When Ohio-based Crown Controls was begun in 1945, there was no way to foresee that fifty years later, it would be the leader in the narrow-aisle lift truck market, the largest manufacturer of electric material-handling equipment in the world. How did this happen? In a narrative featuring an unlikely cast of characters, we watch this community-based company educate itself to make the upwardly mobile journey to market domination. Demonstrated in scenes and anecdotes, the Crown story teaches fundamental entrepreneurial lessons. The economic parables of Crown"s formative decisions provide a unique but universal parallel to any young business anywhere.