small businesses

A mural in Kenton, Ohio, of the famous Singing Cowboy Gene Autry

Whenever people ask Brian Phillips where his downtown Kenton business is located, the investment adviser replies, “Know that big mural of the singing cowboy? My office is on the other side of it.”  

Riding his sorrel horse, Champion, in scores of cowboy musicals, Autry helped to popularize country-western music with ballads like “Back in the Saddle Again,” the 1939 gold record that became his theme song. Autry’s prolific recordings also included two Christmas classics: “Here Comes Santa Claus,” which he cowrote in 1947, and “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” which debuted in 1949, has sold more than 25 million copies, and remains his bestselling single.  

Josh and Jen Bixler

Josh Bixler and his team once got a 3D printer to fly — while it was printing.

Aviation has been a lifelong passion for Bixler, who grew up in the Alliance area on a farm with a grass airstrip. His father was a general aviation pilot who taught him to fly (“I soloed in a single-engine Taylorcraft monoplane,” he says proudly). Bixler also learned the basic principles of aircraft design and construction while he and his father built numerous RC model airplanes.  

Scott and Denise Scherer posing in their market named Saucy Sows

Scott and Denise Scherer know the look — folks seeking a little pizzazz for their mundane mealtimes often find themselves wandering into their market, Saucy Sows Sweets and Meats, with a distinct look of hungry anticipation.

The Scherers have spent years perfecting their products and growing the business. Scott left a job in the beverage industry in 2012 in order to pursue his culinary interest. He initially thought about producing a new kind of mustard but quickly realized the market was flooded. After considerable experimentation, he developed sweet pepper mustard using fresh red and green peppers. Numerous taste tests yielded only positive results, but he still needed a name.

A mural in downtown Greenfield, Ohio

“People call here thinking that we have the answer to every question,” Hunter says. “WVNU was the internet before the internet; for some around here, it still is the internet.” He reaches for a stack of papers, finds the report, and gives the caller the information.

It’s from here that WVNU, a tiny 2,300-watt radio station known as Lite 97.5, has been broadcasting adult contemporary hits from the second floor of a downtown office building for the last 30 years. 

6S Products team

6S Products in Anna started with five family members, one injection molding press, and a mission to find a niche while building a foundation of trust, dependability, and value.

When Neil sold his share of that outfit in 1999, the family members went in different directions professionally — ranging from the U.S. Postal Service to real estate and accounting. But they recognized the need for their expertise and the niche market they could provide in plastics manufacturing.

“We stayed out of plastics for a few years and then finally realized there was a role that we could fill,” Neil says. “With our combined experience, we thought we could add value to the industry overall.” 

Cherish Harrell, owner of the Secret Chamber House of Oddities and Artwork in Fairborn.

Cherish Harrell first started collecting oddities (and later selling them) when she attended huge conventions like Cincinnati’s HorrorHound or one of the giant regional Days of the Dead events.

The Secret Chamber is not just a store; it’s a hub of creativity and community. 

“We host art shows based on themes like Friday the 13th or cryptids,” says Harrell. “We also host themed classes that include making spell kits, crystals, or spooky terrariums.” 

Among the events that draw the biggest crowds are the photo shoots with Krampus, a half-goat, half-demon monster from central European folklore that punishes misbehaving children at Christmastime; and the evil bunny during Easter.

Visitors at Indian Creek Distillery cozy up to the bar for some samples.

Among Ohio’s numerous tourism “trails” that group loosely kindred attractions to create a single novelty destination, the recently conceived Sweets and Spirits Trail in Miami County seems a perfect pairing for this time of year.

My husband, Mike, and I made a date of it recently. To guide us along the route, we downloaded the Miami County Sweets and Spirits Trail app, which showcases all stops and includes a map with distances between each location. Some spots offer incentives for visiting, including purchase discounts, free samples, or a free shot glass. As we virtually checked in at each location, we earned points toward prizes from the visitors bureau.

We were taken with the area’s charming small towns and the warmth and authenticity of the trail’s shop owners. For example: 

The Christian Children’s Home of Ohio is perfectly nestled on 163 acres of former farmland just north of Wooster.

About 60 years ago, the pastor at a church in tiny Rittman, near Wooster, heard about a young person who needed a safe place to stay.

When the property was first acquired, there was a barn, a couple of outbuildings, and a farmhouse that was converted to the first foster home. Since then, five more cottages have been added to the property — each set up similarly to the original farmhouse. Cottages are separated by gender and age and can house as many as 36 residents at a time. 

“Our kids have experienced severe trauma, so one of the things that we really want them to know is it’s okay to just be a kid,” says Kevin Hewitt, CCHO’s president and CEO.

Brett Fletcher has been selling Maine lobsters out of a 96-square-foot shack in Knox County for 14 years.

Along the road connecting Fredericktown and Amity in Knox County is a red wooden sign with a lobster on it, marking a driveway leading to 22 acres of wooded property featuring a creek, walking trails, two cabins and a 1961 Shasta Airflyte camper trailer for rent, a house, a

The road to Amity

After graduating from Ohio State University, Fletcher talked his dad into co-signing a loan for a lobster boat and moved to an off-the-grid family cabin in Georgetown, Maine. He spent the next 20 years as a professional lobsterer, hauling water to his makeshift shower and 200 traps’ worth of lobsters per day from the waters surrounding the island town.

Experienced Klier crew members place long steel beams beneath a structure, then slowly raise it.

Jim Klier has been a mover for 39 years.

Klier has moved plenty of homes for lots of different reasons — some legal, like for zoning issues; others more sentimental. Klier’s moved a lot of older homes. Much older. Like an 1813 timber frame home on Lake Erie.

“Oh, heavens yes,” he says. “A home that’s been in the family for generations, for example. You really have to love the house to do something like that, to go through that process.”