March April 2016
Where Christian faith gets down to business
The Steiners of Ohio:
Christian values and the feel of steel
They help firms track eco-footprints Aboriginal aviator: model entrepreneur “A” game comes to village kitchens 1
Marketplace March April CS6 2016.indd 1
The Marketplace March April 2016
15/02/2016 10:55:58 AM
Roadside stand
Go ahead, have fun at work We’re told some bosses think employees who seem to be having fun must not be working hard enough. Here’s a different slant. • Ninety-six percent of executives in one survey said people with a sense of humor do better work than those who have little or no sense of humor. • In the nine months after attending a humor workshop, 20 managers increased their productivity 15 percent and cut their sick days in half. • Employees who viewed humorous training films and attended humor workshops showed a 25 percent decrease in downtime and a 60 percent increase in job satisfaction. • A university study found that people who had just seen a funny movie increased their “creative flexibility” and were better at solving puzzling work problems than those who had not seen the film. Let’s eat. Harvest crews used to shut down the threshing machine to eat their noon meal together. What could be more efficient? Turns out that lunching together is also good business today as it boosts team performance, say researchers at Cornell University (Ithaca, N.Y.). After surveying more than 50 firehouses in a large city, researchers found that platoons who ate together got higher marks for team performance. Those who dined alone performed more poorly. The shared act of eating together is a kind of social glue that spills back into work, says the study’s author, a professor in the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management. The researchers say the findings have implications
for any organization that wants to enhance teamwork. Thus, companies that invest in cafeterias and good food will see a return in employee performance. (Manitoba Cooperator) Girls rule. Lucky you if your male CEO has daughters rather than only sons. Why? Because he’s more likely to run a socially responsible firm, according to new research. A study reported in Corporate Knights magazine analyzed male CEOs of S & P 500 companies from 1992-2012 and found that those with daughters scored 12 percent higher on social responsibility than those with only sons. These firms also spent 13.4 percent more on corporate social responsibility (CSR). “They seem to care more about others than just shareholders,” said one of the researchers. Moreover, when a company switched from a CEO with daughters to one without, it experienced an across-the-board decline in CSR performance. Researchers said part of the reason was that women may care more about the well-being of others, and this rubs off on their CEO dads.
On a related note, research two years ago showed that boards with at least one female member “behave better” when it comes to good governance. Moving on up. Migration is a huge topic these days, and pundits of all stripes weigh in regularly. Some fear immigrants will poach jobs from locals, or depress wages for others. A sunnier approach, as reported in The Economist, suggests the act of moving can make people more productive, especially if it is from a poor country to a richer one. It quotes Michael Clemens of the Centre for Global Development who says such a migrant, if allowed to work, can earn three to five times more than he/she did at home, even without acquiring new skills. In fact, the magazine says, “If all international borders were completely open, global GDP would double.” Overall, “immigrants bring complementary skills, new ideas and entrepreneurial zest, so they tend to boost growth. Also, because they are mostly young, healthy and working, they typically pay more in taxes than they receive in benefits.” — WK
Cover photo of Dallas Steiner provided by Venture Products, Inc., Orrville, Ohio.
The Marketplace March April 2016
Marketplace March April CS6 2016.indd 2
2
15/02/2016 10:55:58 AM
In this issue
6
Oliver Owen: pilot and entrepreneur. Page 12
Roadside stand Soul enterprise Reviews Soundbites News
Volume 46, Issue 2 March April 2016 The Marketplace (ISSN 321-330) is published bi-monthly by Mennonite Economic Development Associates at 532 North Oliver Road, Newton, KS 67114. Periodicals postage paid at Newton, KS 67114. Lithographed in U.S.A. Copyright 2016 by MEDA. Editor: Wally Kroeker Design: Ray Dirks
Change of address should be sent to Mennonite Economic Development Associates, 1891 Santa Barbara Dr., Ste. 201, Lancaster, PA 17601-4106.
For the tractor-making Steiners of Ohio, mechanical savvy runs in the blood like an artist’s DNA. They grew up with a welder in their hands and a muscular vision for Christian service.
10
Tracking footprints
12
The sky’s the limit
16
Bringing the “A” game
18
A pioneer passes
Departments 22 24 20 21 22
The feel of steel
It’s hard to get a grip on reducing your energy use if you can’t even understand your utility bill. Here’s a company that’s using energy efficiency to boost the bottom line. By Jono Cullar
Aboriginal aviator Oliver Owen had long nourished a dream to serve his isolated Manitoba community with reliable transportation. The First Peoples fund helped make it happen.
In many countries toddlers are born with a strike against them because of Vitamin A deficiency. A new MEDA project is overcoming this lack by infusing the vitamin into common cooking oil.
Lloyd Fisher, MEDA’s first executive secretary (1969-1981), died in Arizona at the age of 97. He spearheaded MEDA’s foray into agricultural credit, an area that would bring great success.
To e-mail an address change, subscription request or anything else relating to delivery of the magazine, please contact subscription@meda.org For editorial matters contact the editor at wkroeker@meda.org or call (204) 956-6436 Subscriptions: $25/year; $45/two years.
Postmaster: Send address changes to The Marketplace 1891 Santa Barbara Dr., Ste. 201 Lancaster, PA 17601-4106
Published by Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA), whose dual thrust is to encourage a Christian witness in business and to operate business-oriented programs of assistance to the poor. For more information about MEDA call 1-800-665-7026. Web site www.meda.org
Visit our new online home at www.marketplacemagazine.org, where you can download past issues, read articles and discuss topics with others, all from your desktop or mobile device.
3
Marketplace March April CS6 2016.indd 3
The Marketplace March April 2016
15/02/2016 10:55:58 AM
If Jesus came to the office Imagine if Jesus dropped by your workplace. Would you have to grab for the Rolaids? Here’s what happened when Jesus visited Fred, owner of Acme Construction: “Nice place, Fred. Looks efficient. Say, I really like the way you do trusses nowadays. Sure beats how we used to do it.” “Thanks, Lord. We try to keep up.” “So tell me, how are things going?” “Uh, well, I have to admit my church work has lagged a bit. And I feel bad for declining that denominational board position....” “Fred.” “Yes?” “Relax. This isn’t a test.” “Right. I guess I’m a bit jumpy; this doesn’t exactly happen every day. Maybe I feel guilty for not doing more, but I don’t have much energy left at the end of a day. It’s all I can do to drag myself to choir practice on Thursdays. More evening meetings just don’t cut it.” “I’m not wild about evening meetings myself.” “You aren’t?” “Nope. Actually, Fred, it’s your best hours I want. During the day. When you’re fresh.” “But, but, that’s when I’m working.” “Precisely. So let’s start again. How does Acme compare with, say, the company down the street? How are you different?” “Different?” “Yeah. Like how do you define your mission? How are you using the gifts my Dad gave you?” “Hmmm. Well, when the Christian high school needed a new addition I put it up at cost. Didn’t make a dime. And when that tornado went through the midwest I sent some of my people to help with reconstruction.” “That’s great, Fred. But besides those extra things, what is it about your daily work that’s special? How do you do business differently? And I don’t mean by printing little fish on your invoices.” “Frankly, Lord, just keeping my head above water takes most of my time. It’s not that easy being in business these days — recession, unions, building codes....” “Hey, tell me about it. I used to swing a hammer myself. I built a lot of cabinets before I preached the Sermon on the Mount.”
