Business View Civil and Municipal | February 2021

71 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL FEBRUARY 2021 TAYLOR , TEXAS tenants get started in that building. Including the anchor on the corner, which is the Texas Beer Company, a small microbrewery that is based in Taylor. The McCrory Timmerman project was a keystone for the downtown revitalization program. Another recently completed project, the 2nd and Main Lofts are also contributing to the city’s downtown reinvention. Doug Moss, who grew up in Taylor and is now a highly successful architect, wanted to reinvest in his hometown. The result is a group of 12 unique lofts, each completely different, and all embracing the style and character of the old buildings. Yantis recounts, “After he finished the renovations, he leased every single space within the first six months. It’s been a great success story. I think people are seeing that there is a market in downtown Taylor. People want to be there and are interested in the work that’s being done to revitalize downtown.” Arsenal Marketing, the firm hired to promote the city and attract visitors, has been successful in drawing attention to the community with branding and a slogan, “Visit Taylor Made”. Through a website and social media, visitors are enticed by the shopping, eating establishments, and rich history of the city. One definite draw for tourists is the food, including Louie Mueller Barbeque, a Taylor original since 1949. Stacey Osborne, Marketing Communications Strategist for the city describes, “Barbecue is like a religion in Texas. There’s a magazine called Texas Monthly and they do an annual barbecue edition. They have a trail in it where they list the top barbecues in the state, and all four of our big barbecue joints have made it onto that list. That’s a huge point of pride here. People come to Taylor just to try that barbecue.” Visitors or residents with an interest in Texas history can visit the childhood home of Dan Moody, now a museum owned by the city. As the youngest governor in Texas, Moody is famous for being the first to successfully prosecute the Ku Klux Klan in 1924. Yantis boasts, “We are so