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Indiana businessman adapts to make his trailer firm
more efficient after losing a business
As Published in The Marketplace magazine
Eleven years ago, Steve Brenneman had two thriving businesses.
After starting Aluminum Trailer Company in 1999, he bought a small door manufacturing firm in Napanee, Ind.
Steve Brenneman adopted lean production methods to help his trailer manufacturing firm grow
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Souderton restaurant builds relationships
As Published in The Marketplace magazine
By Eileen R. Kinch
Souderton, PA — When Pam and Andy Brunner went into the restaurant business 17 years ago, they did so for a simple reason: they wanted to work for themselves.
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Young Kansas entrepreneurs share stories of
lessons learned in building their businesses.
As Published in The Marketplace magazine
By Susan Miller
Yoder, Kan. — Many youths get their first entrepreneurial experience by mowing lawns. However Shane Iwashige, now in his early 30s, has reversed the pattern. After working on several unrelated small businesses — cutting firewood, raising dogs and running a small farm — he started investing in real estate and offering home services to people in the Hutchinson, Kan. area.
Shane IwashigeIn July 2018 he added lawn mowing, edging and landscaping services to the collection of small companies he founded under The Rock Group. Since late summer and autumn rains kept unirrigated lawns green until after the first snowfall in mid-October, Iwashige spent many work hours mowing grass on the 170 properties he manages.
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As published in The Marketplace Magazine Jan-Feb 2019
Using business to bring about societal change in North America is a complex issue that requires collaboration and tenacity, a conference for students and young professionals was told.
“I don’t know about you, but the people I work with don’t want change, said Roxann Allen Kioko, of Eastern Mennonite University’s business and leadership programs. “People usually hate change.”
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Elkhart woodworker turns discarded trees
into high-end furnishings
As published in The Marketplace Magazine Nov-Dec. 2018
Elkhart, IND — Discovering the potential of wood has been a lifelong interest for Matt Thomas.
He did woodworking with his father, Steve, a tri-vocational pastor who also works as an arborist and co-ordinator of Mennonite Men during his childhood. He also volunteered at a friend’s sawmill, growing to love milling wood in the process. 
Matt Thomas and his dog Myla with logs outside the Elko Hardwoods workshop
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Miller Poultry named supplier of the year by Whole Foods
As published in The Marketplace Magazine Nov-Dec. 2018
GOSHEN, IND — Miller Poultry has enjoyed remarkable growth in recent years. Its focus on quality and animal welfare has been honored by Whole Foods, its largest customer.
But the Orland, Ind.-based poultry processor is quick to stress that it is a small niche player in a massive US market for what has become American’s favorite meat.
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Family produce stand grows to
four Sarasota area supermarkets
As published in The Marketplace Magazine Nov-Dec. 2018
By JB Miller
Nine members of the Detwiler family work in the supermarket. Eight are pictured here.
PALMETTO, FL — Anticipating the opening of the newest Detwiler’s Farm Market in July, the Detwiler family wondered, “Will anyone come?”
There was no need to worry. Cars jammed the parking lot and nearly 5,000 shoppers visited that first day. With the opening of their fourth store, Detwiler’s is on its way to meet a company goal of serving nearly three million customers over the next year.
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Goshen College students run a coffee shop for course credit
As published in The Marketplace Magazine Nov-Dec. 2018
Melissa Ma pours a drink for a Java Junction customer
GOSHEN, IND — Michelle Horning likes to see students apply their business studies to the real world of business.
So much so that she has students operate a coffee shop on the Goshen College campus, for course credit, in a class called Java Junction management.
“Reading a book about business is completely different than running a business,” says Horning, who is an accounting professor and chair of Goshen College’s business department.
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University student wins MEDA 5K pitch competition with system to help visually impaired people
As Published in The Marketplace Jan-Feb 2019
Hillary Scanlon doesn’t want vision loss to prevent people from sustainably disposing their waste.
Scanlon, a 23-year-old Wilfrid Laurier University student, has a personal stake in the issue.
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To passersby, Everence Financial’s main office, a few blocks out of Goshen’s downtown core, looks like many other modern commercial buildings.
Only the sign listing the businesses working under the Everence corporate umbrella gives any hint of the complexity of an organization that includes a trust company, the Praxis mutual funds firm, and the Everence Federal Credit Union.
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Skills developed over 25 years in banking help Ken Hochstetler lead Everence
Goshen, IND — Ken Hochstetler’s office at Everence’s corporate headquarters isn’t adorned with the trophies, diplomas and awards you might expect in the workspace of a man who heads a $3 billion company.
The only framed mementos that reflect his journey are a print he received after serving nine years on MEDA’s board, and a smaller certificate that dates back four-and-a-half decades.
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MEDA’s work in northern Nigeria is “the right project, in the right place at the right time,” strengthening businesses, creating jobs and fostering women’s equality, MEDA staffer Kim Pityn says.
MEDA’s chief operating officer made the comments about a recent visit to Nigeria during the organization’s annual general meeting in Indianapolis.
“I was overwhelmed with the entrepreneurial spirit of the clients. It was fabulous.”
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MEDA posts record results for second consecutive year
Allan Sauder and Dorothy NyambiIndianapolis — As Allan Sauder’s leadership of Mennonite Economic Development Associates ended in 2018, the organization’s success in creating business solutions to poverty reached an all time high.
MEDA set new records, both in donations received and clients served, for the second consecutive year, Sauder noted in his final address to the organization’s annual convention in November. In the year ended June 30, MEDA received $8.2 million in private donations from supporters in North America and Europe, up 31 per cent from a year earlier.
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Dorothy at her home in AncasterAs printed in The Marketplace - 2018 - November-December
MEDA’s new president is first doctor, woman to hold the position
As a child growing up in Cameroon, Dorothy Nyambi wanted to pursue a career in medicine.
Initially, Dr. Nyambi wanted to be a pharmacist, as she believed pharmacists cured people. “I later found out the pharmacist fills out the prescription. They don’t really diagnose the disease.”
That insight altered the career path of the woman who will become MEDA’s president and chief executive officer in late November. Nyambi, a dual citizen of Canada and Cameroon, will succeed Allan Sauder, who is retiring from a post he has held for 16 years.
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As printed in The Marketplace - 2019 - January/February
People under-estimate their ability to be a healing presence in the world, Shannon Dycus says.
“We know — what MEDA embodies — is that there are many significant ways to make impact upon the lives of burdened people,” she said.
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As printed in The Marketplace - 2018 - September/October
Intersections, Roads to Enduring Livelihoods is the theme of MEDA’s annual Business as a Calling convention, to be held Nov. 8-11 at the JW Marriott Hotel, in Indianapolis, Ind.
Greg Brenneman, a corporate turnaround expert who is executive chairman of private equity firm CCMP Capital and author of the book Right Away & All at Once (see excerpt, pp. 8-9), will provide the opening plenary address on Thursday evening.
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Ukraine farmers use Excel-based calculator to record costs, sales and the bottom line
Alexandra Harmash, MEDA Ukraine’s gender and cross-cutting services manager, developed a business calculator to help farmers keep better records.As printed in The Marketplace - 2018 - September/October
A few years ago, farmers in the Ukraine rarely tracked their financials in the same manner as most businesses.
That meant they often lacked the figures or evidence to show whether certain crops, or their business, was successful or not.
Even those people who used paper-based records, simple Excel sheets or accounting software lacked the guidance, business logic and direction to properly work with data in a way that would provide useful information.