Nine months into her tenure as president and CEO of the National Automatic Merchandising Association, Christine Cochran has spent a lot of time listening. She is translating what she has heard into an agenda focused on stronger operator influence, clearer policy treatment and practical business resources.

Cochran said she knew the industry was evolving, but she has been impressed by the sophistication and customization behind operators’ business models. “It’s a lot more complicated than I maybe appreciated in the beginning,” she said.

Operators are leaning into a greater mix of unattended retail formats, from smart coolers, micro markets and traditional vending to autonomous stores, self-service kiosks, just-walk-out concepts and unattended beverage sales.

At the same time, those formats are opening opportunities beyond the traditional workplace, allowing operators to tailor concepts for hotels, residential properties and other locations — and, in some cases, enter markets they couldn’t effectively serve before.

“I think convenience services always has been — and always will be — an ecosystem,” Cochran said. Formats and locations shift; the service at its core doesn’t. “What we do as a service provider isn’t really changing,” she said. “So, from my perspective, NAMA exists to support that evolution, however it unfolds.”

Making the industry visible

Cochran came to NAMA with a background in food, agriculture and public policy. Before joining NAMA, she led SNAC International and previously served as executive director of the Grain Foods Foundation and president of the Commodity Markets Council.

Her experience across food, agriculture and public policy has given Cochran a close view of how regulations and public assumptions can fall out of step with changing business models. She said that perspective is relevant as NAMA works to ensure convenience services is understood on its own terms.

“One of the things I’m really excited about at NAMA is raising the awareness of the industry, especially among policymakers,” she said.

The challenge is that convenience services can be easy to overlook. Good service is often nearly invisible to the people using it.

“They show up at work, and it’s there,” Cochran said.

Policymakers don’t always have an accurate picture of the industry, either.

“One of the challenges we have as an industry is that policymakers oftentimes put us in a box that isn’t reflective of our current structure and operation,” she said.

Taxes are one example, Cochran noted, along with equipment certification, food regulations and labeling requirements.

At the same time, the changing mix of unattended retail formats presents another challenge: Regulations and definitions have not necessarily kept pace with the way operators do business.

NAMA is mapping how states regulate — or, in some cases, do not regulate — micro markets. In Ohio, for example, NAMA is supporting legislation to clarify sales-tax treatment, which can currently be affected by seating near vending machines or micro markets. Smart coolers present a newer challenge because, Cochran said, they are not yet clearly defined.

“We’ve got a lot of operators that operate across state lines,” she said. “A micro market may be treated one way in state A and a different way in state B, which makes running a business even more complicated.”

NAMA is still evaluating how to bring more consistency to the treatment of micro markets and smart coolers, and whether that ultimately requires federal or state action. Cochran said she wants NAMA to make progress toward more consistent treatment of both formats.

Pressing the accelerator

Cochran succeeded Carla Balakgie, who retired at the end of 2025 after 14 years leading NAMA. Cochran praised Balakgie’s work even as she looks to build on it.

“Carla left a deep and meaningful mark on the industry,” Cochran said. “She grew NAMA into a sizable association that does an exceptional job of representing the industry, whether that’s inside the industry or out.”

Cochran describes her job as building on that foundation. “I view my role as kind of pressing the accelerator. Where can we lean in to support the industry? So, I’m looking for opportunities to invest back into the industry in the way that NAMA can do best.”

Advocacy is one place where that is already happening. NAMA has added two staff members to its advocacy team, and Cochran said the association will continue investing in state and local affairs.

“What makes NAMA different is the robust nature of our state initiatives,” she said. “We have some direct state initiatives. We have some state affiliates. And that’s an area where I think you’re going to see us continue to invest.”

Cochran also wants to continue evolving The NAMA Show.

“The NAMA Show has long been where this industry comes together,” Cochran said. “As the business evolves, we have an opportunity to keep building an experience that reflects the full range of innovation, relationships and solutions that help our members move forward.”

Cochran said research is one tool among several NAMA can use to support operators. Cochran is conducting a needs assessment to determine what research and resources would be most useful to the industry. She also anticipates a sharper look at NAMA’s economic impact studies and census reports in 2027 and 2028. Much of that work runs through the NAMA Foundation, which is searching for a new executive director. Cochran said she expects the research effort to intensify once that position is filled.

Bringing more operators inside

Cochran also wants to bring more operators into NAMA. The value, she said, includes relationships among operators who use one another to benchmark their businesses and work through decisions. Operators reach out on topics ranging from when to hire another employee or add a truck to what equipment to buy.

“The number of text chains that exist where people are just talking to each other about the challenges that they’re encountering on a day-to-day basis — those relationships are created and sustained through NAMA,” Cochran said.

Asked what she would like to see from NAMA over the next three to five years, Cochran pointed to:

• More operator members
• An evolving NAMA Show that reflects the industry’s diversity
• Continued state and federal advocacy
• Progress on the treatment of micro markets and smart coolers

Her message to the industry is equally straightforward: NAMA intends to be its backstop, but the association needs operators engaged with it.

“It doesn’t matter how big or small you are,” Cochran said. “We want you inside of our tent so that we can be the best that we can be for the industry.”