Vending

NAMA Industry Person of the Year honored for commitment to industry

Nicky Gacos has been honored for his hard work and devotion to the public good.

June 30, 2020

Nicky Gacos, owner of Colorado Café Associates, has been named 2020 NAMA Industry Person of the Year for showing that the private sector can both reward the deserving individuals who risk their capital and deploy their hard work and ingenuity, and also serve the public good, according to a press release.

According to NAMA, no previous NAMA award recipient embodies this dual essential achievement more than Gacos, who has fostered partnerships across the industry and — critically — brought great talent into the industry from outside, while helping budding entrepreneurs earn business success and financial independence, according to the nomination.

In 1992, Gacos began his career as a vending operator with just one location. Since that time, his he has been a tireless advocate on behalf of the entire industry, including Randolph Sheppard entrepreneurs. In 2015, he was elected to serve as a member of the board of directors of NAMA, the first blind person to have this distinction.

Gacos has served as the president of the National Association of Blind Merchants, a division of the National Federation of the Blind, for 10 years. In this role, he has spearheaded numerous annual multi-day leadership conferences attracting hundreds of Randolph Sheppard entrepreneurs each year.

Gacos is past chair of the Middlesex County Workforce Investment Board and member of the New Jersey State Employment and Training Commission. He also serves as a board member for NAMA, as well as the Tri-State Automatic Merchandising Council and is a member of both NAMA's government affairs and industry communications committees. In 2015, he was named a NAMA Advocacy Award winner.

Photo courtesy of NAMA.