MOUNT HOPE, Ohio -- On a recent weekday, workers at the glass-and-steel headquarters of Wayne-Dalton Corp. took a break from their jobs and went outside: A mare was foaling in a nearby field.
Although the company has annual sales of $300 million as a leading garage-door maker, CEO Willis Mullet keeps it close to the cultural and religious roots of his family's Mennonite background. One employee in four at the company's Mount Hope plant is Amish or Mennonite."It's Willis' way of giving back to the Amish-Mennonite community," said David Osso, spokesman for the family-owned company, a farming community about 60 miles southwest of Cleveland.
That community is associated with horse-drawn buggies, traditional farming methods and simple, old-fashioned clothing, and yet more and more Mennonites are, like Mullet, working in multimillion-dollar businesses, said Conrad Kanagy, a Mennonite who is an associate professor of sociology at Elizabethtown (Pa.) College.
Wealth can cause members of the religion that prizes a simple life to wonder whether they are following "the biblical principles in their stewardship of money and possessions," as called for in the Confession of Faith adopted in 1990 by the Fellowship of Concerned Mennonites.
"It's still a relatively new thing for Mennonites to be wealthy," Kanagy said. "They're humble people and some feel uncomfortable having so much money."
He added: "Mennonites in general take Jesus' life very seriously and try to live that life. Christ didn't exhibit a lot of wealth and didn't even have a place to live. We're taught to be responsible with our wealth and be sure to use it to serve man."
The Mennonite Church is an outgrowth of the Protestant Reformation and takes its name from Menno Simons, a Catholic priest in Holland who joined the Anabaptists in 1536. His work was so influential that those who followed his faith were called Mennonites. The group splintered in 1693 when a Swiss bishop named Jacob Amman left, and his followers became known as Amish.
For centuries, the two groups quietly made their living through farming. But as land becomes more expensive and scarce, some Mennonites are leaving the farm and entering the business world. Unlike the Amish, the Mennonites do not shun modern conveniences such as electricity, cars and telephones.
For years, rich Mennonites clashed with church leaders who were concerned that the business world was eroding their principles, Kanagy said.
James Herr, 75, was something of a pioneer among Mennonite businessmen. When his Pennsylvania potato chip business, Herr Foods Inc., started taking off in the 1950s, he said he tried not to let reaction from some church members bother him.
"I had to overcome whether I could be in business and be a good Christian," he said. "The church grew in that area, too. The church now recognizes that they need business people as well as farmers."
Herr said he is still amazed by the success of his company,which he bought in 1946 for $1,750. The company now employs 1,250 people and generates about $150 million in sales.
Another successful Mennonite business is Sauder Woodworking Co., Archbold, Ohio, maker of ready-to-assemble furniture; 3,200 employees, $500 million annual sales.
Charity among wealthy church members fits with church tradition. Mennonite Mutual Aid based in Goshen, Ind., is a major beneficiary. It distributed $25 million in grants last year, mostly to needy Mennonite congregations.
They live it in other ways, too. The religion teaches abstinence from alcohol and tobacco, and so Mennonite retailers typically don't sell these products. Their stores are closed on Sundays.