Mark and Carrie Pecone are the owners of MMR Vending, a snack and drink vending company.  0Mark works full-time in construction and Carrie works as a teacher’s aide during the school year.  They were looking for a business to start on a part-time basis and then parley into a full-time venture.

After researching a number of options, they decided on a unique vending machine business.  They currently own five machines and are looking to purchase five more machines in the near future. These machines are smaller and more efficient than normal soda or candy machines. Mark has placed all of his machines and fills them every week. They have been seeing a steady increase in sales.

Mark and Carrie both took our EAP class in the spring of 2008.  There they learned the importance of creating a solid business plan.  They not only completed their plan, they also submitted it for the business plan contest in conjunction with the class, and won.  They were awarded a one-year membership in the Wellsville Area Chamber of Commerce, along with a $500 start-up grant from Steuben Trust Company.

When asked how taking the class has helped them in their venture; the Pecones replied, “The information that was obtained in class gave us written goals to achieve and a plan on how to get there. The people we met in class gave us valuable information on a variety of subjects that in the future will help us succeed.  For the person interested in starting a business we would recommend this course, it forces you to really look into the business you want to pursue and see if it is really what you want to do or not. It also tests your stress levels to see if you can handle stress. It's well worth it.”