 They also likely ran the lime kiln as a sideline to their main business.A few years after SVI established its furnace, Asahel Hotchkiss began his malleable iron works behind his house at 53 Sharon Valley Road.He formed partnerships with other local entrepreneurs, and by 1850 he, too, was a major local employer, with that year's census counting nine workers and valuing his annual production at $25,000 ($ in contemporary dollars).