Canadian Laboratory Owner Keeps His Eye On the Prize

Laboratory owner Bill Van Evans can feel the breeze off of Chesapeake Bay--all the way from Canada.

Van Evans, who has a background in business management, was trained in orthodontics by his father-in-law and opened Orthodent in Oshawa, Canada--just outside Toronto--in 1988. About eight years ago, he opened a satellite lab closer to the city for better positioning in the Toronto market, and then went on to purchase two more existing laboratories in the Toronto area.

But he wasn't done; his goal was to create a network of about 10 laboratories. His next acquisitions were in the United States, where he made purchases in New Jersey in 2003, Florida in 2005, Virginia in 2007 (click here for Saunders Dental Laboratory profile, A Change of Exit Plans ) and a second Virginia lab just last month.

Since the American dental laboratory market is larger than the one in Canada, the U.S. seemed a logical step to take. But...