President Robert High says this Florida company isn’t interested in being the biggest or growing the fastest. Its focus is on the client from start to finish of every project
Written by Kevin DoyleOf all the things a potential client may want to know about how H.J. High Construction conducts business, perhaps the most revealing is this: Since its founding in 1936, the company has not been involved in litigation of any kind.
“I think our reputation is one of being a company that people can trust. We say what we do, then do what we say,” says President Robert High of the ethical standards maintained by the company established by his grandfather Harlem John High more than 70 years ago.
Based in Orlando, FL, High Construction maintains a staff of 50 and generated approximately US $50 million in 2008. The commercial contractor offers design/build and construction management services primarily in the industrial, education and religion sectors.
Robert High joined the business upon completion of his MBA at Rollins College in 1999. He became President in 2006, succeeding his father, Steven W. High, now the company Chairman and Owner. “It’s the family business. I worked during the summers and breaks all through school. I was on my first job site when I was 12 years old and got paid a buck an hour,” says Robert, chuckling at the memory.
Being the third generation President “is a blessing and quite a responsibility all wrapped up in one. I was reading a business magazine that said only three percent of family businesses survive to a third generation. It’s an honor to be involved with such a great tradition and to be part of a company with such a great reputation,” he says.
“Vice President Bart Sontag and I are working closely together every day to take the business to the next level and into the future,” High says.
Operations and principles
High Construction has thrived with its measured, common sense approach to doing business.
“We’ve never been a company that tries to be the biggest or grow the fastest. We’ve always been very specific in the jobs we’ve taken and the clients we work for. The other thing that has helped us, I think, is that we get personally involved. It’s a philosophy our executives have. We know construction. We go to the sites, we sit in on meetings with subcontractors and clients, and we have a pulse on what’s going on with each job,” High says. “The value we can bring goes far beyond sticks and bricks.”
“What makes H.J. High different is the experience of building the project,” Sontag elaborates. ”One of our principals is involved in the projects from before contract award through closeout. We personally negotiate all subcontracts and attend the regular coordination meeting with our subcontractors and clients. That allows us to provide our team members and the client with direct and immediate access to the key decision makers, if necessary.”
The company first engaged in construction management in 1972 when it became the first Central Florida contractor to use the method while building the $60 million main campus of the Florida Hospital in Orlando. Today the company most frequently employs design/build.
“Owners seem to want to contract with one entity that’s going to take care of all of it and bring the project in on budget and on time. This gives us more control and gives the owner even more direct contact with us,” says High, adding the company is a member of the Design/Build Institute of America.
“Design/build allows our clients to have a single point of contact as well as responsibility,” says Sontag. “The project owner has a single contract with the contractor, and the contractor then subcontracts the design work to the architect. This allows the contractor to direct the details of the design so that the project can be constructed efficiently.”
The company does not self-perform work and utilizes a statewide network of subcontractors. “We don’t single-source with any subcontractor. If we did that, we wouldn’t be able to get the best cost for our client,” High points out.
Projects and partners
High Construction values long-term relationships, such as the one it has with the First Baptist Church of Orlando. “We built a 6,000-seat sanctuary for them in the 1980s and have been with them for 25 years. We just wrapped up design on their next phase of construction,” High says.
The company will start work this fall on the Center for Competitive Economics and Entrepreneurships (CCEE) for Indian River State College in Fort Pierce, a client they’ve worked with almost continually since 1991. The 60,000 sf facility will be designed and constructed to achieve a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver rating from the United States Green Building Council (USGBC).
Sontag, Robert High and Chief Estimator Randy Carroll are all LEED Accredited Professionals. “The primary impact LEED has had on the way we do business is that it has created a new market niche which we have been able to target to provide the unique services associated with having a project LEED certified,” Sontag says.
High Construction also completed the 110,026 sf first phase of the Treasure Coast Public Safety Training Complex at IRSC combining criminal justice, fire science and forensics and is at work on an adjacent crime lab and firing range complex.
Technology and people
High says the company will replace all its servers this year, a standard upgrade. CITRIX is used to provide real-time access from any job site regardless of location, and the company uses Primavera document control software. “We’re not on the cutting edge, but everything we do is becoming web-based and everything is integrated,” he says. The moves are in line with the company’s green initiatives that include a drastic reduction in paper waste through the implementation of digital documents and digital archiving.
Most of the company’s training focuses on safety. All job site superintendents are OSHA 30-hour and CPR certified.
The company is revamping its marketing practices so as to better define their value proposition and identify clients sharing the same philosophies. High says Marketing Director Karen McEver “spends a good deal of time on the road trying to drum up business.” Additionally, the company showcases its services at religious and educational conferences across the Southeast.
High says the company’s stable staff is a byproduct of its family atmosphere. McEver, for example, has been on board for more than 20 years and another employee just celebrated a 30th anniversary. “There is comfort in working for a conservative company that will be there to open the doors tomorrow,” High says.
H.J. High also places great emphasis on community and charitable involvement with organizations such as Habitat for Humanity and the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure.
Looking back, ahead
The recession, High says, has impacted everyone in the industry. Though slower than years past, High Construction has benefited from a substantial backlog of work in place before the slowdown. The company has no debt and minimal overhead, though High frets about 2010 and beyond. “The work that is out there is just very competitive and it’s really a bloodbath,” High says.
The company is using this time for self-analysis. “We want to identify our core values and core ideology. We want to identify who we are and what opportunities there are for the future. When things pick up we will have a clear purpose and a defined list of strategies. We want to know where we’re heading,” he concludes.
That sort of reasoned, contemplative approach would seem to all but ensure a
fourth generation.