Baldor Electric Company Announces 1st Quarter 2006 Dividend and Notice of Annual Shareholders' Meeting

FORT SMITH, Ark., Feb. 7, 2006 -- Baldor Electric Company markets, designs, and manufactures electric motors, drives, and generators and is based in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Baldor made the following announcements after the Company's Board of Directors' meeting on February 6, 2006.

Cash Dividend ... The Board of Directors declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.16 per share on the Company's common stock. The cash dividend is payable on March 31, 2006, to shareholders of record on March 10, 2006.

Notice of Annual Shareholders' Meeting ... The Board established March 8, 2006, as the record date for voting at the Annual Shareholders' Meeting. The meeting is scheduled for 10:30 am (CST) on Saturday, April 22, 2006, and will be held at the Fort Smith Convention Center in Fort Smith, Arkansas.

R.S. Boreham, Jr. ... Roland S. Boreham, Jr., Chairman of the Company from 1981 to 2004, and a current member of the Board of Directors, died February 5, 2006. He will be remembered for his honesty, ethics and fairness to all. As a member of the Baldor family for the past 59 years, he will be missed. Rollie was a mentor and friend to many employees, shareholders and customers.

Next update ... The Company will make a presentation at the Gabelli Pump, Valve and Motor Symposium on February 8 in New York at 3:45 p.m. (EST). The webcast presentation can be accessed through the Company's website http://www.baldor.com/ . The Company will also make a presentation at the Better Investing Atlanta Chapter Investor Fair on February 25, 2006, in Atlanta, Georgia.