Brad Pommen believes vending machines can offer more than candy and chips.
Pommen, the president of Nelson’s SMRT1 Technologies, introduced a machine last week that carries a mix of paid and free items such as naloxone kits, syringes, condoms and sundries like deodorant and toothpaste.
He says the machine provides 24-7 access to products and information in locations with fewer services to deal with the ongoing opioid crisis.
“I really want to be able to connect communities,” said Pommen. “In rural communities, these types of services are far reaching. They need to be everywhere, but typically because of dollars they’re not getting into rural communities.”
