Newsmakers 2017: Justin Denton

About a week before Burrito-Ville's 17th anniversary, the restaurant's founder Justin Denton called his success "somewhat surreal."

"It has become more than I could have ever imagined when I originally opened on Broadway just down the street," he says.

Part of that success, he says, is due to the restaurant's atmosphere.

"We are lucky to have some really cool employees who create a work environment that ultimately ends up more like a group of best friends," he said.

Denton also praised his wife, Mary Rose Roberts, who he says has been an indispensable partner.

LAURA SIMON ~ lsimon@semissourian.com Justin Denton

"Mary has been a great factor in our growth," Denton says. "Besides setting up the social media campaign, she came up with #GiveBacktoCape."

That initiative has become Burrito-Ville's way to help the community.

"We have donated to the Safe House for Women, our local humane society, Old Town Cape, the police department, the fire department, student organizations, an injured first responder and a donation for a music scholarship fund through Steve Schaffner, another long-time customer who has had a big impact on a lot of students over his years," Denton says. "We also plan to continue our donations to the musical arts program through Steve."

One person stands out to Denton with regard to his charity work: Robert Harris, who runs the gardening program for the City of Cape Girardeau.

"Our first donation to Robert was before our official #GiveBacktoCape local-only donation campaign," Denton says. "It was to the City of Cape with the allocation going to the community garden. ... He has a passion to teach people of all ages through gardening and then feeding people in the community."

LAURA SIMON ~ lsimon@semissourian.com Justin Denton

As his business continues toward more anniversaries, Denton says his plans are to keep giving back.