Student-ran coffee shop one step closer to reality in Pineville

PINEVILLE, Mo. — An area Chamber of Commerce will soon have some new neighbors. Students in a McDonald County High School business class will be running their own coffee shop in the same building as the McDonald County Chamber of Commerce in Pineville.

Students brought some of their plans for what they want to have done on their side of the building for architects to look at. Students will staff and operate the shop themselves.

“We are, as a Chamber, looking to move as well which we’ve designed this so that if and when we move out, one wall comes down and it becomes all coffee shop, but for the next year, foreseeable future it will be a joint Chamber/coffee shop,” said John Newby, McDonald Co. Chamber President & CEO.

“We are going over our layouts of how we want the inside of the coffee shop to look like, we are also looking for coffee beans and somewhere to provide barista training, so we’re calling around and doing that and we’re working throughout layouts. We’re also going through equipment, like what, how, what equipment we want to use, and things like that,” said Lexie Abbott, Student Leader.

“It’s just going to make those kids that are in this program this year, they’re gonna step out with some true world experience that they would not have by just attending a regular classroom in our business department,” said Kristy Gilgen, Business Teacher, McDonald County High School.

The project is being funded through a $50,000 the Chamber applied for and received from cellular company T-Mobile. Students hope to have the business up and running in January.

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