![]() In The Winnowing Season, Rhoda is excited to rebuild her canning business in the new Amish settlement in Maine.Īfter researching how the Amish start and run a business compared to how we as non-Amish start and run a small business, I’ve seen a pattern that at times gives them the upper hand in becoming a success and hanging on to it. Last week, I posted about the different types of heating stoves the Amish use to keep their homes warm through the winter. Congratulations to Tammy Stanford and Caryn Cicchitti! “Daniel and I have become best friends.What Makes Amish Small Businesses so Successful? ![]() “After that, I had a friend that wanted a blacksmith shop and a barn built around here, so we got the Flauds to come down with his crew and help.” “They took over and got that thing finished quick,” he said. “In the wake, the Amish went from barn to barn rebuilding them.”Ī friend of Crossley’s had his property burned and one of the crews that showed up to help were from the Flaud family. “There was a kid in Milroy, Pennsylvania who burned down about 11 farms,” he said. “My cousin’s a merchant marine, so he’s gone all the time, but around midnight last week he came home and scared everyone in the house.”Ĭrossley said he first got involved with the Flauds in the early 1990s after a spat of arson hit their area of Pennsylvania. “I put them up at my cousin’s place,” he said. “In Pennsylvania, there’s a lot of this going on, farms and barns needing to be fixed and built, but up here it’s a bit more rare.”ĭuring their time in the area, the crew has been staying at accommodations arranged by Crossley. ![]() “It’s slow everywhere and this certainly does help, but we’re not in the position that we have to travel for all of our work,” he said. We have about a year to finish the barn project here.”Īlthough the economy is playing a role in their traveling from job to job, Flaud said its influence is slight. We might be coming back here in September. “Next we’re doing a timber frame house in Portland, Maine. “Any more and we’re stretching ourselves,” he said. “And while we like to do it once in a while, it’s not fun if you’re away week after week after week.”ĭuring the summers, he said, the crew likes to keep the job cap at four jobs. “We’re certainly used to it by now,” he said. Overall, Flaud said, he loves traveling during the summers from job to job. “My grandpa liked traveling and dad likes it and now I like it,” he added. Everyone’s a bit friendlier and it’s a bit cooler out. We remain friends with all of our customers.”įlaud’s son, Jacob, said he enjoys the trips with his family. “The people here are very nice and we get treated like kings when we’re here. “My dad was a traveler and by now I’m used to it,” he said. Thanks to his father, Flaud said he got a taste for traveling as a young boy. The trucks they use, pickups with an extra large cab, are leased. “In total, there’s about 11 of us and we’re all family except for Brad, who’s our driver,” Flaud said.ĭue to their culture, Flaud said, they hire Whalen to drive them from job to job. In their community, Flaud said, the family has two traveling crews, one headed by Daniel and the other guided by his twin brother Jacob. 8, but will return to Loring Farm in the fall to continue the project. Also in tow are two younger boys, Flaud’s son, Mark, and Whalen’s son, Cody. Even though they’re used to traveling, they live 500 miles away and I know they don’t like to leave their farms and kids for too long.”ĭaniel Flaud is the head of team working on the barn at Loring Farm, along with his son Jacob, two nephews, Steven and David Lee, and their driver, Brad Whalen. “In this economy, since things are a bit slow, they’ve been taking on some more projects. “They can pretty much do everything though,” Crossley said. The Loring Farm barn is a perfect project for the Amish workers, Crossley said, since they specialize in building and restoring post and beam structures. Anytime they come this side of New York, they’re working with me.” There’s also a barn in Maine they’re going to be working on next. So far they’ve worked on four barns for customers of mine. ![]() “I’ve helped them get a few extra jobs here and there. “Daniel, the team leader, is a good friend of mine and I brought him and his team up here to fix up the barn for John,” Crossley said. Recently though, he’s been getting some specialized help from an unlikely group: the Amish.Ī team of Amish workers from Newburgh, Penn., recently left the farm after staying for a few weeks to help restore the decades-old barn at Loring Farm.Ĭhuck Crossley, a Pembroke contractor, is the liaison between the two factions as he’s spent many years working with the group, brining them on several jobs in the Northeast states. Since buying Loring Farm this past June, John Hornstra has had his hands full, restoring, rebuilding and refurbishing the farm.
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