Two families with traditions in the construction industry in Mt. Pleasant consolidated names and ownership in 1986 when the Wiley family purchased E.E. Taft & Sons from Jim Kitch, forming what is now known as Taft-Wiley, Inc.
Jim and Ed Kitch had purchased E.E. Taft from their uncle, Claude Taft in 1946. He was the son of E. E. Taft who founded the tinsmith business in 1878. Roy Fleener purchased the Taft building from Claude Taft in 1945 and Jim and Ed purchased it from Fleenor in 1951.