15: Casey McNeil

This week on Talking Life in Vermont, I sit down with Casey McNeil, third-generation owner of McNeil & Reedy in downtown Rutland, as they celebrate 70 years in business.We talk about what it means to come home, raise a family here, and help carry on a local business that has been part of Rutland for generations. Casey shares his thoughts on housing in our region, moving back to Rutland County, working with his dad and uncle, renovating the store, and why he sees retail as more hospitality than sales.We also get into fatherhood, old cars, grilling, whiskey, dressing well, the perfect summer day in Vermont, and a terrifying “life flashed before my eyes” moment from his college years in Burlington.A big thank you to The Hub CoWorks on Merchants Row in Rutland for giving this podcast a home, and to ICO Electric for helping support local conversations like this one.If you want to change a community, you have to know who’s in it.