Early investments
Nester knew early on that he wanted
to make decisions that were best for
his company and his customers and
so he worked under the mantra that
change should always be an expec-
tation. Perhaps that is why change
came quickly after he took the helm
in 2008.
In the fall of 2008, Canteen
approached Nester about joining its
franchise family and it didn't take
long for him to say 'yes'. He signed
up to become a Canteen franchise on
Jan. 1, 2009. "I can honestly say that
joining Canteen was one of the best
decisions I've made for this company,"
said Nester. "In this day you can't sur-
vive without being part of some type
of buying group and I believe that
Canteen has a lot to offer, including
training, internal software advice,
future transitional support, and many
other valuable resources for my busi-
ness. It has been a great decision."
Just two months after join-
ing Canteen, Smith Vending also
became home to another big change:
technology.
In March 2009, Smith Vending
invested more than $100,000 into
Streamware. "I believed it to be the
most comprehensive system at the
time and we were already using Crane
October/November 2016 VendingMarketWatch.com Automatic Merchandiser 39
O P E R A T I O N P R O F I L E
''
By 2008, we were doing $2.2 million
in revenue in the Iowa branch.
''
Rod Nester, president of Smith Vending