The Marketplace March April 2016
Marketplace March April CS6 2016.indd 4
“Oh yeah. The Sermon on the Mount. Suddenly I feel guilty again.” “Skip the guilt, Fred. I’m more interested in performance.” “Performance?” “Yes. I’d like to know how you’re modelling my kingdom in your little corner of the business world. Right here. Right now.” “Uh, Lord, can we pick this up later? Senior management is meeting at ten to handle some marketing and personnel problems. While we’re doing that you can have donuts and coffee in the lunchroom, maybe read the new issue of The Marketplace.” “Actually, Fred, your meeting sounds more interesting. Mind if I sit in?” “You mean join our meeting? I didn’t know you cared about that sort of stuff.” “You’d be surprised, Fred.” Reprinted from The Marketplace, March/April 1993
4
15/02/2016 10:55:58 AM
Keep your edge — be happy Guess what — you don’t have to give up all the things you love and burn yourself out to get ahead in your career. It’s okay to, well, be happy. “People generally have the misconception that, in order to be successful, they have to postpone their happiness,” says Emma Seppala, author of The Happiness Track. Being happy, she says. will help you get ahead. She suggests: • “Lengthen your exhales” when things get stressful. • Take it easy on yourself. Being self-critical doesn’t make you work better. “Treat yourself as you would treat a friend. Remind yourself that everyone makes mistakes and it’s no big deal if you screwed up. Give yourself a break.” • Practise gratitude. “Research shows that more things go right in our day than wrong, but we tend to focus on the negative,” she says. “By recalling and noticing all the things that are going right, you will feel happier and more energized.” (Globe & Mail)
Save the world — business style Some people see good corporate citizenship as a way to show you aren’t doing anything wrong. It’s almost a way to protect your reputation in times when society is being critical of business. But it should be more than a way to save your bacon. How about a way to save the world? Maybe that’s not as big a stretch as it seems. “If all companies harnessed their powers for good, capitalism could be the most influential force for social change,” according to Craig and Marc Kielburger, brothers who have founded several social change organizations. Many people see the purpose of business as making profit and increasing shareholder value. But why not reach higher? The brothers say more companies, both large and small, are proving they can make a profit and help solve systemic social problems by embedding a “save the world” mission into their business strategy. They quote a Canadian business professor as saying global multinationals, for example, can have “more power than the United Nations” if they redirect their corporate strategies to do good while they do well. “In an age of ever-shrinking government budgets, the world must look to business to step up and play its part for sustainable social changes,” the Kielburgers say. (Winnipeg Free Press)
Doing time What’s your business? Well, I run a Christian prison.... Sound nuts? Not to everyone. Listen to this evangelical leader who suggests spreading salt and light into society’s darkest places. “Christians should be given an equal shot at building prisons, not just the state, as privatization is clearly the wave of the future. Most prisons today are little more than incubators for a new generation of criminals and do little to rehabilitate the offender. Christian prisons would serve as places of restoration and restitution as well as being incubators for small businesses.”
Overheard:
“You can’t make a foot without using at least a little bit of clay.” — Nina Palumbo
5
Marketplace March April CS6 2016.indd 5
The Marketplace March April 2016
15/02/2016 10:55:58 AM
The feel of steel The Steiner brothers grew up with a welder in their hands and a muscular vision for Christian service
W
hen Dallas Steiner worked at an orphanage in Bolivia 25 years ago he had a machine shop out back containing a jumble of wheels, rods and scraps of metal. For him, the collection was full of possibilities — a way to employ innate talents to impact the world. “He sees it much like a sculptor sees a block of marble,” a visitor said at the time. “That’s because he has a knack for bringing order out of what looks like chaos. You might call it the Steiner Touch.” Steiner came by that magic touch
honestly. “It’s in the blood,” he quips, quoting the title of a seminar he and his son Denver led at MEDA’s convention last fall. (The subtitle: “How a family’s DNA turned vision into a journey for impacting the
world.”) That expertise, bred in the bone and writ large in the world of business, has led Steiner to his role as CEO and chair of the board of Venture Products, Inc., a leading manufacturer of compact tractors. It’s also a company that demonstrates how mechanical skill, entrepreneurship and vibrant Christian values can work together to benefit many stakeholders.
Growing up in Orrville,
Ohio, Dallas and his six brothers were surrounded by the ingenuity
One of many Ventrac applications — the HQ680 Tough Cut Mower designed for high grass, thick weeds and brush.
The Marketplace March April 2016
Marketplace March April CS6 2016.indd 6
6
15/02/2016 10:55:59 AM
Profit sharing gets everyone “thinking and acting and making decisions — like an owner. We have 170 owners!”
of their father, Marvin, upon whom local farmers relied for repair and custom work. “Dad made a lot of things,” says Dallas. “We grew up with a welder in our hands. We learned what steel felt like.” In the mid-1970s the brothers formed the Steiner Corporation and began producing their own multipurpose tractors and various types of both turf and agricultural equipment. By 1988 they sold their tractor turf product line to a British turf company. A decade later the time seemed right to some of the brothers to get back into their own line of production. They formed Venture Products, Inc., (ventrac.com) which manufactures Ventrac compact tractors and more than 30 versatile and easily connected attachments for users like landscapers, municipalities, golf courses, parks and sport facilities.
The company provides a platform to use God-given abilities to make a difference. The design features an articulating frame, front-mounted attachments, and all-wheel drive traction. Products are designed, engineered and built using 3-D CAD software, laser-cutting technology, robotic welding and a powder coating paint system. Ventrac products are exported to more than 20 countries, especially Sweden, Australia, South Korea and Canada. Today the company employs 170. 7
Marketplace March April CS6 2016.indd 7
Annual sales revenue is $50 million with yearly growth exceeding 20 percent. Venture Products has two major facilities in Orrville, Ohio. One houses the fabrication, welding, research, parts, warehouse and office facilities. The second has a state of the art paint system and attachment assembly lines. The privately held company includes three of the brothers; Mark and Dallas are full-time, Roy is part time (semi-retired). There are also six family members from the second generation. Altogether there are 33 shareholders (seven from the first generation, 26 from the second).
