I recently read a book I’d been looking forward to for a long time. An Amish Paradox: Diversity and Change in the World’s Largest Amish Community is an in-depth look at the Amish settlement at Holmes County, Ohio, and one of the most interesting books on the Amish I have read. In Ohio last month I had the pleasure of meeting the book’s authors, Charles…
A couple more articles caught my eye over the past few days. Many people have likely already seen the article from yesterday’s NYT on Amish farms damaging the Chesapeake Bay through farm runoff. This issue has existed for a number of years, but this was interesting to see written about for a couple reasons: one in that it offers another example of an Amishman accepting…
Migration to previously-unsettled areas has been a story of significance for Amish in recent years.  Migration is not a new phenomenon, as Amish have long moved to new areas for reasons of economics, due to church issues, or for other causes. Places that have seen a recent influx of Amish include Missouri, Wisconsin, and New York–all states that have established Amish populations. Recent years have…
Amish America reader Pete Ventura shares the following, about a visit to an Amish bicycle business: Recently I returned home from Holmes County. While I was up there I stopped in at a local bicycle shop located about a half mile north east of Charm, out in the middle of nowhere. I bought 97 dollars worth of equipment. When I went to pay, the owner…
Two days ago, I sat down with Harley Stutzman, an Ohio Amish furniture finisher (Holmes County settlement). I had heard that Harley had been through an ordeal since our last meeting. Harley shared his remarkable story as we sat on his front porch sipping ice cold Pepsis on a beautiful spring afternoon. By way of background, Harley was one of the business owners I interviewed for…
At a talk I gave in Holmes County, at one point one of the Amish entrepreneurs on the 5-man panel expressed concerns over technology. Paraphrasing, he spoke of worries over “kids having the PSP and the Game Boy and half of the boys having cars”.  Having been to a few Amish homes, I can say this is not far off in some communities, where both…
Dan Miller is a top careers and business consultant, bestselling author, and founder of 48 Days, where he helps people from all walks of life discover fulfilling vocations. He is also a long-time successful businessperson and runs an online community for entrepreneurs at a second site, 48Days.net. Dan has Amish roots, which I first learned a few years ago after reading an article he wrote…
One of my favorite stops of this recent Holmes County trip was Raber’s Bookstore, located “2 miles south of Charm”, as it says on the business card. This photo is not of the store itself, but of an old schoolhouse nearby. The bookstore has changed hands to the next generation and is run by a lively pair, we’ll call them “Atlee” and “Emma”. The store…
Just got back from Holmes County, and have a good bit of posts from that trip–among other things, I visited Raber’s bookshop, attended a New Order church service, and generally stayed out of trouble. More to come. But since it’s just out today, I wanted to share two things: first, an Amish business article from CNNMoney.com. It’s a nicely done piece by Geoff Williams, with…
Just had a nice talk yesterday evening at the Amish and Mennonite Heritage Center (home to the Behalt cyclorama) at Berlin in Holmes County. About 130 people attended, roughly 70% of whom were Amish. I explained that I was glad it was a non-violent, pacifist crowd. I figured that gave me a better chance of survival if I really messed something up in my talk….