ABOVE: DeWar Electric Co-Owner Tyler Klingson and Division Manager Josh Nickel stand in front of DeWar Electric in Fairmont, which has been at the same location for 46 years. Klingson said they plan to re-purpose the sign pictured in the new location at 805 East 10th Street.

FAIRMONT – With 46 years under their belt at 724 East Blue Earth Avenue, DeWar Electric is moving to a new location in Fairmont.

Co-Owner Tyler Klingson said there were multiple factors that got the ball rolling on a potential location change.

“They’re busting at the seams a little bit and just the functionality of the building,” he said. “We figured we had an opportunity, a new one opened up, and it was an opportunity for us to start on a clean slate and say, ‘How do we want to build it out?’ We let the guys give their input.”

The new location, 805 East 10th Street, was most recently a candle business and, at one point, was Tycho Plastics. Division Manager Josh Nickel said the property was up for sale around a year before DeWar jumped on it.

“They were trying to sell the whole business, instead of just the building,” he said. “There’s not a lot of buildings in Fairmont that would function for us size-wise in what we were looking for. It was something that came up to us, and we thought we’d jump at the opportunity.”

DeWar officially closed on the building in November, and they got straight to work.

“We had the design phase and then the construction phase,” Klingson said. “Now it’s under construction and renovation to fit our needs when we move in. We’re hoping to be in very soon, to be fully operational out of there within the next two months.”

Though it’s only been a few months since they got started, Klingson said they’ve had to do a full demo in that time.

“We demoed everything that was in there,” he said. “Made it a blank white space, and then we built offices, kitchen, break room, conference rooms, IT rooms and bathrooms to suit everyone’s needs that are there. It’ll be brand new inside when we’re done.”

To have made this possible, Klingson said they had a lot of help from local partners, including Day Plumbing. Now, there’s still a little bit of work left to be done before construction is completed.

“We’re finishing up electrical now,” he said. “Insulation, drywall, finished materials and then the build-out of the offices will have to be done as far as the final furnishes for it to be fully operational.”

This hasn’t stopped them from starting to move bit by bit. Currently, 60 to 70 percent of their stock and materials are in the new building. Although their workflow has been split between two buildings, Nickel said there have only been occasional mix-ups so far, and work has proceeded steadily.

While they may be looking to expand with this move, Klingson said the most important piece is staying for good in Fairmont.

“We’re always looking to expand,” he said. “If there’s opportunities that present themselves outside and around town, and in the surrounding communities, we’re all for that. Our main goal about the big move is to make sure everyone knows Dewar is going to be here to stay in Fairmont, and we want to make sure it’s been around for so long that everyone locally is taken care of.”

Nickel agreed, adding that they are looking to grow some of their services.

“We’re expanding some of our services [here] that we do more in the cities of the low voltage end of it,” he said. “Door access, cameras, some of the stuff that’s becoming more prevalent in everybody’s daily lives. We have a very big division up there, and with the new shop, we’re going to try to expand some of that availability and access to it down here.”

Currently, the plan is to have everything ready and moved over by May 1. Nickel said Fairmont Ford, from which DeWar Electric currently rents, already has a new lessee for the building.