From their youth the Steiner brothers were infused with the idea of helping people. Connecting with the poor remains important to them. Dallas Steiner’s travel schedule takes him around the world — Africa, The Marketplace March April 2016
15/02/2016 10:55:59 AM
Asia, Europe and the Americas. On a recent visit to Zimbabwe he met with local tractor distributors as well as the country’s minister of agriculture. Steiner keeps on top of global agricultural needs. He sees a niche to improve agricultural production through simple technology. In 2014 a MEDA associate from Bolivia days, Calvin Miller, who worked for the Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome, invited him to address a United Nations group on the potential of agricultural mechanization in Africa. “Kids are still dying from hunger,” Steiner says. “Global food production has to grow 70 percent by 2050 to meet needs.” For him, the company is “a
How do you create a culture where people enjoy working? By trying to live the Golden Rule. platform to think and work from in using our God-given talents/abilities to make a difference.” The business of farming feeds into that process. As stated on the company’s website, “Growth from agriculture is at least twice as effective at reducing poverty than any
other sector.” A new agricultural line of product, a small row crop tractor in the design stage, may help. Set for production in 2018, it is designed for small to medium-size commercial farms, including organic farmers and village producers with as few as a dozen acres. It will be a basic and affordable rear-engine tractor with high ground clearance and adjustable wheel widths so small farmers can use it for many tasks and operations. The emphasis has been on versatility. It utilizes quick-change accessories ranging from tillage and planting to digging, husking and shelling and miscellaneous other uses such as irrigation and mowing.
Can-do generosity
D
allas Steiner remembers his parents as consistently modeling service and generosity. If there was a catastrophe somewhere, agencies like Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) could
count on their support. In 1979, at the age of 22, Dallas and his wife, Rhoda, began a threeyear term with Mennonite Central Committee in Bolivia. Dallas’s mechanical skill equipped him to work
Mission accomplished: An early shot of Marvin Steiner demonstrating a bean thresher he built in 1989 for MEDA in Bolivia.
The Marketplace March April 2016
Marketplace March April CS6 2016.indd 8
in appropriate technology (rice hullers, peanut shellers and animal traction). Several years later they returned to Santa Cruz, Bolivia, to rejuvenate an orphanage that had fallen on hard times (and which today serves more than 200 children). In 1989 Marvin and Mary visited Dallas and Rhoda for a few months. Cal Miller from MEDA dropped by and mentioned that he needed a bean thresher. Maybe Marvin Steiner could build one. “We found an old Willys Jeep and bought it for about $800,” Dallas recalls. “Within minutes Dad had picked up a torch and had begun to strip it down. We found bearings and shafts for it and bought a Honda engine. In three weeks Dad had built a thresher, which functioned much like a miniature combine. We took it out to the bean fields and it worked. It may still be there.” ◆
8
15/02/2016 10:55:59 AM
A corporate platform for impact: It’s important to Dallas Steiner that employees “see God through us.”
At the seminar they presented
at MEDA’s recent convention, Dallas and Denver explained how Venture Products aims to be a spiritual force alongside being a leading manufacturer. “I love the concept of living faith out in the business context, of letting the company be a platform to bless the community,” said Denver. They distributed a copy of the company’s shareholder newsletter in which Dallas wrote of the joy of seeing people “put God at the center of their lives daily.” It’s important to him that employees “will see God through us.” “We are pretty open about our Christian values as a company and our employees know where we stand,” he says. “I believe that is pretty well accepted by the majority of all who work for VPI. It is interest-
ing to see the new hires that come in, and how they start to recognize the different culture that is inside Venture Products.” He strives to create a culture where people enjoy working. One way he does that is by “trying to live the Golden Rule and treating people with respect.” Profit sharing is a part of the business model. It is discussed every month with employees and paid out annually. The amount is “enough to have an impact on a family,” says Steiner. Moreover, “that check creates a sense of ownership and a buy-in from them that keeps all of us working towards a common goal. In the end, it creates everyone thinking and acting and making decisions — like an owner. We have 170 owners!” VPI also has a mechanism to 9
Marketplace March April CS6 2016.indd 9
channel support to various ministries in line with the family’s core values. The Steiner Family Charitable Fund, operating through Everence/Mennonite Foundation, contributes to organizations working with children, mission support, Christian ministries and disaster relief.
As he manages a burgeoning
company and keeps up a torturous travel schedule Steiner relies on leadership guidance from Psalm 78:72 — “with integrity of heart, with skillful hands he led them.” “I also desire this and pray that I model this in my leadership to my family, my faith walk and my career,” he says. “I keep working on it, and the longer I’m on this journey the better I understand what ‘integrity of heart’ can look like.” ◆ The Marketplace March April 2016
15/02/2016 10:55:59 AM
Tracking eco-footprints How can you save energy if you don’t understand your utility bill? Here’s how improving efficiency can boost the bottom line. by Jono Cullar
I
t is easy to become disheartened when global headlines read “Warmest Year on Record,” “Ice Caps Melting” and “The Climate Crunch.” In 2007, a group of businessmen from Denver, Colo., and Waterloo, Ont., decided to help address this issue with a business solution to a challenge they encountered in their own work and personal lives: “what day, time, and where am I using energy?” Then, and still today, utilities traditionally provided only a monthly summarized total of energy usage, with minimal detail to help the business relate this usage to operations, and equally important, non-operating periods. The goal in founding Power TakeOff (www.powertakeoff.com) was to help companies reduce their energy usage, thus increasing profit, while also mitigating their corporate environmental footprint. The product would be information and awareness — access to detailed 15 and oneminute energy usage data. Instead of receiving a utility bill at the end of the month with one total electricity consumption number, subscribers would have access to 2,976 data points for that same time period. Simply put, helping businesses understand their energy usage would better equip them to make energy conservation decisions. “At the time there were not a lot of options available on the market,” says president Bob Nally, a MEDA chapter member in Waterloo. “Companies would get their energy bill at the end of the month and pay it The Marketplace March April 2016
Marketplace March April CS6 2016.indd 10
Part of the intricate software used to analyze a customer’s energy pattern.
without fully understanding why their bill was the way it was. Considering energy costs are such a large expense for many businesses it’s amazing how little people understand it. We try to take some of the confusion out of energy bills and visually demonstrate different components of the bill.” Nine years later, Power TakeOff is working with several of the largest utility companies in the U.S. to help their biggest energy users, often with utility bills in the millions of dollars, cut back on energy usage. However, it’s not just massive energy users that are benefiting; the software is also helpful for small to mid-sized energy users. In a pilot funded by the State of Minnesota, Power TakeOff was able to identify 10.8 percent savings, on average, for small and me-
dium sized customers across dozens of locations.
