MORRISBURG – Six months after company officials confirmed the planned closure of Beavers Dental, the soon-to-be-closed facility is now for sale.
Commercial real estate brokerage firm CBRE Canada published the listing on July 6.
The facility was constructed in 1957 and expanded multiple times to its eventual 61,000 square foot size. Sitting on 4.15 acres of M2-Industrial zoned property, the facility is listed for $3.2 million.
Beavers Dental owner Envista confirmed the manufacturing plant’s closure February 1. Employees were notified by the company January 25. The largest employer in Morrisburg, at the time of the announced closure there were 175 employees at the facility. The company planned three phases of layoffs, with the final layoff set for early 2023.
Workers from other Envista facilities have been at the Morrisburg plant at various times this spring and summer since the shut down announcement, training on equipment here for when production is moved.
Production at the Morrisburg plant is being transferred to other Envista facilities outside of Canada. The Beavers Dental/KavoKerr plant is the company’s only Canadian operation. Since it was founded in 1947 by Morrisburg resident George Beavers, the company has manufactured dental burrs (drills). Beavers sold the company in the 1970s.
Rob Hunter, economic development officer for the Municipality of South Dundas told The Leader he has been waiting for the property to be officially listed for sale for months, and already has a plan to try to attract a company or companies to fill the void left by the Beavers Dental closure.
“We will be marketing the property to our list of current development prospects, to our Site Selector Network and also our network of Commercial/Industrial Real Estate agents that specialize in development properties,” he said. “South Dundas will also be marketing the property on our Municipal website and partner Economic Development websites that list available properties.”
Hunter added, “we will continue to work to get the space purchased and filled.”