Eliza Paton was inspired to be an entrepreneur through Junior Achievement last year and is now making money through gumball machines she put together herself. She also happens to be a 6-year-old first-grader at Washington STEM Academy. The rack of gumball machines sits inside the Grace College Post Office in the Mount Memorial building. There’s four kinds of candy to choose from and they cost a quarter. “I’m the one that basically made (the rack),” Eliza said. Her father, Rob Paton, an employee of Grace College, said Eliza assembled it physically by herself with a handheld screwdriver. She mounted the machines and assembled them as well. “She figured them out on her own,” Rob said. “Without reading the instructions,” Eliza noted. There was one simple answer for why she did it. “Because I wanted to earn money,” she said. “Daddy heard I wanted to do a business and earn money so he figured out we should do the gumball machine. That’s how I figured out what we should do for the business.” Rob said Eliza had JA twice in school and learned about business. She has always been interested in it and making money, he said. When she learned to make origami, she wanted to sell it at school. “I was the same way. In third grade I got in trouble for selling pencils in school. She’s in the first grade,” Rob stated. Because of JA, Eliza also opened a bank account with Teachers Credit Union. Vicky Decker, development manager, Junior Achievement serving Kosciusko and Lagrange counties, said kindergartners in JA learn about saving money and coin recognition. They learn about bigger financial concepts and how money affects them. First-graders learn about how families use money, the value of money and why incomes are necessary. Eliza’s first-grade teacher is Cathy Hood. By the sixth grade, JA students are learning about the global marketplace, including such things as monetary exchange rates. Decker said having a student so young being inspired by JA to start a business is a first. “I think Eliza is a unique little girl,” she said. “We want to do all we can to foster the entrepreneurship spirit,” Decker said. Eliza’s story could be used in future JA classes, she said. “It dovetails beautifully into what we’re trying to teach kids,” Decker said. The Patons did their market research together on what kinds of candy they should put into the gumball machines. About a year ago, Rob and Eliza went around to different grocery stores and laundromats to see what kinds of candy their gumball machines offered. They took pictures and noted which machines had the least amount of candy left in them. They determined the less candy there was in a machine, the more popular the candy. Eliza said they chose the top three candies for her machines, but the fourth choice was because Rob thought it would be a good choice. In determining where to put her gumball machines, Eliza and Rob talked about good places that didn’t already have gumball machines. Since Rob worked at Grace, he negotiated with them to put the machines in the post office. In the future, Rob said Eliza will have to do her own negotiating. “A lot of people come here to get their mail and stuff,” Eliza said about why the post office was a good choice. “She came up with this a year ago, but we had to do a lot of planning and saving money to buy the machines and stuff,” Rob said. “I want to make a lot of money,” Eliza said. “I’ve already earned a lot so far.” “As parents, we try to let her do as much on her own as she can,” Rob said. Her mom is Michelle Paton. Eliza also has her own website so people can help her determine which kinds of candies are good for her machines. The website has her picture on it as well as a survey. For more information about Eliza’s business, visit her website at lizasgum.com
