The Scherkonde river, which flows through Frohndorf/Orlishausen, used to cause frequent flooding in the two villages of Frohndorf and Orlishausen. The problem was only solved with the construction of the reservoir east of Orlishausen at the end of the 1960s.

Orlishausen and Frohndorf have always been characterized by agriculture. LPGs were founded in 1953, which farmed a total of 860 hectares of land. Around 2,000 dairy cows have been kept at the Frohndorf/Orlishausen dairy farm, which emerged from the LPGs, since 1979. Today, Agra GmbH and its subsidiary Frohndorfer Landmilch GmbH are based here.

The 17.2 hectare "Gebind" industrial estate was built on the southern edge of Orlishausen in 1992. Among others, the company EUT-Erdrich Umformtechnik is based here. The company is one of the largest employers in the district.