Since its inception, Power
TakeOff has developed new features to help users find deeper levels of energy savings. “Our very first product was essentially a large spreadsheet with hundreds of data points,” says John Fast, Power TakeOff board member and former MEDA board member. “Now it’s a more visually informative product with real-time comparative and analytic features that help drive energy savings. It’s a very sophisticated yet very simple product to use. We actually have the ability to monitor specific pieces of equipment or processes within a building in real time anywhere in the world.” Because of the sheer volume of
10
15/02/2016 10:55:59 AM
They try to take the A sample message alert to a customer to report an incident of high energy usage.
mystery out of energy bills and visually demonstrate various components. data available and its inherent ability to overload businesses with information, Power TakeOff has focused on processing and distilling data into a user-friendly dashboard with built-in analytics and features that alert users only when energy usage is abnormal or outside of what is expected. This way managers can focus on their key responsibilities and only be notified when there is an issue. With the development of new technology, Power TakeOff has expanded its monitoring solution beyond electricity to now include water, natural gas, steam, temperature and many other metrics related to utility usage. Data can also be gathered in one-minute intervals, rather than the original 15, creating 44,640 data points per month for just kWh consumption data.
Kevin Martin has been with Power TakeOff from the beginning, moving from Waterloo to Denver to grow the company after graduation from Conrad Grebel University College in 2008. “To see the rapid growth and interest in energy efficiency and sustainability increase over the past decade as a result of our service has provided a rewarding career,” says Martin, who is now COO. “Today we work with over 40 Fortune 500 companies helping to manage 147,000,000 square feet and monitor 518,758,000 kWh on a daily basis. That’s equivalent to monitoring over 16.5 million homes’ energy consumption.” Those achievements have not come without challenges. “Because we work with utilities who serve all types and sizes of businesses, each with different goals and objectives, it is a challenge to constantly improve and expand our software to meet our customer needs while still maintaining the software’s ease of use,” says Martin.
Power TakeOff officials see
Bob Nally: Helping customers take confusion out of utility bills
a promising outlook. According to a recent report from Allied Market Research, the market for energy management systems is increasing at a compounding rate of 14 percent 11
Marketplace March April CS6 2016.indd 11
annually and will continue to do so through 2020. The market is expected to reach $44 billion by that time. The reason for the rapid market growth is the strong business case for energy efficiency. It requires less money to reduce electricity usage by 1 kWh than it does to produce renewables, such as solar or wind electricity generation. Reducing energy usage in a large facility generally costs from 1.8 to 4.8 cents per kWh, whereas wind generation is 4.7 to nine cents, and solar from 8.2 to 10, according to the Climate Action Group. There’s a strong business case for prioritizing energy efficiency above on site electricity generation. “We’re out to prove that stewardship and business can and do work hand in hand,” says Peter Widmer, vice-president of business development. “By helping businesses increase their profitability through low-cost, no-cost operational adjustments, we’re also able to reduce their environmental impact.” “It’s an exciting and cutting edge industry, says Bob Nally, “and we look forward to our future growth over the next decade as attention to environmental impact only continues to increase.” ◆ Jono Cullar is Power TakeOff’s Waterloo-based account manager. He is a member of the Waterloo MEDA chapter board and a recipient of the 2015 “MEDA 20 under 35” award.
The Marketplace March April 2016
15/02/2016 10:55:59 AM
The sky’s the limit First Peoples fund gave wings to a dream
S
t. Andrews is a small airport on the northern outskirts of Winnipeg, scattered with low buildings that look, not surprisingly, like airplane hangars. Step into the one marked Amik Aviation and you find yourself in a miniature airport terminal with rows of seats and waiting passengers. They are about to board a nine-seat plane to Little Grand Rapids First Nation, 150 miles northeast. Being winter, the Cessna Caravan is equipped with wheels. In summer it could just as well be on floats for water landing. For most of the year, the sole access to Little Grand Rapids is by air. As with many of Manitoba’s northern communities, the only time trucks can be used to bring in supplies is when winter gets cold enough for a temporary ice road. For Oliver Owen, that restricted access produced the germ of an The Marketplace March April 2016
Marketplace March April CS6 2016.indd 12
Aviation entrepreneur Oliver Owen with his Cessna 185.
entrepreneurial idea more than three decades ago. He wanted to provide reliable transport for his fellow First Nations people in isolated communities. Today he owns Amik Aviation Ltd., a schedule and charter air service whose name means “beaver”
in his Saulteaux language.
Owen came to Winnipeg
from his First Nations home in 1978 to learn to fly. He knew his way around small aircraft because of all the planes that flew into his commu-
12
15/02/2016 10:56:00 AM
nity and to the fishing lodge where he worked. Planes were part of life at Little Grand Rapids; except for the winter ice roads, they were the only way in or out. He had saved up $1,200 to learn to fly. But that wasn’t enough for training plus living expenses. Already an entrepreneur at heart, he persisted. “The guy who ran the air service gave me a job, cleaning planes and sweeping floors. I finally got my pilot’s license in 1979, even before I had a driver’s license.” His next goal was a commercial license, but that would cost $4,000. He went back to work and gained his commercial rating in 1983. That was enough to hire out as a pilot, and Owen began flying for existing firms. In 1990 he bought his own small plane and also made a decision to try local politics. He ran for chief, won, and served for four years. He also started his first business, a small grocery store. Having a plane made it possible to fly in supplies. Making the leap to an aviation business required various regulatory hoops, which Owen patiently navigated. When he needed more flight capacity he turned to the First Peo-
Amik’s fleet includes two nine-seat Cessna Caravan aircraft, equipped with wheels in winter, floats in summer.
The passenger “waiting lounge” at Little Grand Rapids. For most of the year air is the only way in or out.
ples Economic Growth Fund (FPEGF — www.firstpeoplesfund.ca). This joint initiative between the Manitoba government and the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs has a mandate to finance viable First Nation business
proposals, ranging from car wash and restaurant facilities to tourism and fishing enterprises. It also helps with business plans, skills development and joint venture investments. “I approached FPEGF because
Following Dad in business and politics
B
lair Owen has followed in his father’s footsteps, in more ways than one. Like Oliver, he is an entrepreneur who operates a grocery store at Little Grand Rapids First Nation. Also like his father, he’s an Aboriginal politician. Oliver was a chief, and Blair, 31, is a councillor of Little Grand Rapids First Nation. “I grew up idolizing my Dad,” he told a meeting of the Winnipeg MEDA chapter. Blair started his grocery store nine years ago. In 2011 he decided to expand to better meet the community’s needs. He applied to FPEGF for a business loan.
