New board members ready to lend their experience to the ARA of Montana
By Brock Huffstutler
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New board members ready to lend their experience to the ARA of Montana

Carson Sneed, co-owner of Big Sky Rents, Kalispell, Mont.; Megan Lacy, store manager, RDO Equipment Co. in Missoula, Mont.; and Neal Warner, assistant rental manager, Western States/The CAT Rental Store, Butte, Mont., have joined the ARA of Montana board of directors.

Learn more about these new members of the American Rental Association’s (ARA) state chapter below.

Carson Sneed

Big Sky Rents, established in 2012, is a family-owned equipment rental operation that specializes primarily in aerial and earthmoving equipment to contractors and homeowners in the Flathead Valley.

Sneed’s experience in the industry began during his school-age years when his family operated United Tool Rental, the predecessor of Big Sky Rents.

“I used to get off the school bus and would come sweep the floors until we went home,” he says. “I’ve grown up in it and have seen every aspect of rental from top to bottom, from growth to the hard times. It's in my blood. It's what I love to do.”

Carson Sneed

After graduating high school in the 2000s, Sneed’s motocross racing pursuits took him and his brother, Adam, east to Danville, Va., where they planted roots and established a rental business of their own. “We had record growth and it grew into a pretty big rental house down there because we were doing both party and equipment,” Sneed says.

Although his sojourn in Virginia was successful on the rental front, Sneed says he returned to Montana after a little more than five years because “Montana is home. It’s where I want to raise my kids. You can't beat it.”

Growing up in the industry and during his career as a rental operator, Sneed has developed an appreciation of the networking benefits that come with American Rental Association (ARA) membership.

“I've gone to The ARA Show™ for years — I remember as a kid, I was the one running around that probably all the vendors didn't like,” he says. “I think that networking, by far, is the greatest benefit of ARA. It’s the connections, the people that you meet and the friendships across the country. When we had the two stores [in Montana and Virginia], we would drive back and forth, and I would stop at rental stores to say hi to people that I had met at the shows over the years. You get to learn from both the big guys and the small guys about what they do and how they did it, and what works and what doesn't.”

Sneed’s participation in ARA of Montana meetings reflects the value he places in the networking benefits of ARA activities and led to an invitation to join the state chapter’s leadership team. He says he looks forward to sharing his knowledge to help others in the Montana equipment and event rental community.

“I have a lot of knowledge in [the rental business], and I want to see what I can bring to the table,” he says. “Being a board member is new ground to me, but I want to see what I can help with, what I can learn from it and just help the other rental stores in the state of Montana succeed.”

Megan Lacy

Lacy started with RDO Equipment Co. in 2019 as a compact equipment account manager. Describing her current role with the company, she says, “I oversee operations for the Missoula location for RDO Equipment Co. We carry multiple product lines, including large ag, compact tractors, mowers, UTVs, construction, forestry, paving and aggregate, and generators. We cover from the Idaho border east to Butte, and

Megan Lacy

from Missoula south through the Bitterroot Valley.”

Prior to coming on board with RDO more than two years ago, Lacy was deep into a career in the health care field; however, she also had one foot in the equipment industry.

“I have a bachelor’s degree in nursing and worked as an RN for nearly 15 years while also running a landscape company with my husband for about 10 of those years,” Lacy says. “When we moved to Montana, I transitioned from being on the customer side of the equipment business to the sales side. I started with RDO in 2019 and moved into management in 2020.”

Lacy is no stranger to involvement in civic and professional organizations. “I am a member of the Montana Chapter of the National Association of Women in Construction and I volunteer with our local 4-H and FFA chapters, mostly helping to judge events,” she says.

Within ARA, she is part of Women in Rental and the Young Professional Network (YPN).

“I find a great deal of value in networking with other members and learning more about their experiences in the industry,” Lacy says of her participation in these groups, adding that she enters her ARA of Montana board service with the same enthusiasm. “I want to learn as much as I can and do my best to represent the association in a positive manner.”

Neal Warner

Warner first became involved in the equipment rental industry by renting out equipment that wasn’t being utilized while working in the construction industry, which eventually grew into a separate company.

“Growing up, my dad was a contractor. When I was in high school, I began looking for options to help diversify the business. That led to me renting out the equipment that was underutilized. With the help of mentors that I met through ARA this eventually grew into a successful standalone business,” Warner says.

Warner worked as the vice president of operations for Montana Truck & Equipment, Anaconda, Mont., from 2008 through May 2015; then served as assistant general manager for Iron Rentals, Bozeman, Mont.; and has been with Western States/The CAT Rental Store since 2018.

Warner’s new term on the ARA of Montana board of directors is his second stint on the ARA state chapter board — he previously served from 2015-2017 in the role of secretary/treasurer. Warner also volunteered with ARA at the national level in 2015 as a member of the Construction/Industrial Services and General Tool Shared Interest Group.

In addition, Warner has attended ARA’s Leadership Conference and has represented Montana rental operators in front of legislators in Washington, D.C., as a member of ARA’s National Legislative Caucus.

In 2015, he was named one of the “10 to Watch Under 40” by Rental Management.

Neal Warner

Warner credits the ARA with helping him turn equipment rental into a career that allows him to work with the construction industry and heavy equipment.

“I was invited to attend a state association meeting and learned so much from the meeting that I joined ARA that day. I continue to involve myself with ARA as much as possible, hoping to be able to give something back to them, but the more involved I get the more I learn and grow,” he says.

“I think it is important to get the younger generation involved while also retaining longtime members who share their experiences and institutional knowledge,” Warner says of his aspirations for the ARA of Montana. “I feel it is important to continue to provide quality training opportunities for our members.”

For others considering equipment rental as a career, Warner has simple advice from his experience: “Anyone entering the rental industry should get as involved as possible with ARA not only to learn but also for the contacts throughout the industry.”

Brock Huffstutler

Brock HuffstutlerBrock Huffstutler

Brock Huffstutler is the regional news editor for Rental Management. He writes and edits articles for ARA’s In Your Region quarterly regional newsletters, Rental Management, Rental Pulse and other special projects. Outside of work, he enjoys biking and spending time at the few remaining vintage record stores in the region.

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