GALLERY: Big Sky in Virginia

June 3, 2015
Apparently you can take young rental men out of Montana, but you can’t take Montana out of the young rental men.

Apparently you can take young rental men out of Montana, but you can’t take Montana out of the young rental men. So when Adam and Carson Sneed, who were born in North Carolina and grew up in Montana, moved back east to Danville, Va., they decided to turn their new rental business, Big Sky Rents, into an old western town. Or at least, they made it look like one, with facades and architecture that look just like Montana.

    Did it work? The company has tripled in size every year since it started in 2010. After starting with three employees, there are now 29.

    The Sneeds used the old west motif to attract attention as something different, that everybody in town would know about. But the novelty only goes so far if it isn’t backed up by service. The Sneed brothers grew up around their dad’s rental business in Montana and the rental business was clearly in their blood. Their father Chuck Sneed bought an equipment rental business called United Tool Rental in Big Fork, Mont., in 1999, and later acquired Sun Rental in Kalispell and Polson. In 2007, the Sneed family sold the business and after moving back east, Adam and Carson started Big Sky in 2010.

    Take a look!