Neal Sherman at his company’s warehouse

When Neal Sherman talks about the Finger Lakes, he does not begin with a discussion of business strategy, warehouse space, economic development, or his company, TAGeX Brands,. He begins with memory.

He remembers growing up in Geneva, the son of a hardworking small business owner who operated Napa Auto Parts stores in Seneca Falls, Ovid, and Trumansburg. He remembers a childhood surrounded by mechanics, farmers, small business owners, and the rhythms of small-town life.

He remembers a father who worked constantly and believed deeply in honesty, perseverance, and relationships. “My father had an old-school Depression-era work ethic. I inherited his work ethic and his passion for food.”

His father originally came to the Finger Lakes from New York City after serving in the military and attending Colgate University. At first, his mother struggled with the move. “My mother always said she cried for five years. But then she fell in love with Geneva.”

Looking back, Sherman now recognizes how unique Geneva really was. “It was pretty diverse for a small town. You had Hobart College there and the hospital system, and people of different faiths and races interacted together. It was a special place in retrospect.”

But one event in particular stayed with him for life. Years ago, his father’s store in Seneca Falls burned down. The next day, Amish and Mennonite farmers who had been longtime customers arrived ready to help rebuild. “He was quite emotional about it,” Neal says of his father. “That small-town community really came together and gave him a lot of support.”

The moment left a permanent impression on Neal’s understanding of community and loyalty.

Beyond the Finger Lakes

Like many young people growing up in smaller communities, he was eager to move away. Encouraged by his parents to “find his own place in the world,” he attended college in Washington, D.C., interned at the White House, worked on Capitol Hill, and later studied economics in London.

The Shermans at Taughannock Falls in the Finger Lakes

It was in London that he met his future wife. Pam Sherman, a Staten Island native from a family of physicians, was studying abroad at the time. “When I told her I was from Geneva, she thought I meant Switzerland,” he laughs. The couple has now been married more than four decades.

The Shermans have built a deeply creative and community-centered life together. Pam established herself nationally as a writer, attorney, speaker, humorist, and actor. After practicing law in Washington, D.C., she returned to acting and later became widely known for her syndicated “Suburban Outlaw” column, which appeared in USA Today publications around the country. “She ripped on me in 50 newspapers every week,” her husband jokes affectionately.

Pam later earned acclaim for her one-woman portrayal of humorist Erma Bombeck, which broke box office records at Geva Theatre in Rochester, New York ,and later in Cleveland, Des Moines, Denver and Buffalo. In addition to acting and writing she coaches, consults and facilitates with global organizations ranging from law firms to Fortune 500 companies on leadership. Her new book Play You, the Role of a Lifetime is all about her work with leaders around the world.

Together, the Shermans raised two children who followed ambitious professional paths of their own. Their daughter, Eliza, attended Cornell University and is currently pursuing graduate studies at Duke University, focusing on healthcare. Their son, Zach, attended the University of Michigan, worked in analytics and consulting, earned a degree from MIT, and recently joined TAGeX Brands to help lead the company’s growing technology and e-commerce initiatives. His fiancé, Casey, is a nurse practitioner .

Building TAGeX Brands

After London, Neal earned an MBA from New York University and briefly entered corporate America in brand management. But the pace and culture of New York never quite felt right. “I didn’t love corporate America. I didn’t love New York.”

The couple eventually settled in the Washington, D.C. area, where Neal launched what would become TAGeX Brands. The business began almost accidentally. Originally, his company helped supermarkets install prepared-food kiosks. But retailers soon began asking for help removing other equipment during renovations.

The Shermans attending Eliza’s graduation from Cornell University

At first, he resisted. “I said, ‘I’m no Sanford and Son,’” referring to the popular 1970s television comedy about a father-and-son junk and salvage business. But after cleaning, reselling, and redistributing the equipment for his customers, he discovered an unexpected business opportunity. “We realized we were a lot better at liquidating equipment than we were at placing kiosks.”

Long before sustainability became a national business priority, TAGeX began quietly building a business model around reuse and reinvention in the food service industry. The company’s work focused on helping restaurants, retailers, hotels, supermarkets, colleges, and other organizations redeploy, liquidate, and repurpose their furniture, fixtures, and equipment rather than sending them to landfills.

