Russians find employment, start businesses in Ephrata

LANCASTER COUNTY

Immigrant population helps to drive economy

A corner of Amish country in Lancaster County has quietly become home for more than 400 Russian immigrants. In the past two decades, a steady flow of Russians from the former Soviet Union have settled near Ephrata, starting businesses and finding work with local employers.

The influx of Russian refugees to Pennsylvania began in the late 1980s, after the fall of the former Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, said Sheila McGeehan of Elkhart, Ind.-based Church World Service. She's the director of the agency's Lancaster office, which serves the refugee and immigrant communities of Pennsylvania. The U.S. …