Amish Enterprise

Amish culture has been rooted in the soil since its beginnings in 1693. But what happens when the members of America's oldest Amish community enter non-farm work in one generation? How will hundreds of cottage industries and micro-enterprises reshape the heart of Amish life? Will traditional eighth-grade education still prove adequate? What about gender roles, child-rearing practices, leisure activities, and growing ties with outsiders? This book discusses the dramatic changes that will affect Amish communities throughout North America. Based on interviews with more than 150 Amish entrepreneurs, the book traces the rise and impact of micro-enterprises in Lancaster's Amish settlement since the 1970s. It documents the proliferation of more than 1000 Amish-owned enterprises in the Lancaster area, some 14 percent of them boasting annual sales above $500,000. It explains why, at a time when the majority of new American business ventures fail, virtually all Amish businesses succeed, and offers insights into the cultural transformation of a plain people who are becoming increasingly entangled in the economic web of modern life.