Young entrepreneur: Darian Barton opens her own espresso shop at ripe old age of 13

Since she was a little girl of 9 and learned how to operate the espresso machine in the restaurant where her grandmother worked as a cook, Barton has dreamed of opening her own espresso shop and selling richly aromatic coffees, lattes, steamers and frappuccinos.

Of course, nobody opens much more than a lemonade stand at the age of 9. It took years for Barton to get to this point, where a loan could be taken out, trees could be cleared in a forest off U.S. Highway 200, stumps removed, a shop built, a business plan written, a menu developed, a business license and equipment purchased, a Health Department inspection passed.
Oh, and she probably had to grow tall enough to hand the cups of coffee out the window.

But now, at the ripe old age of 13, Barton is in business for herself.

By VINCE DEVLIN of the Missoulian

Full Story: http://missoulian.com/articles/2007/12/03/hometowns/home16.txt

Many thanks to Cary Griffin, Senior Partner
Griffin-Hammis Associates, LLC for passing this along. Russ)