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Dexter-Russell 39 COMPLEMENTARY COMPANIES e marriage of Russell-Harrington and Hyde in 1968 did indeed make good business sense. e two companies complemented, rather than competed with, each other. Hyde continued to offer a complete line of putty knives, scrapers and other painting tools, as well as a variety of industrial blades, such as cloth-cutting machine knives, 20" diameter circular blades for various trades. Russell-Harrington also manufactured a small line of putty knives, but focused mainly on professional cutting instruments for the food trades, including meat, chicken and fish processing; hotel and restaurants; retail; and supermarkets. An editorial in the Southbridge Evening News hailed the union, noting that both "…'knife shops' had been important factors in the town's economy for a long time." e editorial added that each company had a reputation for being "good places to work." As promised, work schedules, product lines, pay scale and most benefits remained basically the same. Hyde offered Russell-Harrington employees an enhanced group life insurance program and continued health and accident insurance coverage, with some special perks. One of the most important new benefits was employee profit sharing for Russell-Harrington employees that reflected one offered at Hyde. e plan designated a percentage of Russell-Harrington's profits up to the legal limit of 15 percent of the employee's income to be placed in a trust that could be invested and grow tax free and paid out upon the employee's retirement. RE-ENERGIZING RUSSELL-HARRINGTON At the time of the acquisition, Joseph D. Gallery, who had come from American Optical, was president of Russell-Harrington, but would be replaced within four months by Hyde executive, Richard B. Hardy, who was the son-in-law of Robert Clemence. Treasurer and sales manager for Hyde when the companies merged, Hardy became more involved at Russell-Harrington, making a daily jaunt across town to become acquainted with its operations. A self-proclaimed "half-engineer," Hardy understood manufacturing processes and the inner workings of machinery quite well. His membership in the Hand Tool Institute and the American Cutlery Manufacturing Association (ACMA) afforded him the opportunity to visit nearly every cutlery shop in the country as well as several in Europe. His on-site observations at other factories served as learning experiences that would yield positive results for Russell-Harrington. After reviewing operations at Russell-Harrington, Hardy found some areas in which improvements could be made. Richard B. Hardy, 1970