Community Highlights

Journey for Life  whitakersnaturalmarket.com    Two weeks before their wedding, Marc and Jocelin Whitaker looked at a building in Bellville with the hope of starting their own business. Marc grew up working in his family’s bulk food store and was excited to start a business of his own. Jocelin’s parents encouraged the young couple to…

Pumpkin Seed Market Co. a: 1625 Executive Dr. | Mansfield, OH w: ThePumpkinSeedMarket.com p: 419-525-5500 In 2009, Eric Boliantz and his wife Elizabeth arrived at the bank with one goal: to secure a small business loan and make their dream a reality. The newly married twenty-somethings had a strong work ethic, experience, and a concept…

Avita Home Health & Hospice w: www.avitahomehealth.org p: 419-468-7985 In the early 1980s, nurse Bertha Maglott recognized a need for home health and hospice care in her community. Through hard work and determination, she brought together resources from Crestline and Galion hospitals to form a dedicated agency in 1985. The agency started with home healthcare…

Brown Family Eyecare As a child, Dr. Kevin Brown spent time playing eye doctor with his brothers at his dad’s optometry practice, dreaming of one day following in his father’s footsteps. He never imagined how his reality would one day exceed his childhood dream. Dr. Donald Brown, affectionately known as “Brownie”, graduated from The Ohio…

Michael Fender – Edward Jones Making Sense of Investing p: 419.522.5466 w: edwardjones.com/michael-fender a: 13 Park Ave West | Suite 104 Mansfield, OH 44902 When Michael Fender joined the military, he had no idea the principles and practices he’d learn would help him one day become a better financial advisor. He enlisted in the National…

Brethren Care Village Est. 1972 In 1972, the Fritzinger Family gifted a farm house on 31 acres to the Brethren National Church in Ashland. The church used that gift to start a mission organization to care for widows. In time, the property transitioned into a traditional nursing home and health care center to support all…

From The Ground Up Like most boys, Jeremy loved playing outside in the mud and dirt. Thirty years later and Jeremy Huff has built a thriving business around his passion. He got his start at a young age when his father started a Tree Company. Jeremy was integral in running the business from managing jobs…

Mary Anne’s Meat In January of 2018, Mary Anne Kettering was facing the most difficult season of her life. She witnessed her once-thriving business shut down unexpectedly and was left with stacks of bills and no income to pay them. She remembers, “I was sitting at my table looking at the bills and knowing I…

Shaw Ott Medical In the spring of 1950, Dick Shaw and Dave Ott opened Shaw Ott Drugs in Mansfield. The drug store initially filled prescriptions and offered refreshments such as soda fountain drinks, milkshakes, and even sandwiches. The business grew faster than Dick or Dave ever imagined and by 1968, Shaw Ott Medical had expanded…

Keto Zone At the end of 2016, Les Kiser weighed nearly 350 pounds and was too sick to work. Over the span of 10 years, he had multiple heart attacks, six stents placed in his heart, and was suffering from diabetes as well as other medical issues. He was taking 34 medications and insulin daily….

Dearman Moving and Storage The Campbell Family has been an integral part of Dearman Moving & Storage since its opening in 1963. Jeff Campbell was an operations manager at the company before working his way up the ladder to become president of the moving division. In 1980, Jeff bought the moving portion of the company…

Floorcraft In 1955, Tom’s brother Corbin saw a need for a new flooring store in the Mansfield area. At the time, no other stores carried inventory in stock. Wanting to do business differently, Corbin took matters into his own hands and opened Floorcraft on Lexington Ave, just north of Cook Road. Floorcraft was designed with…

The Dennis Reed Team When Dennis Reed was corporately downsized, his future was unknown. It was 2003: he had just started a family, and his wife Anne had recently resigned from teaching to stay home and raise their daughter. That’s when a good friend introduced Dennis to the mortgage business. Dennis built his business the…

