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Frank Baron, President, Cafection Enterprises After taking over ownership of Cafection three years ago, Frank (Francois) Baron has watched the company grow 300 percent over the same time period. Baron focuses growth on creating OCS equipment and technology that is based on secure networking and user interaction. This year Baron has led the company to launch private net- worked OCS solutions that allow feld monitoring of an operator's entire feet of equipment. Robert Fidler, Vice President of Equipment and Service, Coffee Distributing Corp/ Compass Group NA With more than 30 years in the OCS indus- try, Fidler understands the challenges the industry faces. In response to growing competition and smaller margins, Fidler emphasizes his top-notch customer service, focuses on other sources of revenue—such as a scheduled maintenance program for bean-to-cup equipment—and ensures that his team of more than 50 bench and feld technicians is properly trained. Fidler maintains a high record of client retention through impeccable service and great products. He is a strong advocate for green initiatives and recycling from his company and the OCS industry. Steve Williams, Manager of Professional Services, Crane Merchandising Systems After 22 years in the industry, Williams fnds that no matter the size of the vending company, the issues can be the same – cash accountability, inventory control, shrink- ing profts, increased theft and retaining drivers. For the last three years Williams has been conducting three to four seminars in various parts of the country for his customers to come together and learn best practices and techniques to improve in these areas and resolve industry problems. As a NCE5 Williams has encouraged others in his organization to participate in the NAMA Certi- fed Executive (NCE) program and stresses to customers and employees the importance of continued education of industry matters. Patrick Richards, Cashless Product Manager, Crane Payment Innovations Richards joined CPI (formerly MEI) in the fall of 2011, as the company's cashless product manager. Leveraging his experience creating EMV vending solutions throughout the globe, Richards played an integral part in advancing CPI's efforts to develop a user-friendly chip card reader for the U.S. vending market. Today Richards has helped CPI deploy more than 50,000 EMV solutions worldwide, with expectations to grow this number substantially when its newest EMV bezel is ready for the U.S. market in mid- 2016. As a rising industry professional, Richards attends payment conferences throughout the year and possesses his certifcation in project management. Cherri Newbury, President & Co-Founder, DiscountCoffee.com Newbury pioneered the ICS industry (Inter- net Coffee Service) back in 1998 and is still growing that industry concept today under the philosophy that 'doing the same thing the same way is not how to write a company success story.' Newbury works to adapt her company to meet changing consumer shopping habits, constantly evolving how the company markets, serves and ships to its customers. Jack Brown, CEO, EAGLE USA, Inc. Brown started EAGLE USA, Inc. in 1994 as a janitorial company and launched the company's refreshment services side in Sep- tember 2012. With the help of his entire team Brown has grown his company to over 80 employees and $2.5 million in revenue this year. Although customer buying habits, rising costs and compliance with new laws and programs have been a challenge, Brown has focused on partnering with other companies in the industry to launch a private label coffee program, expand into micro markets and offer mobile payment options at vending machines. Brown focuses on training his staff to provide the best support and products to the company's customers. Mark Stephanos, Vice President of Micro Markets, Five Star Food Service Stephanos has been a leader in the contract food and vending service business for more than 35 years. In 2013, a decade after join- ing the Five Star team, Stephanos was pro- moted to Corporate Vice President of Micro Markets. In 2015 Stephanos led Five Star to open 475 micro markets and grew same store sales in its micro market segment. Stephanos believes that the best recipe for success is providing the very best in quality service to customers with a great sense of urgency; integrity in business; and creating a team of confdent and quality people that will execute a strong business plan. Stephanos can also be found on page 30 as part of the Five Star Food Service Micro Market division team. Baron Fidler Williams Richards Newbury Brown Stephanos 24 Automatic Merchandiser VendingMarketWatch.com December 2015