“This funding was approved and I was on my way to realizing my dream of expanding my business, not only to offer more products to the community and better customer service, but to also offer more employment opportunities for local community members,” he said. He was able to expand from 700-square feet to a new 2,000-square-foot building with a gas bar operation. He employs seven to 10 people in the two businesses. In his speech he let his hair down about what it’s like to be an Aboriginal entrepreneur. “Finding trust is an issue,” he said. “No traditional bank would even look at fi-
13
Marketplace March April CS6 2016.indd 13
nancing my expansion. If it wasn’t for First Peoples Economic Growth Fund, my business wouldn’t be where it is today.” He also experienced pushback from some of his own people who were suspicious of one of their own succeeding. “Being a First Nations entrepreneur is very hard,” he said. “Being accepted is hard.” When he obtained his loan to expand, there were those who thought he had embezzled the money from his own Band. Still, he said he loves his work. “I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else.” ◆
The Marketplace March April 2016
15/02/2016 10:56:00 AM
most financial institutions see Aboriginal businesses as high risk and have not been willing to take a chance on me,” says Owen. In 2009 he acquired his first nineseat Cessna Caravan and began daily service between Little Grand Rapids and St. Andrews. Two years later he acquired another Caravan.
Amik’s main base is Little
Grand Rapids with a sub-base at St. Andrews Airport, 10 minutes north of Winnipeg. It offers daily scheduled service to passengers from Little Grand Rapids and Pauingassi First Nations. They are picked up directly at their community by Amik’s amphibious Caravan. There are daily morning and afternoon flights Monday to Friday and Sunday afternoons. Extra flights are
added when needed. “We’re busy in summer, sometimes eight trips a day,” says Owen. “All three planes go twice a day between Little Grand Rapids and Winnipeg, plus charters. We serve several communities on the east side of Lake Winnipeg that are accessible only by air in spring, summer and fall, including Little Grand Rapids, Pauingassi and Bloodvein First Na-
Looking for a MEDA connection
W
hen the history of Aboriginal entrepreneurship is written in Manitoba, the names of two unrelated Friesens could very well be included. Bert Friesen is CEO of Genesys Ventures Inc., a Winnipeg company that helps scientists commercialize their human therapy research, and chair of the board of Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA). Daniel Lepp Friesen (see facing page) is a development specialist who works with the First Peoples Economic Growth Fund. Bert Friesen was invited 15 years ago by then-Manitoba premier Gary Doer (and recent Canadian ambassador to the U.S.) to join the Premier’s Economic Advisory Council. This new 30-member group was composed of business leaders plus representatives of the academic and labor communities. The aim was to harness their expertise and experience to provide advice and recommendations on economic matters. For the next 13 years Friesen served on the council, along with his friend Bob Silver, who is co-chair of the council and owner of Western Glove Works. “Early on we looked at the Aboriginal economic situation in Manitoba,” Friesen recalls. “At our first meeting Bob and I were shaken to learn that 25% of children between birth and the age of four were Aboriginal. That was to me a shocker.”
The Marketplace March April 2016
Marketplace March April CS6 2016.indd 14
Friesen immediately grasped the implications for a historically marginalized segment of society. It was clear that this demographic bulge would become “either our work force or our burden.” Although the council was not explicitly focused on First Nations’ concerns, the subject of Aboriginal economics kept coming up. “We always chose to describe it as an economic opportunity, because if you could engage them it was a Bert Friesen: Seasoned advice for Manitoba’s premier two-fold benefit.” with MEDA’s vision,” he says. They started looking around for Connections were made. Brent people who had experience with Kroeker, chair of the Winnipeg Aboriginal businesses and found MEDA chapter, arranged events to numerous examples of thriving entrepreneurship. Out of that arose build bridges between the Menan Aboriginal Economic Summit, nonite business and Aboriginal held in 2004, to increase business communities. Amik Aviation Ltd., development and expand economic an Aboriginal-owned company opportunities for this fastest-growing featured elsewhere on these pages, workforce pool. as well as three other First Nation businesses, presented a workshop A number of initiatives emerged at MEDA’s 2014 convention in WinOne was to create an Aboriginal nipeg. Chamber of Commerce, which Friesen also floated an idea thrives today under Aboriginal leadership. Another was a First Peoples for a smaller MEDA First Peoples Economic Growth Fund. Combined Fund in Manitoba but Friesen was alert for a MEDA after exploratory discussions no connection. “It was so consistent consensus emerged. ◆
14
15/02/2016 10:56:00 AM
tions. Owen is trying to sell one of the Caravans so he can buy a faster twin-engine 15-seater to expand into northwestern Ontario. The company employs 19 in summer and 12 in winter, including its own maintenance specialist and engineer. Owen’s four sons are involved in various capacities and
other pilots are hired in spring. Amik’s new hangar at St. Andrews was built in October 2014. “Before that we operated out of a snowbank,” he jokes. For now, Owen says Amik has grown enough to fulfill his dream. “This is enough for me,” he says. “I am fulfilling my vision for exceptional customer service, thanks to the
First Peoples fund.” At some point he would like to write a book about his life. It would likely be an engaging read, chronicling his experience as an entrepreneurial model for his people as well as his adventures as a northern pilot, including five engine failures that he managed to skillfully handle — and walk away from. ◆
Bridge builder
T
he opportunities for Aboriginal entrepreneurship are “awesome,” says Daniel Lepp Friesen, an independent contractor who does work for First Peoples Economic Growth Fund. The seven-year-old fund provides financing to support viable Manitoba First Nation businesses and has provided over $20 million in loans which has leveraged over $58 million for a total economic impact of $78 million. These loans have been invested in 116 First Nation businesses in Manitoba including restaurants, grocery stores, airlines, construction companies and computer service providers. In addition FPEGF provides financing for business planning and ongoing technical support as well as a small grants program. “It’s a prime example of using government funds well,” he says. He routinely interacts with entrepreneurial First Nations people who defy negative stereotypes. “People like the Owen family — that’s the First Nations group I deal with every day, and Blair is just one of many fine entrepreneurs I have the honor to meet and work with.” FPEGF continues to attract a growing number of applicants seeking financing for existing and new businesses — both private and those run by First Nations. Daniel has deep development roots. He grew up in Afghanistan, the son of medical missionaries.
world can be a key player in sustainable development. He would like to see stronger connections between the Mennonite and Aboriginal business communities. “The Winnipeg MEDA chapter has been very supportive in exploring mentoring, investing and business-to-business relationships, and progress has included First Nation entrepreneurs presenting stories of their lives and businesses at local MEDA events,” Daniel says. He reports that more discussions are underway to explore how to continue and grow these connections. One of the challenges of Daniel Lepp Friesen: Helping get beyond bringing these two groups of stereotypes people together is the number of negative First Nation or AborigiHe served in Lebanon under Mennonal stereotypes. “The only way to nite Central Committee and worked get beyond these is to build relawith the Navajo people in New Mexico under the Christian Reformed tionships,” he says, “and one way to do this is by connecting Mennonite denomination. Eight years ago he and First Nation entrepreneurs.” started his own consulting business People are surprised when they in Winnipeg providing services in the get past preconceived images, he areas of renewable energy and busipoints out. When a local MEDA ness development. chapter invited Blair Owen to As a result of a friendship with present at a lunch meeting, “Blair a refugee who had been sponsored couldn’t even eat because he was by his church (Fort Garry Mennonite so busy answering questions. This Brethren) Daniel travelled to Uganda type of dialogue is encouraging in 2013 and helped start a renewable because the possibilities are huge energy business there with a Ugan— to build relationships, to underdan pastor/entrepreneur to provide stand other cultural perspectives, renewable cooking fuel (biochar) for to build businesses and to invest in people in a refugee settlement. He is our future.” ◆ a strong believer that the business
15
Marketplace March April CS6 2016.indd 15
The Marketplace March April 2016
15/02/2016 10:56:00 AM
Bringing the “A” game Many children suffer impairment from Vitamin A deficiency. A new MEDA product hopes to change that.
