NAMA Highlights Industry’s Economic Contribution In Latest Census

In 2018, a census was conducted by the National Automatic Merchandising Association, or NAMA for short, to measure the size, scope, and value to the United States of the vending, office refreshments and micro market industry.

Extensive research on the economic impact of the convenience services industry was conducted by Dunham and Associates, a firm based in Brooklyn, NY. The company was founded with the intent to meet the demand for credible, verifiable economic data for use in advocacy.

Dunham’s research identified over 5,200 separate establishments within the industry, and found that they represent, on average, 430 jobs for every one million Americans. Each of those jobs had the effect of creating 1.3 jobs, which is an abnormally large number in the retail business.

The total economic impact of the entire convenience services industry is just under $25 billion. The industry itself is directly and indirectly responsible for about 140,475 full-time jobs and has paid out about $7.2 billion in wages.

Of those 140,475 full-times jobs, about 60,633 of those jobs come from vending operators, machine manufacturing, and brokers. Vending operators make up the largest share with 53,420 jobs being created directly by them. Their total economic impact alone totaled about $10.1 billion.

New York is one of the biggest contributors to the economic impact of the convenience services industry. New York’s total output is somewhere around $1.1 billion and has paid out just under $350 million in wages. In terms of workers, there are about 5,683 full-time jobs available.

Over 67% of convenience services industry operators have a diversified business model. The industry itself paid about $3.5 billion in business taxes, with roughly half being paid towards federal taxes and the other half going to state taxes.

Dunham’s research also found that about 34,750 jobs are indirectly impacted by the convenience services industry. Of that amount, about 12,458 jobs were generated by business & personal services, which resulted in an economic impact of just under $1.5 billion.

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