In a deal expected to close this week, New York-based Servotronics is selling Ontario Knife for $2.1 million to Virginia’s Blue Ridge Knives. Along with this sale, the knife manufacturer will cease operations in Upstate New York, where it has manufactured since 1889.
Parent company Servotronics has owned Ontario Knife since 1967, but makes the majority of its income from motion control equipment.
The company is well known for its government contract knives like the M9 bayonet. A visit to the Ontario Knife Company website informs the reader:
Thank you for visiting our website. We are currently in a transition and not accepting orders.
The factory in Elma, New York may remain open as Servotronics works to keep the 36 employees and determine what they can use the factory for.
No word yet on what plans the new owners have for the future of Ontario Knife.
I get there’s connections to labor and tradition and sunk cost, but if you’re a weapons maker staying in states like NY, CT, MA, CO, CA, or IL is just crazy to me. They and a sizeable proportion of their electorate hate you and think you’re the source of all evil in the world. Times and people have changed. Bring your production and those jobs to states and populations that still have their heads screwed on straight. There are lots of states that value and respect the defense industry and its substantial contributions to our future and economy. Go there.
Hopefully this doesn’t mean OKC production is moving to China.
Wouldn’t hold out much hope for that. This is 100% conjecture, but unless Blue Ridge Knives( a knife wholesaler) is planning to build a manufacturing facility to build Ontario knives, looks like they bought the name rights.
$2.1Million seems like a heck of a deal for an established name, is that right? I don’t know what kind of numbers they do annually, especially with a relatively small workforce, that just sounds low for some reason.
I mean, it pretty much can’t if it’s continuing its military contracts.