I
magine yourself as a child — from Tanzania’s Sokoine University product coupon found in a superwith a catch. You’re shorter than of Agriculture and technical assistmarket. your friends, it takes you longer ance from BASF’s Food Fortification “A liter of traditional unfortified to recover from illness, and you Initiative, the MASAVA project works oil sells for about 3,000 Tanzanian always seem to struggle in school. through local oil processors to fortify shillings,” explains Nadira Saleh, Later in life, you experience trouble unrefined sunflower oil with Vitamin MEDA’s project manager for private in pregnancy and you find it hard to A. MEDA then educates communities sector development and health. “Our see at night. and promotes the oil in local markets fortified oil sells for 3,800 shillings, If you live in a developing counthrough a mobile-based e-voucher but with the e-voucher discount, try, you may be suffering from Vitascheme, similar to an introductory consumers pay 2,900 shillings ($1.34 min A deficienUS). We’re trying cy. Vitamin A is to create value found in leafy for the prodgreens, sweet uct, and hope potatoes, pumpthat over time, kin and animal people realize the protein, which important role poorer houseVitamin A plays holds often can’t in nutritional afford. In Tanhealth and conzania alone, one tinue to demand third of children the product on and women of its own nutrition reproductive merits.” age are Vitamin A deficient, Product impeding their launches of the development fortified oil were throughout held recently in various locations childhood and Tanzanian regional and government officials present fortified sunflower oil at through Tanzania. beyond. They featured MEDA began its commercial launch in Babati, Manyara. lively local music to tackle this and dance artists to create an inviting vitamin deficiency in 2014 with a “As far as we know, festive atmosphere for consumers project called MASAVA, a Swahili as well as educational sessions to acronym that translates to “Healthy this is the first time convey the importance of Vitamin A, sunflower oil fortified with Vitamin says Saleh, who sees MASAVA as an A.” The project integrates the vitaunrefined fortified exciting cutting-edge project. min into common cooking oil in “As far as we know, this is the rural Tanzanian communities. sunflower oil is first time unrefined fortified sunflower oil is being sold in the develThe project is funded by the being sold in the oping world,” she says. “The project International Development Research is a hybrid model combining health Centre (IDRC), Global Affairs Canada education and discount-based marand MEDA supporters. With training developing world.” The Marketplace March April 2016
Marketplace March April CS6 2016.indd 16
16
15/02/2016 10:56:00 AM
Steve Sugrim photo
keting. Our goal at the end of this project is to see better nourished households and to provide robust evidence-based research that proves this model works.” By the time the project ends in early 2017 MEDA hopes to have helped the families of 65,000 children improve access to fortified sunflower oil and decrease malnutrition due to Vitamin A deficiency. MEDA also expects its work with local partners and businesses will boost the local economy through employment opportunities and better livelihoods for farmers and entrepreneurs. — Ethan Eshbach, MEDA News Service
Steve Sugrim photo
Sunflower oil can be seen everywhere in village markets, like these stocks of traditional oil that MEDA’s product hopes to replace.
Prospective market vendors are being recruited to stock the new fortified version of the country’s most popular cooking oil. 17
Marketplace March April CS6 2016.indd 17
The Marketplace March April 2016
15/02/2016 10:56:00 AM
Pioneer Lloyd Fisher passes at 97 Spearheaded MEDA’s foray into credit, an area of great success
L
loyd Fisher, MEDA’s first fulltime executive secretary, died Jan. 26 in Glendale, Ariz. He was 97. Fisher played a key role in MEDA’s early development, first as a seconded worker in Paraguay in the early 1960s and then as MEDA’s executive secretary from 1969 to 1981. Originally from Oregon, his background was in agricultural credit and farming. He and his wife, Evelyn, worked in development for a number of years in Paraguay, Nigeria and Ghana with Mennonite Central Committee, MEDA, Church World Service and Indiana Board of Missions. In the summer of 1960 the Fishers and their two sons, James and Darrell, moved to Paraguay as Mennonite Central Committee volunteers seconded to MEDA. They worked in the Volendam Colony, which was composed of recent refugees from communism. Fisher spearheaded MEDA’s foray into credit, an area that would bring MEDA great success. In Oregon he had worked for the Production Credit Association, a farmer cooperative. He devised a system of short-term farm credits for Volendam farmers, something unheard of in Paraguay where lenders charged high rates of interest. The loans supported basic agricultural improvements — clearing bush, building fences, digging wells and buying implements. “The smallest loan we ever made was for $5, which when translated into local currency meant something,” Fisher recalled decades later. The Marketplace March April 2016
Marketplace March April CS6 2016.indd 18
Mennonites get a foothold in Paraguay, had blossomed into a full-blown entity, and adjustments were needed. “At that time the MEDA officers were doing everything,” Fisher recalled. “Erie Sauder was looking after Paraguay, Lyle Yost Uruguay, Levi Weber was doing Africa, and Orie Miller was doing everything. They needed somebody to pull things together.” The ever-increasing complexity of global change also demanded a review of MEDA’s practice of working through local missions personnel. These people, though well-intentioned, had their own agendas, and MEDA duties were an Lloyd Fisher at a 1979 MEDA board meeting dis- add-on to their regular ascussing a merger with Mennonite Industry and signments. Some projects Business Associates (MIBA). The merger would suffered from inattention. occur two years later. In 1976 Fisher implemented MEDA’s decision to “This loan was for building a fence. Not exactly developmental, but hire its first full-time overseas staff, fences were important for keeping Ken Graber. Fisher had already estabanimals out of gardens, or for keeplished credit as a MEDA cornerstone, ing livestock in.” and Graber, working in Bolivia, The program was instantly popu- broadened MEDA’s approach to add lar, processing 174 loans within the counseling services, education and first year. During the 12 years of its management support. operation, all but three loans were By the time Fisher left in 1981 repaid. MEDA had undertaken 422 projects globally, of which 87 percent were As executive secretary in considered successful. Akron, Pa., Fisher led MEDA through a pivotal reassessment. What had begun Over the years the Fishers as a few men pitching in to help fellow made many sacrifices, but none so 18
15/02/2016 10:56:01 AM
great as one during their first MEDA assignment. They were eight months into their MEDA work in Volendam when their oldest son James, 15, came down with a strange ailment. Lloyd was away on business in Asuncion. Evelyn walked James to the next village which had a small hospital so basic that the mattress he was laid upon was a simple piece of cloth stuffed with banana leaves. James had apparently contracted an acute viral infection which initially induced heart failure. Then he developed a progressive paralysis that began in his legs and travelled upward through his spinal column. One of the physicians later called it “a terrible viral invasion of his whole body.” The doctors said James had to be
