Title: The Amish furniture cluster in Ohio: competitive factors and wood use estimates

Author: Bumgardner, Matthew; Romig, Robert; Luppold, William

Year: 2008

Publication: In: Jacobs, Douglass F.; Michler, Charles H., eds. 2008. Proceedings, 16th Central Hardwood Forest Conference; 2008 April 8-9; West Lafayette, IN. Gen. Tech. Rep. NRS-P-24. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station: 130-138.

Abstract: This paper is an assessment of wood use by the Amish furniture cluster located in northeastern Ohio. The paper also highlights the competitive and demographic factors that have enabled cluster growth and new business formation in a time of declining market share for the overall U.S. furniture industry. Several secondary information sources and discussions with local manufacturers were utilized. Wood use for the cluster was estimated at 44 million board feet per year, a volume equivalent to 11 percent of the total volume of hardwood lumber produced in Ohio or 19 percent of the hardwood lumber used in appearancebased applications in the State. Although the Amish firms are highly concentrated within the Holmes County region, the typical firm is small in size (median of four employees).