Park Ridge Business Has 'Entrepreneurial Bug'

You could say Dick Barton is a Renaissance man.

He's done a little bit of everything in his 40-plus year career. The Park Ridge resident said he started working when he was 16, but one of his first gigs was working for Paddock Publications (which would become the Daily Herald a year later) in 1968.

"We were typing on Royal Typewriters," Barton said. "Back in the day, everyone was smoking, we could even smoke in meetings if you can imagine. It was socially acceptable."

Barton went from becoming a general assignment reporter to bureau chief before leaving the company to start his own business in 1971 - selling foreign car parts to consumers and auto shops.

"I saw a trend with a lot of foreign cars being produced with a lack of parts," he said. "So, I started the auto parts store and called in the 'Winners Circle.' I successfully ran it for six years and then sold it so I could move to Houston and get into the restaurant business. That didn't work out as well as I hoped."

Yet that didn't stop the once newsman from reinventing himself and getting into a different field of business. Barton bounced around - from selling computers to auto shops to marketing for the Westin Hotel. He would later start Marketing Etc. A few years later, his son would graduate from the University of Wisconsin and join the company in 1998 and the name eventually changed to Barton Marketing Group. His son is now president of the company.

"Our focus is wide ranging, from banking to senior housing, government and agriculture," Barton said. "We service local Park Ridge clients and several national and international associations.

"Entrepreneurship runs in our family," Barton added. "My mother had a shop in Wood Dale, Ill. Being the oldest, I caught the bug myself. My mother gave me advice, so that was helpful. My brother and sister also went and opened their own business."

Barton's other son also has his own CPA practice.

"It's been one heck of a ride," Barton said. "I really enjoy what I do. I really cherish working with my son."

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