Over time, the company expanded nationally, eventually serving many of the country’s largest restaurant, grocery, hospitality, and retail brands. The company now serves organizations ranging from Disney, Starbucks, and Wegmans to Cornell University, Harvard, and the Culinary Institute of America. TAGeX operates one of the nation’s largest aftermarket marketplaces for restaurant and food-service equipment.

Neal’s work in sustainability and remanufacturing has also earned national recognition. In 2017, he was inducted as a Fellow of the Culinary Institute of America and later appointed to the founding executive board of the Remanufacturing Industries Council, an industry representing more than $100 billion in economic activity. He has been featured in media outlets including The Wall Street Journal, CNBC, USA Today, The New York Times, Nation’s Restaurant News, and Restaurant Business.

Coming Home

Roughly 26 years ago, Neal and his longtime business partner Bob Tassone were searching for larger warehouse space outside Washington, D.C. TAGeX was growing quickly and needed space that simply did not exist in the area at a reasonable cost.

At the same time, the former Seneca Army Depot in Romulus was facing an uncertain future after its closure. Unlike military bases near major metropolitan areas that were quickly redeveloped, the depot presented unique challenges because most people simply did not know what to do with it.

The outside of the facility at the former Seneca Army Depot

A local economic development leader urged him to come see the property for himself. He and Tassone got in a car, drove up to the Finger Lakes in the middle of winter, froze through a January tour, and walked through the aging buildings of the former military base. What they found was not glamorous.

But Neal saw something else: possibility. The depot offered something unique: room to build, room to store inventory, and room to think bigger. Support from local leaders helped convince the partners to move forward. “Senator Nozzolio was an incredible cheerleader for us.”

After the events of September 11 accelerated changes in their business, the company relocated permanently to the Finger Lakes and consolidated operations at the depot. TAGeX’s National Operations Hub occupies part of a 1,000-acre redevelopment area. From there, equipment is received, stored, redeployed, sold, and shipped nationwide. The company now operates additional regional facilities in Dallas, Los Angeles, and Orlando, with affiliates in 165 markets across the country.

He is also an owner in the former depot property, which is professionally managed by Flaum Management Company. Over the years, the site has gradually evolved into a growing business and industrial campus with a mix of tenants, warehouses, logistics operations, and redevelopment projects that continue to bring new economic activity to Seneca County. “It’s been a process, but we’ve built something there.”

Despite decades of entrepreneurial success, Sherman says retirement has little appeal. Instead, he continues looking ahead: expanding TAGeX’s online marketplaces, opening additional national distribution hubs, and helping continue the redevelopment of the former Seneca Army Depot.

Beyond business, the Shermans have remained deeply committed to philanthropy and community involvement throughout Rochester and the Finger Lakes region. Over the years, they have supported a wide range of educational, youth, culinary, and community organizations, including supporting scholarships at the Culinary Institute of America and programs serving young people and families.

Seeing Opportunity in the Finger Lakes

Neal sees the depot project as reflective of the Finger Lakes itself: resilient, adaptable, and full of untapped opportunity. He believes the region offers advantages many businesses and entrepreneurs overlook. While lower operating costs are certainly part of the equation, he says the region’s greatest strengths are its beauty, people, educational institutions, and quality of life.

The Shermans with Zach’s fiancé, Casey

Over the years, he has watched chefs, restaurateurs, entrepreneurs, and business owners increasingly gravitate toward the area as costs rise in larger metropolitan markets and more people seek a stronger sense of community and balance.

With nearby colleges and universities including Cornell, Hobart and William Smith, and RIT, Neal says the region produces people who are not only academically educated but grounded in practical experience and community values. “You have people with life experience and an extraordinary work ethic.”

He also believes many people underestimate how accessible the region has become. Neal notes that traveling to New York City for meetings can sometimes take him less total time than it takes people living in the suburbs to commute into Manhattan. Advances in transportation and technology, he believes, have changed the equation for entrepreneurs and business leaders. “You don’t have to sacrifice quality of life to build a national business anymore.”

Just as important is the region’s sense of connection and community. “I think enduring relationships are critical for life. Your reputation and your integrity and your commitment to others transcend time and place and jobs and everything else. That’s the richness of life.”

For Neal, that belief is deeply personal. It is rooted in the memory of a small-town community helping his father rebuild after tragedy. It is reflected in the partnerships he has built over decades in business. And ultimately, it is part of what brought him home.