Reinventing the Wheel

Fred Taylor

In popular culture, inventors are either hunched over desks in harried silence or loudly explaining the many incredible functions of their latest “-inator”. Either way, there’s a lab coat and goggles involved. In real life, sometimes an inventor leads his life more simply, starting their day with an apple, hot water, and exercise, before heading into work.

Fred Taylor considers himself an inventor, a creator of things, and he’s made an impact the size of three businesses, 1,300+ employees, and a $315 million in sales a year for just his parent business: OTR, an international leader in wheel engineering. OTR specializes in delivering off-the-road tires, wheels, rubber tracks, and assembly components to equipment manufacturers around the world.

“The main business is OTR, and then there’s Blacksmith OTR, they specialize in aerial work platforms, and then the third business I have is Green Carbon, where we recycle tires back into their original components,” Taylor says. Each of these ventures was born from someone asking the question: “How do I do this?”.

In the case of Green Carbon, 12 years ago, Taylor had customers who were having difficulty disposing of industrialtype tires. This led Taylor and his team to research, develop, and build a process to break down these tires in an environmentally conscious way. Green Carbon has since transformed that process into four generations of reactor systems, each performing better than the one before.

This creative mind, driven by questions, was first fed during Taylor’s time at Michigan Tech, where he majored in engineering. After graduating, he worked in his father’s manufacturing plant, which is where he got a lot of his education in understanding manufacturing and running operations. However, after 10 years, he wanted more. “I worked for my father, but I had a very good customer in Trion, Georgia,” Taylor says. “I wanted to go out on my own and he said, ‘Why don’t you come down here?’”

This invitation led to Taylor, his wife, and their four kids moving to Rome in the summer of 1982, but the road to his future endeavors still held many twists and turns. In the years to follow, Rome would recover from the effect of the GE Plant closing, and the changing market led to a few pivots. Within a few years, Taylor became involved in the wheel business. In 1985, he and his business partner, Charles Jackson, started representing and selling parts for the construction industry. In the 35 years since then, Jackson and Taylor’s partnership has turned into what we now know as OTR, which has plants all over the world.

Despite his international impact, Taylor credits some of his success to the relationships he made in Rome early on. Russ Jennings, Jack McGee, JL Todd, and more all left impressions on his career, as well as the location and culture of Rome, Georgia as a whole.

“Rome is...a little gem that hasn’t been found.,” Taylor says. “You have so many things, a nice downtown, restaurants, or all these other things that people of sophistication would love in their own community.”

When it comes to building something like Taylor has, business and community go hand-in-hand. “It’s a lot of hard work but I’ve got a lot of good team members, a lot of good staff. So, I’ve been blessed that way,” Taylor says.

Starting a day with an apple and hot water can help, but it’s the drive to answer any question with, “I don’t know, but let’s find out”, as well as surrounding yourself with a team of hardworking people, that makes someone an inventor.

Rome is...a little gem that hasn’t been found. You have so many things, a nice downtown, restaurants, or all these other things that people of sophistication would love in their own community. - Fred Taylor

integrity in law and leadership

The History of McRae, Smith & Peek attorneys

Over 120 years have since passed since a twenty-two-year-old fresh out of the University of Georgia Law School established a law partnership with a Civil War veteran, Col. William S. McHenry. The pairing of the two men was the beginning of a legacy, and the commencement of an impressive lineage for the prestigious law firm, McRae, Smith & Peek Attorneys, whose offices today occupy Bridgepoint Plaza, located in downtown Rome and the Polk county offices in Cedartown on South College Street.

24 The foundation for the firm was laid by George Edmondson Maddox, in 1899. It was a time when the only air conditioning in the courthouse came from ceiling fans that stirred just enough air to crank out an imaginary breeze. Phone service was minimal, at best, and downtown floodwaters would continually leave Broad Street in a sea of mud.

Front Row: Michael McRae, Scott Smith, Jule Peek, Jr., Virginia Harman

Back Row: Benjamin Stell, Lee Niedrach, C. Andrew Garner III, Chris Jackson, Brian Bojo, Carey Pilgrim, Jason Sanker, Linton Johnson, Robert Monroe, Jordan Knight

In the early to mid-1900s, the name above the door has been Maddox & Doyle; Maddox, Lipscomb & Matthew; then, Maddox, Matthews, and Owens In 1952, new names appeared, such as Matthews, Maddox & Bell. Before his death in 2009, Griffin Bell recalled his time with the Rome law firm: “It has been a great law firm, and it has played a leading role in that part of Georgia...the firm has always had many good lawyers who were people of integrity.” He recalled that getting to the “old” offices meant using an outside steel staircase of a building just off Broad. Among his many honors and accolades, President Kennedy would appoint him as Judge of the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. In 1977, Bell would be tapped by President Jimmy Carter to serve as the 72nd Attorney General of the United States. His peers often referred to Griffin Bell as the Dean of Georgia Lawyers.

