back in 1948, became president of the company succeeding Charles T. Beaird. A month lat- er; Beaird, who was now chairman of the firm, announced the acquisition of Beaird- Poulan by Emerson Electric Co., St. Louis, Missouri. Emerson, then a $764 million manufacturing giant, traded stock for
“The new owner is one of the nation’s largest and most dynamic business organi- zations,” Beaird told the news media after the acquisition was announced. “As a divi- sion of Emerson Electric, we will receive financial backing necessary to insure our plans for growth, yet retain our individual identity, management and employee policies.”
Ownership of the company had just changed hands, when the Poulan Model
XXwas introduced. The new saw, which astonished industry experts, came on the
market with a tremendous appeal to the casual user. “This little jewel is to our industry what the transistor was to the electronics world,” commented Lindley, now vice president of sales.
The Model XX also surprised the indus- try by breaking the $100 price barrier, and became the industry standard for light- weight saws. But,
The following year,
That same year the Shreveport plant
expanded to 250,000 square feet, and the number of employees rose to almost 600 to meet the rising demand for Poulan’s