MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - A series of seminars hosted by United Vending Group here has attracted participants from 15 states and as far away as Australia. Themed "The Opportunity is Now," the seminars help people get into the small-location vending business, or to expand an existing operation.

The seminar program was developed late last year by Ed Klein of United Snack Group and Bob Purdy, president of LOBO VENDING (Mondovi, Wisc.). They have been fine-tuning the concept since last October.

"We've been distributing small-location vending equipment for the past 12 years," said Purdy. "The market for this concept is huge, and has been growing for years. Full-line vendors have their hands full running their own complex businesses, and show minimal interest in this market. Honor snack operators have labor-intense operations that keep them busy as well, and very few have even looked into small-location vending.

"There's little competition in most areas," Purdy added. "It's really a wide-open field. Many of the inquiries we get at LoBo include a question: 'Where can I learn how to do this, and is there any source of management expertise if I get into a jam?' In the past, my only answer was 'There isn't a source that I know of.' A lot of these calls come from people who got into the business after responding to a newspaper ad, and they really need help."

Last Spring, Purdy received a call from United Snack Group president Ed Klein. USG is a franchiser of honor snack operations, with 20 branches in 12 states and a sizable home-office operation as well. Klein explained that he had been watching the market for years, and felt that many of his franchisees had developed their honor snack businesses to the point at which they might consider adding small-location vending.

"We met several times over the summer," Purdy recalls, "and decided we had something to offer that was going to change the whole complexion of this market. With that, Klein founded United Vending Group, Inc., and we're off and running."

Klein notes that "We had been helping our franchisees develop their base businesses and get a good handle on management. I realized that the 20- to 50-employee market was devoid of snack food services, and I knew that there was little competition to serve it. I didn't want to get our franchisees going in several directions and losing part of what they had gained in honor snack sales; the two concepts are very different.

"We knew that all our hard work and experience in growing to more than $10 million in sales with honor snacks could be applied to the small-location vending business too, "Klein adds. "We had over 500 locations in our system which had small- location vending equipment on site, and I was impressed with the net profit potential, provided the right equipment was used."

After checking out a dozen or so manufacturers and distributors, Klein reports, he found only one name that continually won the respect of, and recommendation from, people who had purchased equipment - and that was LOBO VENDING. "They had a well-earned reputation as the best source of equipment and service," Klein says. "We pay attention to high-quality service; it's our whole philosophy. Our training programs reflect that. Together, we feel we have one tremendous program."

This joint effort caught the eye of a very large financial institution, Purdy explains. "On the basis of our track record with equipment and the high success experience of United Snack Group, Ed's franchise system, they decided to back us and provide up to $120,000 of financing, per individual, if the person goes through training and has the advisory services of United Vending Group, Inc.

"Each participant receives what I consider to be outstanding training materials, including video cassettes, while attending a comprehensive six-day training session. We started doing seminars to introduce people to small-location vending and to help others who had gotten started, but wanted a source of help and expertise. The interest in these seminars is amazing."

The seminars are held on Saturdays, so participants don't have to miss too much work and to give them the benefit of lower air fares. "It's a day packed with information handouts and presentations," Purdy explains. "We've really had great reviews by attendees, who encourage others to attend. We expect to help at last 20 to 25 people get started this year, and we should match that in helping, others expand their horizons in their present small-location vending operations."

Information on the seminar program and the next available dates may be had from United Vending Group, Inc. tel. (800) 279-6633.