By 1960, new names emerged to fulfill the active list of services and demands of a busy and growing commercial area. Stokes Walton moved to Rome after serving as District Attorney in Troup County and the partners were Matthews, Walton, Smith, Shaw & Maddox, becoming a highly sought after legal team.

the firm. Receiving his law degree in 1877, John Maddox was a seasoned attorney with a storied reputation and an impressive resume. He was the mayor of Summerville, county commissioner, and in 1890 he was elected to the Georgia Senate to serve six terms. He was a judge of the Superior Court in the Rome Judicial Circuit in 1886 and would serve as a U.S. Representative of the Seventh District. Not choosing to run for congress again, he returned to Rome and his son’s law firm. He stepped into public service as a judge in the Rome Judicial Circuit and, for a short period, he sampled the position of President of State Mutual Life Insurance Company before resuming the family law practice for a final time. It was known as Maddox & Maddox until his death in 1922. The name Maddox would be synonymous with the firm throughout the century.

As the firm grew over the years, it has partnered and associated itself with outstanding men and women who have left indelible footprints.

adigeorgia.com Oscar Smith, originally from Valdosta, had been working with a New York-Atlanta firm that represented Eastern Airlines. He was highly regarded by his peers and had graduated number one in his class from UGA. His fellow partners remember him as extremely intelligent, unselfish, and dedicated to work and community. Today, he is regarded as their ‘father of the modern firm.’

Another name, the renowned Jimmy Dick Maddox, joined the firm in the 1960s. He had attended law school at the acclaimed University of Michigan but returned to the south to practice law. He was a judge of Rome city court and was with the firm for 30 years. According to attorney John Graham, Maddox was the model of integrity. They began working together in 1968 when John came home after fulfilling military duties. Graham related that Judge Maddox was

Today, the modern firm of MSP Attorneys provides a full scale of practices to meet the legal needs of every client.

a mentor and a gentleman in the way he practiced law and ethics. Among his many accomplishments was his success in generating the 3.2 million bond to create Floyd College.

Smith, Shaw, Maddox, Davidson & Graham would progress into Shaw, Maddox, Graham, Monk & Harris in 1989. Jackson (Jack) Harris later became the chief operating officer for Zartic, Inc. After his retirement, he now considers himself a “client” of the firm and works on special projects. Wade Monk left the firm to become general counsel for Floyd Medical Center. After retiring, he returned to MSP in an “of counsel” position.

Jule Peek joined the firm in 1988 and has become one of the preeminent domestic relations attorneys in the State of Georgia. Jule has extensive jury and non-jury trial experience in high asset, divorce actions. He is adept in complex business, asset valuations and the division of allocations. For twenty-seven years, Jule has served as counsel for Floyd Medical Center. He is very active with Darlington School as the former president of the alumni council and the athletic booster club. He is also an active member of the Planned Gifts Committee of Darlington.

Scott Smith has practiced in the areas of real estate and business law. Scott believes in ‘giving back’ to the community and serves as an adjunct professor at Berry College where he teaches Business Law and Ethics.

In 1993, Virginia Harman became the first woman named as a partner to the firm. An outstanding intellect, Virginia attended LaGrange College and chose to attend law school at the University of Georgia, graduating with honors. Virginia has handled complex civil litigation in most United States District Court Divisions, both state and federal. In addition to her many professional associations, she is a member of the Bar of U.S. Tax Court, a board member of the legal Counsel Section of the Georgia Bankers Association, and was elected to vice-chair of the Legal Counsel Section for two years. She was named as one of the first of the Southeast’s Leading Women

26 Lawyers, and by CEO Monthly as “Leading Business Women of the Year” in 2018. Her colleagues regard her as the firm’s ‘go-to’ person for ethical discussions and questions.

In 1999, the 100th anniversary of the law firm was celebrated by the addition of Cedartown lawyers, Mike McRae and Rob Monroe. The combination of Shaw, Maddox, Graham, Monk & Boling with the Polk County attorneys delivered a variety of legal specialties for both Floyd and Polk Counties. Mike McRae had been the attorney for the City of Cedartown and Rockmart, legal counsel for Haralson County Water Authority and other area authorities. Rob Monroe’s expertise is in real estate closings, workers’ compensation, personal injury, wrongful death, mediation, and appellate practice. The addition proved a perfect fit for both groups allowing clients a full scale of services for any legal situations in which they might need counsel.

Today, the modern firm of MSP Attorneys provides a full scale of practices to meet the legal needs of every client.

Andy Garner, a partner since 2006, says that the history of MSP is filled with names of accomplished attorneys—two have been members of the state board of bar examiners and chairmen, a congressman, and a U.S. Attorney General to name a few.

Andy reflects that change over the last decade has come with the ability to process messaging and documents through email, with so-called “snail” mail a thing of the past. The cell phone gives access and resource, and the availability of lawyer and client is not relegated to specific hours.

Garner says the firm will continue to build its client base and strive for excellence in all the areas of practice. While law firms in major cities are continually merging, the goal of MSP is to represent their chosen geographical area to the fullest.