At a pivotal time in MEDA’s growth, Fisher helped “pull things together.” moved to Asuncion, but radio equipment malfunctioned and a plane couldn’t be summoned. The nearest telegraph office was closed and the operator refused to open up. The boy died 10 days later. A Mennonite elder known as Preacher Pries arranged diggers for the grave and presided over the funeral. He was the grandfather of Gerhard Pries, who today heads Sarona
19
Marketplace March April CS6 2016.indd 19
Asset Management, Inc., named after MEDA’s first project in Paraguay. The Fishers considered giving up and returning to the United States. “But then we decided that we wanted to finish our work,” Evelyn recalled 40 years later. “We stayed, and we learned to love the people. If we had quit and gone home we might have become bitter.” Lloyd remembered making the MEDA loan for the first tractor in the colony. On his last visit there in 1997 there were 53 tractors, as well as 38 self-propelled combines. A colonist told him, “MCC brought us here, but MEDA made it possible for us to stay.” Fisher’s funeral was held Jan. 28 at Glencroft Community Church, Glendale, Ariz. He was predeceased by his wife Evelyn in 2014. ◆
The Marketplace March April 2016
15/02/2016 10:56:01 AM
Reviews
No dead wood here Doing Good Better: How to be an Effective Board Member of a Nonprofit Organization. By Edgar Stoesz (Good Books, 2015, 145 pp. $11.99 U.S.)
B
usinesspeople are often asked to serve on the boards of nonprofit organizations and share their wisdom and expertise (and maybe some of their wealth). With more than a million such wellmeaning organizations in the United States and Canada, the potential for good is vast. Here’s some well-placed help for organizations and directors who want to do a better job. The book has sturdy roots. More than two decades ago (1994) Edgar Stoesz and Chet Raber produced a nifty “board member handbook,” also titled Doing Good Better, which lifted up nonprofit boards as “a part of God’s ongoing work of creation.” It gave basic advice on running meetings and assessing performance and generally showed how to breathe more life into board service. Stoesz has now revised and updated that book. Stoesz has few equals when it comes to nonprofit boards. He is widely known for his work on the board of Habitat for Humanity International, including four years as chair. He has also chaired the boards of Heifer Project International, the American Leprosy Mission and the Albert Schweitzer Hospital. He has addressed or conducted workshops for more than 200 boards. Here he distills the insights of all that service for a new generation. He packs a lot of counsel into this highly readable volume. He covers topics like defining and fulfilling the purpose of an organization and the nitty-gritty of nominations, vetting, number of members, term limits and even touchy ground like a The Marketplace March April 2016
Marketplace March April CS6 2016.indd 20
board’s dead wood. On vision statements he says: “Average boards orient themselves around the rearview mirror — precedent is their big thing. They examine everything under the microscope; they want to avoid mistakes. Great boards look through a telescope to planets beyond — at what could be — and ask, ‘Why not?’” On the issue of change: “Sometimes it is necessary to trim back or even chop down the old trees in order to get sunlight to the young trees.” How often have nonprofit boards resisted robust self-evaluation because it is unseemly to “measure” social sector performance? “Monitoring and evaluating performance are among the most commonly neglected board duties... When you fail to measure, you have no way to track progress, and that is the precursor to discouragement.” A good place to start? With the performance of the board itself, he says, warning that “lethargy in the boardroom spreads like a virus.” Stoesz brings a sprightly touch. In the chapter on improving meetings, he wryly notes that “Ten directors meeting for four hours constitute one work week,” and adds an oft-missed biblical admonition: “Your meetings do more harm than good” (1 Cor. 11:17). Many meetings can be rescued with the hard slogging of
preparation: “A good agenda does not guarantee a good meeting, but good meetings are not likely to happen without a good agenda.” Likewise the importance of preparing the soil: “If someone brings issues that are not ready for board action,” he writes, “consider it raw meat and send it back to the kitchen!” And don’t meet endlessly, as long hours do not automatically translate into productive effort. “I deny it,” Stoesz writes, “but I am quoted as having said that the Holy Spirit does not stick around after about 9:30 or 10:00 p.m.” Briefly but pointedly he addresses dissent, committees, litigation, spirituality, the role of the chair and the importance of policies, which he says are important but work better as servants than masters: “Too many policies make an organization muscle-bound.” He includes a set of exhibits and templates at the end that many boards will find enormously useful: Board self-assessment form; CEO annual review outline; Director self-assessment form; CEO search checklist; and Governance guidelines for startups. When this magazine reviewed this book’s forerunner in 1994 it said, “If you’re on a nonprofit board, get this book. It’s bound to perk up your performance so you can do even more good than you did before.” That was true then, and now it’s true again. — Wally Kroeker
20
15/02/2016 10:56:01 AM
Soundbites
Pain on the firing line You say it hurts to fire someone? It should hurt. A lot. Because it may be as much your fault as the employee you’ve “had to” dismiss. Why do I say that? An employee who doesn’t work out tends to fail for two main reasons. One, she was a bad hire in the first place. Two, she didn’t receive proper training. In both cases the main fault is the employer’s (though there are obvious exceptions). Making the “right hire” is critical, not only to your organization but also to the employee who is investing in her and your future. You
really must be careful to ensure the employee has the right skill set and personality to do the job. So I roll my eyes when employers blithely get rid of someone with a “didn’t work out” shrug. You should never shrug when making the drastic choice to dismiss someone. You should examine yourself to see what you did wrong. And you should feel some pain. — Personnel specialist R. B. Sawatzky
Diversity dividend It’s no longer news — or, at least, it
Not silver, but... Job creation is no silver bullet ... but going to work each day provides structure, discipline, and a little more meaning to life. It offers an answer to those who ask themselves, “What am I doing here?” Well, you are cleaning floors, you are working in an office, you are filleting fish, or fulfilling some other worthwhile role. It may not be the most profound answer, but it is a start. You are contributing to your family, your community, and the world to some extent. — Canadian Aboriginal leader Wab Kinew in The Reason You Walk
Success To laugh often and much, to win respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.
