Mark Kelley, Western regional sales manager for General Mills in Portland, Ore., has been named NAMA's Allied Vending Member of the Year. He will receive his award April 25 during the OneShow, the nation’s largest vending and refreshment services trade event, which will be held in Las Vegas, Nev.
“We are very pleased to recognize Mark Kelly as a top industry professional,” said Dan Mathews, executive vice president and chief operating officer of NAMA in a prepared statement. “During his tenure at General Mills, he has made significant contributions to the advancement of the vending industry and most notably, micro markets, a recognized industry game-changer.”
An industry veteran for more than 30 years, Kelley began his career as a sales rep for what is today Vistar Corp. Later, he joined Gardetto’s Bakery and helped develop and execute new packaging and pricing, standard in vending today. When General Mills bought Gardetto’s, Kelley saw an opportunity to leverage the company’s category management/consumer insights capabilities and bring it to vending. With the support of the General Mills special markets team, he was able to bring about positive changes in the way vending went to market and in the development of micro markets.
General Mills honored him with its highly coveted “Ring of Excellence” award for his accomplishments within the bakeries and foodservice division. Kelley participates in the company’s diversity mentoring program, teaming new employees with proven high achievers. An active community volunteer, Kelley has helped provide backpacks containing food for homeless school children and has built homes for Hurricane Katrina survivors.
A loyal supporter and enthusiastic member of NAMA, Kelley is also active in California Automatic Vendors Council (CAVC) where he sits on the board of directors and last year earned the Supplier of the Year honor. He also is involved with state councils in Arizona, Illinois and the Pacific Northwest.
