The Unattended Edge: Why Company Culture Is One of the Best Investments an Operator Can Make

In the latest episode of The Unattended Edge, host Staci Thornton Ryan sat down with Patrick Moran, owner of Moran Refreshments and immediate past chairman of the NAMA Board of Directors, along with General Manager Elijah Schmunk, to discuss a topic that’s often overlooked in unattended retail: company culture.

While technology and innovation continue to reshape the industry, Moran believes one investment consistently delivers long-term returns.

“Working on culture is not an expense,” he said. “It’s an expense if you do not work on your culture.”

Throughout the conversation, Moran and Schmunk shared how investing in employees, empowering leaders, and staying engaged with the industry has helped Moran Refreshments grow over the past 36 years.

Culture Starts at the Top

Moran said company culture isn’t something created overnight—it develops through leadership and daily actions.

From the company’s earliest days, he and his father demonstrated the customer service they expected from employees by personally responding to service calls and putting customers first.

“The people who work here know that we care about them,” Moran said. “This is not just a one-way street.”

That commitment extends beyond the workplace. Whether accommodating school schedules, helping employees through family emergencies, or offering educational opportunities unrelated to vending, Moran believes leaders should invest in employees as people.

“If somebody is at your work for a paycheck,” he said, “they are going to leave for a paycheck that’s a nickel more.”

Small Investments Can Prevent Big Problems

Rather than waiting until morale suffers, Moran Refreshments regularly brings in outside facilitators for leadership development, communication training, and personality assessments. The company also hosts team-building events, Lunch & Learns, safety training, and employee recognition programs.

The goal isn’t simply to improve morale; it’s to strengthen the business.

“You might think it’s expensive to bring in a consultant for half a day,” Moran said. “But if you don’t do that and then you lose a client because of an improper interaction, what is that going to cost you over the long term?”

He summed up his philosophy with one sentence that resonated throughout the conversation:

“Leaders either shape culture on purpose or pay for it by accident.”

Empower People to Lead

Schmunk said one of the biggest priorities has been empowering department leaders to solve problems without waiting for management approval.

“We have leaders that are empowered and encouraged to make decisions,” he said. “You make the call and do what you think is best for the client.”

That philosophy is reinforced through weekly leadership meetings where supervisors openly discuss customer issues, operational challenges, and even mistakes.

“It’s that accountability that I think we can all work on with each other,” Schmunk said. “As soon as somebody says, ‘I could have done this better,’ it creates a more open environment.”

Regular conversations with route drivers are equally important.

“Just going out and initiating and checking in can lead to a day’s worth of projects,” Schmunk said. “People feel like they’re being heard.”

Never Stop Looking Ahead

Looking back on more than three decades in business, Moran said one of his biggest regrets was waiting too long to become involved in industry associations.

“I didn’t know what I didn’t know,” he said.

Joining NAMA and becoming active in his state association exposed him to new technologies, innovative ideas, and relationships that helped shape the company’s future.

“I would have gotten involved with NAMA and built my industry network even sooner than I did,” Moran said.

Today, that mindset also influences how Moran Refreshments approaches new technology. The company has aggressively expanded into micro markets while closely watching the continued evolution of smart coolers.

“I could see smart coolers replacing a lot of vending accounts in time,” Schmunk said, noting that operators are learning from one another as adoption continues to grow.