Good profit By “good profit” I don’t mean high margins or high return on capital, or lots of profit by just any means. What I consider to be good profit comes from Principled Entrepreneurship — creating superior value for our customers while consuming fewer resources and always acting lawfully and with integrity. Good profit comes from making a contribution in society — not from corporate welfare or other ways of taking advantage of people. — Charles G. Koch in Good Profit: How Creating Value for Others Built One of the World’s Most Successful Companies
— Attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson
21
Marketplace March April CS6 2016.indd 21
shouldn’t be news — that genderdiverse boards make good business sense. Time and time again, studies have shown that boards with greater gender balance have higher levels of organizational effectiveness and perform better financially. They’re also more diverse in terms of thought and perspective, show more evidence of unity and collegiality, and are associated with better corporate social performance. — Susan Goldberg in Corporate Knights
The Marketplace March April 2016
15/02/2016 10:56:01 AM
News
Family business leaders share themes for longevity by Joel Nofziger Across the United States, 12 percent of family businesses continue for three generations, and only three percent continue for four. But Mennonites seem to be more successful at passing down their business ventures. In early February the Ken Kauffman Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society examined this phenomenon by hosting leaders of two successful family firms. John Smucker, CEO of Bird-in-Hand Corporation, and Ken Kauffman of Kauffman’s Fruit Farm, Inc., talked about sustaining their family businesses, both of which now include five generations. To have an Anabaptist business, they said, was to work with a distinct set of values, and that their success as multigenerational enterprises come from passing on those centering values to subsequent generations. Bird-in-Hand Corporation [birdin-hand.com] began in 1911 when Jonathan and Levina Smucker purchased the Smucker homestead at auction. John Smucker, of the second generation, took over the farm in 1925 and created an expanded market business, in addition to continuing to farm. Before he died at age 45, he had purchased a farm for each of his four sons. As tourism took off in Lancaster County during the 1960s, the family realized its location on Route 340 held significant potential for the business and the larger family. A new vision for hospitality united the Smuckers, and that vision laid The Marketplace March April 2016
Marketplace March April CS6 2016.indd 22
the groundwork for what Bird-in-Hand Corporation is today. The fourth generation grew and expanded the business, which has led to an extensive list of properties and ventures in and around Bird-in-Hand. The fifth generation is now starting to transition into the family business. Drawing on the experiences of his family, John Smucker cited several important themes. One is that business is a calling and requires fundamental values such as integrity, servanthood, stewardship, and life-long learning. Another is that the nature of the core business can change — Bird-inHand Corporation has transitioned from a farming to a market to a food and lodging enterprise. Finally, he stressed the importance of commitment to family despite struggles and challenges. He said that as he prepared for the evening’s presentation, his aunt Levina (third generation) told him, “Many families break apart when they are in business together. I am so grateful that we did not; our history as a family contains much laughter and many wonderful stories.” Amos L. Kauffman founded Kauffman’s Fruit Farm [kauffmansfruitfarm.com] when he purchased a 90-acre farm in 1904 John Smucker
Making it last — seeing business as a calling, and employing values like servanthood at the age of 23, and planted his first fruit trees seven years later. The early years were full of struggle, not the least of which was the Great Depression. But A. L. Kauffman weathered the storm, purchasing additional land during the 1920s and opening up a roadside stand in 1935. Two years later he built a large packinghouse, which is still in use today. Kauffman bought land — not a farm for each son — but with a mind to keep the family busy and working together. In 1954, when the Kauffman fruit farm incorporated, it was officially A. L. Kauffman and Sons. In the 1970s, the third generation came into the business and carried it through several deaths in the family. Today, the board of directors of Kauffman’s Fruit Farm includes third, fourth and fifth generation descendants of A. L. Kauffman. Ken Kauffman traces his family business success and longevity to the principles modeled by A. L. Kauffman. First, he cited integrity, and stressed responsibility in finances as an essential part of an honest business. Along with Continued on page 23
22
15/02/2016 10:56:01 AM
Goshen grants give boost to new student businesses Five student entrepreneurs from Goshen College who pitched their ideas “Shark Tank” style have received business start-up grants. The Goshen business department awarded a total of $18,000 in entrepreneurship grants — including two venture grants and two experimentation grants (for students who demonstrate an idea that needs to be tested in the marketplace). Preston Carr (junior business ma-
Continued from page 22 that was kindness. “Grandpa did business by the Golden Rule,” Kauffman said. “We do too. Then there’s the Gospel Measure [Luke 6:38] ... Grandpa was known for full measure, or adding a piece or two of fruit when bagging it for the customer. We still use the ‘full measure’ concept.” Kauffman also stressed commitment to family, especially working together; community; and church. When asked if the dedication to service has hurt the company, he answered, “Have we incurred losses because of this service mentality? Realistically, yes. But again, no. ‘There is that scattereth and yet increaseth’ [KJV Proverbs 11:24]. It is God that does that.” Kauffman closed his presentation noting that despite all the work the Kauffmans have done and the values they held over the last hundred years, “We have been furthered on the journey from there to here by the goodness and grace of God.” The educational meeting was part of the Lancaster Roots 2016 program, which represents joint events organized by the Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society and the 1719 Hans Herr House & Museum. ◆ Joel Nofziger is director of communications, Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society.
jor from Saint Thomas, Ont.) and his brother Taylor launched a hydroseeding business last summer to provide a lawn care alternative to sod. After a successful first season focused on residential customers they want to expand into commercial and municipal markets. Funding will be used to buy equipment and promote the business. Madeline Gerig (junior art major from Goshen) is an artist specializing in ceramics (such as stoneware mugs and tumblers) and sculpture. She plans to use her grant to purchase studio equipment and to renovate a camper to sell her artwork at art shows and festivals. “Working through the entrepreneurship class helped me to construct a business plan that supports both my artistic vision as well as providing me with the structure and knowledge to move forward and succeed,” Gerig says. Mikhail Fernandes (senior interdisciplinary studies major from Hyderabad, India) will test an e-commerce idea called Goshen Marketplace to provide a platform for students to trade used textbooks and other items to reduce educational costs and 23
Marketplace March April CS6 2016.indd 23
promote recycling. His e-commerce site will also provide a sales venue for the work of Goshen art students. Brian Sutter (senior physics and informatics double major from South Bend, Ind.) and Peter Schrock (senior mathematics major from Goshen) will experiment with the monetization of websites. The buying and selling of websites is a growing industry with the potential to enhance both the value and traffic of existing websites, they say. The grant will help them purchase their first website and launch a website investing business. Since 2004, the Goshen business department has awarded $85,750 to 21 student entrepreneurs. — Goshen News Service
The Marketplace March April 2016
15/02/2016 10:56:01 AM
The Marketplace March April 2016
Marketplace March April CS6 2016.indd 24
24
15/02/2016 10:56:01 AM
