The entire planet's mortgage crisis could have been so easily averted.

If only all of us were Amish.

While I dream of a world filled with people who honor the land and decry technology that is unnecessary (did you know? The Amish do use technology, but only if it's necessary -- milking machines, yes; Hummers, no), I understand that you can't unring our media- and technology-addicted culture's bell. On the other hand, it's great to be the mortgage banker to the Amish. Bill O'Brien, mortgage banker at the Hometowne Heritage Bank, has had one late payment this year in his $100 million portfolio. A few days late. And he's never had a loss on an Amish loan.

The risk profile is great, sure, but the work is hard, he says; he puts 1,000 miles each week on his car servicing his clients. (Sort of ironic, I think, given the Amish don't drive.) Interestingly, the Amish mortgages can't be jammed into CDOs or other securitized packages; due to an obscure legal rule, mortgages for homes without electricity, or homes that aren't insured, can't be securitized.

What can other mortgage bankers learn from O'Brien? Instead of relying on credit histories and scores or proof of financial stability, he talks to the borrower's father, and usually his father-in-law, too. "It takes a team to make a farm go," he tells NPR. If only if all of our families could operate in that manner.

This post is part of our Big Company, Small Town series, featuring large companies and the small towns in which they are headquartered.

One might assume that chocolatier Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY) got its name from the small Pennsylvania town it is located in, population 12,771. However, the truth of the matter is that the company is named after its founder, Milton S. Hershey, and that the town, which was formerly known as Derry Church, was renamed Hershey, Pennsylvania, in 1906 because of the popularity of the chocolate.

Milton Hershey built the milk processing plant he would use to make his milk chocolate in 1896 with profits he made from selling his caramel company, and three years later, in 1899, the "Hershey process" was born. In 1903, Hershey began construction of a chocolate plant in what would later become Hershey, Pennsylvania. The manufacturing plant, which now covers over two million square feet of manufacturing space, is now the largest chocolate factory in the world.

Just as important to the town's prosperity as the chocolate manufacturing plant is Hersheypark, an amusement park that is affiliated with the Hershey Company. The theme park is a huge employer for the town, a tourist attraction, and a branding device for the Hershey brand.

Hershey, Pennsylvania is truly a place where the company and the town have merged into a single identity. While there, you can tour Hershey's Chocolate World, Hershey Museum, and visit Hersheypark, all of which feature the history of both the company and the town, which will be forever intertwined.

Be sure to check out more Big Company, Small Town posts.

This post is part of our Big Company, Small Town series, featuring large companies and the small towns in which they are headquartered.

How long does it take to manufacture 100 billion crayons? Well, if you're the developer and foremost manufacturer of the colorful little cylindrical beauties, it takes exactly 93 years, as evidenced by the successful history of Crayola Crayons.

Easton Pennsylvania, sitting at the confluence of the Delaware and Lehigh rivers, has served as the backdrop for the entire glorious history of Crayola Crayons. A small town, covering just under five square miles, and home to fewer than 30,000 inhabitants, what Easton might lack in girth, it certainly makes up for with history. The partnership of cousins Edwin Binney and C. Harold Smith, creators of the Crayola Crayon, probably were located in Easton to take advantage of the town's former status as a railroad hub, its access to raw materials, and its proximity to both Philadelphia and New York City.

While the partnership of Binney & Smith has grown and flourished, the city of Easton Pennsylvania has had its difficulties. While the Crayola empire has continually sought to enhance its offering and involvement in the creative arts by expanding, experimenting and inviting innovation, Easton has sought to remain true to, and thoughtful of its heritage. However, renewed stimulation of Easton's economy over the past decade has been focused on making the city an attractive getaway destination for visitors. This effort involves a deeply thoughtful utilization of the city's cultural, historical, and natural resources, which are being blended and deployed with strategic local focus.

This post is part of our Big Company, Small Town series, featuring large companies and the small towns in which they are headquartered.

Eighty Four, Pennsylvania, is such a tiny town -- really unincorporated area in Washington County -- that it barely got a name. Instead, it is charmingly known by a number: 84. (Differing historical theories say it was named after its #84 railway mailbox or the 1884 election of Grover Cleveland.) Joe Hardy III liked the name so much that when he opened a lumber yard here in 1956 with his brothers, he named it after the town, 84 Lumber. (Not that he was that picky with names; his previous venture was Green Hills Lumber in nearby Green Hills.)

