Ontario Knife Co. in Franklinville sold, 56 employees to lose jobs
In February 2022, Ontario Knife Co. vice president Robert Breton (left) leads former U.S. Rep. Tom Reed on a tour of the 133-year-old Franklinville plant as employees sharpen and polish blades.
FRANKLINVILLE — The Ontario Knife Co. has been sold to an out-of-state interest and is expected to close by the end of the month, the Olean Times Herald learned Thursday.
The move would put 56 employees of the Franklinville cutlery out of work effective July 27. Ontario Knife makes tactical, outdoor and home edged products. Before moving to Franklinville, the company had its roots in Naples, N.Y., where it was founded 134 years ago.
The parent company, Elma-based Servotronics, which is primarily involved in manufacturing aerospace components, announced plans to sell Ontario Knife on March 30.
The sale has been made to a Virginia-based distributor, Blue Ridge Knives.
Cattaraugus County economic development officials had been working with a group of local investors who had hoped to purchase Ontario Knife’s legacy brand.
“It’s devastating,” said Corey Wiktor, executive director of the Cattaraugus County Industrial Development Agency and part of the county’s effort to retain the company and the jobs.
Wiktor said the IDA will reach out to Servotronics to see of space in the Franklinville building can be utilized for manufacturing for the parent company. They also want to see if any existing equipment could remain at the plant for a possible cutlery startup operation,
The sale was “lightning fast,” Wiktor said. “We started working on a package as soon as we heard about the potential sale of the company in April.”
The local group was more than $600,000 short when it came to financing and Servotronics went with a company with cash.
Dave Fenske, a Springville man with decades of experience in the cutlery business, led a group of area investors seeking to buy Ontario Knife.
“I know this was an uphill battle from the start, but I have to say, each of you stepped up in a huge way from the county to help,” Fenske told IDA officials in an email Thursday. “You all acted very promptly, and offered a multitude of efforts and help. It sucks dealing with a publicly traded company who has no feelings when it comes to a legacy plant like Ontario Knife has been. It’s truly sad.”
Wiktor said county economic development officials, county legislators and other leaders were involved in the “all hands on deck” effort to help the local group purchase Ontario Knife and keep it in Franklinville. Local lenders and the New York State Development office were also involved.
Wiktor said county economic development officials are beginning to plan a targeted jobs fair for those employees losing their jobs.
“My heart sank when I heard the news,” said Franklinville Mayor Michael Sikora.
“It’s awful. It’s terrible news,” Sikora said. “Things are on the uptick in Franklinville because of the cheese plant. We’ve had a bit of a turnaround. Real estate is picking up. You can’t find a house or an apartment here.”
Wiktor said the local investors apparently ran out of time. “It’s very disheartening. There are people who worked there for decades. We are going to do whatever we can to help people find other jobs. It is still a big change in lives and lifestyles.”
Servotronics had not announced the sale as of late Thursday.
Cattaraugus County, which has a long history of cutleries, will be down to one after Ontario Knife closes, Cutco Cutlery in Olean.
In a joint statement, Cattaraugus County Legislature Majority Leader Michael Brisky of Franklinville and Legislator Ginger Schroder of Farmersville blasted Servotronics for selling Ontario Knife to a company that planned to close the Franklinville plant.
“We are profoundly disappointed in the horrific news that Ontario Knife Company’s parent company Servotronics, Inc. has decided to liquidate and sell Ontario Knife Company to a Virginia based investor,” the legislators said in a statement.
“OKC is a more-than-a-century old employer and dedicated community partner in Franklinville and Cattaraugus County. The loss of this legacy company is tremendous to the employees, the community, the County and the region.
“The Cattaraugus County Legislature, Administration, Industrial Development Agency and Economic Development Department has been working to provide loan and grant assistance for the last several months to assist a local party that submitted a bid to purchase the company and keep its employees and operations in Franklinville and Cattaraugus County.
“We will do everything within our power to assist the employees affected by this decision and will be communicating to the corporation our dissatisfaction of its decision,” Brisky and Schroder said.