Olar Family Chiropractic After graduating from Chiropractic School, Dr. William Olar would have to wait six months to take his exam in order to be licensed to practice in Ohio. That delay was discouraging at first, but Will never imagined it would open the door for him to meet his wife. Since he knew he…

AirServe Dennis Riggans always had a knack for mechanics, he even rebuilt his older brother’s engine when he was in the sixth grade. Growing up in a small Pennsylvania farming community with 12 brothers and sisters, Dennis learned to take care of things himself and work for what he wanted. From his first job at…

Van’s Tire Pros Finding a mechanic you can trust has always been a challenge. In 1983, Dave Schieber saw this need in his community and decided to run a service station on Park Avenue. Offering an unmatched level of care, Dave’s clientele grew at a steady pace. In 2000, he moved to better serve his community…

Alta Florist Growing up, Roger Henry always dreamed of owning his own business. He started working at Alta Greenhouse in high school, handling the tough jobs. He even slept in a wheelbarrow to ensure the boilers would stay lit some winter nights. Roger developed a love for plants and forestry. After graduating high school, he…

Athens Greek Restaurant Celebrating 40 years in business, Athens Greek Restaurant is a staple in the Mansfield community. After immigrating to the United States from Greece, Tim and Angie Ghessouras opened Athens Greek Restaurant in 1977 at its current location in downtown Mansfield. They spent the next 17 years perfecting recipes and building a loyal…

Mr. Rooter Plumbing of Mid-Ohio Trent Dawson has always been a plumber, but he hasn’t always been a business owner. In 2008, the economy was tanking and the company he was working for passed their hard times onto him. Trent was faced with a difficult decision: go broke working for someone else, or start his…

Snyder Funeral Homes Serving families for over 95 years, the Snyder Family has made a lasting impact in our community. In 1922, Ora O. Snyder and his wife, Marion, began operating a funeral home in Johnsville, OH. Expanding to Lexington in 1926, the Snyder family has spent the past 91 years growing. Four generations strong,…

Ed Pickens’ Events and Catering More Than a Meal, It’s an Experience Looking back at over 25 years in business, Ed reminiscences, “It’s been very hard at times, we’ve had successes and we’ve had failures, but we’ve helped thousands create joyous memories. That is what makes all this worth it.” Looking back at over 25…

The Village Network When just four months old, “Billy” was removed from the care of his drug-addicted birth mother and placed in foster care. Four years later, his foster mother had a breakdown and became suicidal. “Billy” was removed from the home and spent the next two years bouncing between different homes, until the age…

Re/Max First Realty A Risk Worth Taking When Nate Purdy started his first full time job after graduating from BGSU in 1988, he never anticipated it leading to a successful real estate career. He sold building components to local contractor supply yards in 5 states and then was recruited by one of his own customers…

Mansfield Area YMCA More Than a Gym and Swim The early origins of the YMCA date back to 1844 in London, England. The movement spread to the U.S. and eventually made its way to Mansfield. Founded in 1867, the Mansfield YMCA organizers sought to channel the energies of young men into character-building activities addressing mind,…

Mary Anne’s Meat Market As Fresh As You Can Get   As a seven-year-old child, Mary Anne Kettering’s favorite game to play with her siblings was grocery store. Whenever the four siblings would play, she would always choose to be the butcher. She loved to wear the apron and arrange the small plastic toy meats….

Kastran Karpets Hometown Home Flooring   “Who would have thought the upstart business that began with some carpet samples in a family room would grow into a thriving business 40 years later. Back then we were just praying we made enough to buy some furniture for the living room.” In 1976, Jim Kastran was working…

Pediatric Consultants The Doctor Is In In the late 90’s, Dr.’s Brad & Colleen Olson established a pediatric practice in Ashland to provide families with devoted medical care. The practice was purchased by Don Belsterling, CEO and Dr. Steve Friesen, M.D. in 2007. The Christ-centered group then added a second location in Mansfield. By 2012,…