History of Business

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History of Business in the Community
The Village of Yellow Springs in its early days of development benefited from the presence of an attractive natural setting that included fertile farm land, limestone for quarrying, the “Yellow Spring” with its mineral water that attracted tourists, and visionaries such as Judge William Mills. Judge Mills developed a village plan and is recognized as the “founder” of the Village of Yellow Springs. Judge Mills saw the need for a college to fulfill his plan and persuaded the Christian Connexion, a liberal Protestant sect, to build their college called Antioch in his town. He enticed them with a gift of 20 acres and $20,000 of his own money. Judge Mills did not reap economical benefits from his investment.

Arthur Morgan arrived in Dayton following the 1913 flood to build the Miami Conservancy District. He was appointed to the Antioch Board of Trustees in 1919 and came to Yellow Springs where he proceeded to remake the college, and to some extent the town, in his own image. While president of Antioch (1921-1936), Dr. Morgan had ambitious ideas for the College’s self-sufficiency. Several significant projects developed, including research in hybrid corn, the manufacture of a brand of whole-wheat flour and production of a therapeutic shoe, but none could be sustained on the College’s limited resources. He set about to encourage an enterprising spirit within the community and to create an “ample and wholesome” economic base with several locally owned smaller businesses that directly met the needs of the community. Morgan attracted people who shared his vision of self-sustaining community and his notion of local entrepreneurship.

Sergius Vernet, an inventor from New York, came to Yellow Springs to work in the favorable research climate that Morgan had created at Antioch. Sergius Vernet’s invention of the wax expansion element in 1938 revolutionized the automotive thermostat. The Vernay Company, founded by Segius Vernet, has designed and manufactured over 2,000 unique elastomeric products for Automotive, Medical, Appliances and Specialty products. Tom Allen is President of the company.

Antioch students John Benedict, Hardy Trolander and David Jones formed a partnership in 1948, to be joined later by David Case. The firm, which they established, is Yellow Springs Instrument Company. The business developed a precision timing device for the Air Force, developed oxygen and temperature measuring equipment invented by Fels researchers Leland Clark and Hardy Trolander. Yellow Springs Instruments Company was ranked number 32 in 1999 among the Miami Valley top 100 industries, with sales of $44.1 million. The company sells products in four major areas: environmental water testing, health care, industrial OEM, and bioprocessing. The products divide into three groups: temperature components and probes, analytical, and environmental monitoring. The top company executive is Malte vonMatthiessen.

Morgan’s son Ernest and Walter Kahoe became fine printers on their co-op jobs and in 1926 started a small business making bookplates from scraps of paper left over from the College’s publishing concern, The Antioch Press. Kahoe soon left to pursue a publishing career. Morgan stuck with the struggling enterprise, which earned $300 in its first year, naming it the Antioch Book Plate Co. The Antioch Company today is an international manufacturer and distributor of scrapbooks and book sidelines. The Antioch Company was ranked number 3 among the Miami Valley’s top 100 corporations in 1999 with sales of $200.9 million. The top company executive is Lee M. Morgan.

The Morris Bean Company, located at the southeast of town, is one of America’s best known foundries for making precision aluminum castings and tire molds. Morris Bean, while a student at Antioch was made the co-op manager of the Antioch Foundry. Xarifa Salume and Morris Bean were married in 1928 and together they developed numerous successful casting processes including the Antioch Process. With a grant of $3,000 in 1935 from Goodyear, the first successful cast aluminum tire mold was developed. During World War II the Antioch Foundry was taken over by General Motors to utilize the unique aluminum casting processes for the war effort. Morris and Xarifa Bean purchased the foundry from General Motors in 1946. Edward J. Myers is the President and CEO of the company.