Even though Eighty Four is only 20 miles south of Pittsburgh, it is a decidedly rural, mountain town. Just off Route 70, Eighty Four, the town, was chosen so 84, the lumber company, could serve its particular tri-state area: Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio. Eighty Four itself is too small for anybody to keep track of, but in Washington County in 2006 the average per capita income was $37,000.

Hardy's hardscrabble, blunt management style fit in well with the area and the lumber trade. The stores were notorious for lacking heat (which some now have). The Wall Street Journal described how Hardy fired his son, the would-be heir, when he slowed down with multiple sclerosis. He went with his daughter, Maggie Hardy-Magerko, instead. Battling big-box retailers, she pushed the company successfully toward specializing in pros instead of do-it-yourselfers.

Tuesday's primary victories in Ohio, Texas and Rhode Island gave Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-New York, about all her campaign could hope for: solid performances and a chance to close the delegate gap in the next primary, in Pennsylvania on April 22.

Still, the delegate math remains rough for the candidate seeking to become the first woman nominated for president by a major U.S. political party. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, leads in delegates, 1477-1391, including pledged superdelegates, according to a Washington Post tally, and the Clinton campaign's strategy will now be to try to close the delegate gap to 60 or so with a win in Pennsylvania. Two caucuses, Wyoming and Mississippi, occur before the Pennsylvania primary, and Sen. Obama is expected to win each and increase his delegate lead heading into Pennsylvania.

In 187-delegate Pennsylvania, the demographics favor Sen. Clinton -- she's leading in statewide polls there - - and the Clinton campaign likes its chances. Pennsylvania has a large working class -- which, along with women voters and Latin-Americans, forms the bulk of Clinton's base. If Sen. Clinton registers a solid win in Pennsylvania, she can make the case that although Sen. Obama has the delegate lead, she has won in the major states of New York, California, Texas, Ohio and Pennsylvania, and probably would have won in Florida, had the delegate count been included in the Democratic Party's nominating process. That big-state coalition, and the fact that she's the candidate of the working class, would be two strong philosophical points as the campaign attempts to secure pledges from the to-date 353 un-pledged superdelegates. (Note: The number of un-pledged delegates is likely to decline by the end of the primary season on June 3.)

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says Pennsylvania's foreclosures are declining, thanks to a plan that can be applied nationally.

We keep hearing how the AAA paper is unfairly being marked down because of the "need" to sell. We hear that if the paper, particularly the mortgage paper, were allowed to be held, there would be no problem, that, for example, the Thornburg (NYSE: TMA) (Cramer's Take) paper, which is most likely not going to default, or the paper that AIG (NYSE: AIG) (Cramer's Take) is insuring, the so-called super senior, which is also most likely not going to default. We keep believing that the real issue is the markings, and how the markings reflect unrealistically depressed valuations.

Obviously the Fed believes this, too or it wouldn't have been so complacent. So why doesn't the Fed puts its money where its mouth is, and do something, non-bailoutish, that exploits the market's imperfection. Why doesn't it issue $50 billion of two-year notes at 1.60% and take the money and buy high quality mortgages and other collateralized obligations, the very stuff that everyone says will pay off over time. Then the Fed can make money holding the stuff, the banks get more liquid, which takes the pressure off their balance sheets, and no bailout occurs?

Pennsylvania may have chased out payday lenders with its new laws. Advance America, Cash Advance Centers (NYSE: AEA) announced that it will close 31 locations in that state, along with 45 Oregon locations, and 27 other underperforming stores. According to a press release announcing the news:

We believe that the decision to close these centers is in the best interest of our stockholders and does not reflect negatively on the financial strength of our overall business model. In Pennsylvania, the uncertain timetable for a ruling on our appeal prompted us to reduce the number of centers there in an effort to control costs. In Oregon, our decision to close our centers is the direct result of a new law that has already prompted most of our competitors to close. Unfortunately, as a result of this new law, consumers will now be left with one less option when they find themselves in need of small amounts of short-term credit. Finally, we have decided to close certain additional centers that have not attained a satisfactory level of performance.

Shares of Advance America lost 9% of their value on Friday and, while payday loans are certainly a terrible idea for consumers, the company may actually have a point: consumers will be left with one less option and, in some cases, a high-interest payday loan is a lot cheaper than a bounced check.