- QNetNews.ca - https://www.qnetnews.ca -

Local entrepreneur brews up a new business

By Taylor Broderick [1]

BELLEVILLE – A new craft brewery is coming to the Belleville area and will be located in the old Corbyville Distillery.

Plans for the Signal Brewing Company [2] are currently in the works. The business is crafted by entrepreneur Richard Courneyea who ran in the 2014 mayoral election.

Courneyea owned the small retail business “Richard Davis” in downtown Belleville. He closed the shop in December to pursue building the brewery.

“If it comes together it will be a wonderful tourist attraction for our city,” Courneyea said. 

The property owned by the Courneyea family runs along the Moira River. Back in the 1800s, when Henry Corby and his family owned the land, it was used as a distillery for whiskey [3]. In 2009, part of the distillery was burned down by suspected arson.

Courneyea says the history of the area is what makes it a perfect place to start a new brewery company to try and revive the riverfront property.

“We are proud to once again celebrate our past by crafting a bright future called Signal Brewing Company,” Courneyea wrote on the company’s newly made Facebook page.

There are already a few people who are excited to hear that a new business is underway and coming to the area.

Kevin Young, a Belleville resident, says he thinks the brewery will restore some of the heritage that was lost in Corbyville.

“It could mean economic growth, both with this business and attracting other businesses in the region,” Young said.

Screen Shot 2016-01-20 at 2.00.09 PM [8]

There’s no word yet as to when Courneyea plans to have the company open for business but you can follow his progress through the Signal Brewing Company Facebook [9] page.