Bussiness
Who are Montana and Christine McNabb, owners of one of Richmond’s newest taxi services?
RICHMOND, Ind. — There’s a new taxi business in town.
With Depot Taxi shutting down on March 1, effectively eliminating an important resource for many of the county’s residents, Montana and Christine McNabb saw a need in the community and jumped right on it.
The two founded C&M Taxi LLC and started picking up passengers.
Who are Montana and Christine McNabb?
The McNabbs have lived in Richmond for about five years and are originally from the Dayton-Kettering area. Montana, 25, and Christine, 33, married in 2018, but ended up homeless a few months later for a number of reasons.
Those reasons included the Memorial Day weekend tornadoes in Dayton, Ohio, in 2019 that ripped their house apart, followed by the McNabbs’ struggles finding a new home due to the housing market at the time and the COVID-19 pandemic.
The McNabbs were homeless for about a year while Christine was pregnant with the couple’s first child, until they eventually sought support from family despite their own struggles, including Christine’s mother’s battle with breast cancer.
Christine’s stepdad, whom she amicably refers to as “a turkey of a dad” owing to his orneriness, helped them buy a fixer-upper built in 1880 through an October 2019 tax sale in Richmond.
With the couple’s shared love of history, Christine said she fell in love with the house, while Montana took joy in the house’s “beautiful pocket-sliding doors” with brass hardware.
In total, they have invested $5,000 to $6,000 in the house, and while they acknowledge a lot more work needs to be done, it’s livable.
Christine has been a stay-at-home mother for several years, but she started developing a business background at a young age.
She helped her father run his carryout business in the Dayton-Kettering area for over 30 years, and from the age of 4, helped her late grandmother clean houses.
“I want us to go above and beyond for our clients,” Christine added. “I’m usually very patient and understanding when it comes to clients, but at the same time, I’ve worked before but it’s been years.”
The pair have also been active in the community in other ways, having volunteered for Bridges for Life, a nonprofit organization focused on “strengthening families through personal interactions and professional interventions” to bring a positive impact and improve quality of life for families.
Montana’s experience as a Depot Taxi cab driver
Montana entered the taxi business after the couple had their second child, now a 2-year-old daughter, as a way to support his family.
To make ends meet, Montana drove a cab for Philip Morgan’s now-defunct Depot Taxi for a year and a half.
“The community is awesome,” he said of his time driving for Morgan. “Everybody that I’ve ever drove when I drove was very nice, and I’ve never really had any threats or was afraid to drive a cab in Richmond. I loved it, and I just love driving for the community.”
After the business closed, Montana and Christine said they were hurt after seeing a lot of the people Montana gave rides to walking outside in the rain and snow to get around.
Montana, who had been working at Papa John’s since leaving Depot Taxi, saved up enough money to start C&M Taxi and the applications for the operating agreement, insurance and permits.
Becoming state-registered and starting C&M Taxi
On March 26, C&M Taxi officially became registered with the state as a legal operating business and recently became fully insured.
As of now, Montana is the company’s only driver, using a 2006 Toyota Scion XA, and Christine is the dispatcher, but by the end of the year, the two hope to have four cars with a driver for each on the road.
“I’m going to make sure background checks are done on every driver and that if there is anything I haven’t done for our legal stuff, I’ll get it set up,” he said. “The community needs the transportation.”
Montana said he is looking to add more vehicles to the business, including purchasing multiple Toyota Camrys in good running condition.
Other ideas the couple have include setting up dashcams in the taxis to protect passengers and drivers and requesting funding from the city council.
As far as the coverage area, the McNabbs said they are willing to travel anywhere in Wayne and Randolph counties and New Paris, Ohio, as well as Dayton, Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Chicago international airports. Those wishing to travel to an airport should call at least two days in advance.
Right now, rides are $10 for five minutes and $1 per minute after, and customers can call 765-542-6905 to set up a ride.
Hours are 5 a.m. to 2 a.m. the next day, Monday through Saturday, except for Wednesday where hours are 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. The business is closed on Sundays.
It also will be closed on Thursday, May 30 according to its Yelp page.
“We’re wanting to see this succeed, and we’re also wanting to make a difference for the community,” Christine said.
Evan Weaver is a news and sports reporter at The Palladium-Item. Contact him on X (@evan_weaver7) or email at eweaver@gannett.com.
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