Whether it's through his career as an insurance agent or through his volunteer work for the Chamber of Commerce or Kiwanis Club, Craig Taylor has spent his life helping others.
Taylor was honored as a Pioneer Citizen during the 91st annual Chamber of Commerce Banquet on Tuesday. The award is given to citizens who lead with their heart, face new challenges and pave the way for new frontiers.
In receiving the award, Taylor is following in the footsteps of his late father Ervin Taylor, who was named a Pioneer Citizen in 2002 and who also served as a Chamber Board Chair.
Taylor was born in Albert Lea, Minn., and lived in Bentonville for a time before his parents Ervin and Mona Taylor moved to Siloam Springs when he was 5. He attended Siloam Springs Schools all the way up and was also active in the Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Webelo Scouts Leader and International Order of DeMolay.
After spending a year at the University of Arkansas, Taylor came back to Siloam Springs to work in customer service for Jet Stream Plastics, now known as Pipelife Jet Stream. In 1981, he made a transition in his career and became an insurance agent for American National Insurance.
Shelter Insurance Agent Jerrell Suttles said he recommended Taylor for the spot with American National Insurance because even though Taylor may not have had experience, he had the right character.
"Whether it's me or someone else, he's ready to be helpful to anyone who needs it," Suttles said. "His family was that way."
Taylor enjoyed building relationships with his clients, some of which would span his entire career, and helping people, he said.
"I enjoyed helping people with their problems. ... I didn't do it for the money. There are a lot of people who go into a particular occupation for the money, the income; to me that was secondary. It was a matter of helping people that was my main emphasis," Taylor said.
From 2000 to 2001, Taylor opened his own insurance agency before joining Moss Insurance Group in 2001. He retired from the agency in November.
Marla Collins, a commercial agent for Moss Insurance, said Taylor is a person who gives of his time and helps any way he can to better the community. He always tried to get his customers the best insurance he could and put their needs first, she said.
Chamber of Commerce Service
Taylor served the Chamber of Commerce for more than two decades. Taylor was a board member in 1989 through 1991 and again from 1995 through 1997, serving as board chairman in 1996.
He was also a part of the Dogwood Festival Committee for many years and got up in the early hours of the morning to work on the chicken cooking crew for the festival from 1986 through 2002.
Taylor did a great job and worked hard for the Chamber, according to Donetta Sposato. The two friends have known each other since Taylor's father, who was Sposato's first boss at Simmons Office, would bring him to work as a child.
Taylor is larger than life in his love for Siloam Springs and its people, according to Sposato.
"He's not a big fellow, but to me he's a quiet giant. ... He's very big in my book, I have always thought an awful lot of his family," she said.
Kiwanis Club and other community service
Taylor began attending Kiwanis meetings with his father at a young age, according to Katie Rennard, Kiwanis Program Chair and Dolly Parton Imagination Library Chair.
He became an official member of the organization in 1983, he said. He served as president in 1987 and currently serves as treasurer. Taylor currently has 33 years of perfect attendance at the club and is working towards his father's record of 50 years of perfect attendance.
In 2018, he received the Ervin Taylor Kiwanian of the Year Award, named after his father, Rennard said.
"There is not a more dedicated Kiwanis member anywhere than Craig Taylor," she said. "If we have a volunteer project, he is there. He never misses a board meeting. He serves as our treasurer and manages all of our finances and donations to community organizations, and he does everything he can to build our club and serve the children of Siloam Springs."
Outside of Kiwanis and the Chamber, Taylor has served the community through the First United Methodist Church, on the Pool of Siloam committee and as a board member and president of United Way.
In many ways, Taylor has followed his father's example in community service at the Chamber and Kiwanis Club, and in receiving the Pioneer Citizen Award.
"You know, I look at it and I basically followed in his footsteps, and you know the feeling is just pride, I guess that would summarize it," Taylor said.
Taylor has always been very community minded, Suttles said. Just like his dad, wherever he served, Taylor took leadership responsibility and executed his duties faithfully, he said.
"There needs to be more Craig Taylors in the world," Suttles said.