Construction Firm Aims High

ORLANDO, FL - It takes faith in the future for those in construction to face today's recession-related challenges, and Robert High, president of an Orlando-based commercial building business founded decades ago by his grandfather, is mustering all the faith he can.

You might say H.J. High Construction Co.'s future is largely "faith-based," as it continues to build on its nearly 70-year history of constructing churches and other houses of faith. The company's latest project, North Park Baptist Church in Orlando's Baldwin Park community, is one of more than two-dozen church-related projects that High has handled through the years. Local builders are competing for a shrinking slice of the pie, and High is scrambling along with the rest to find work.

"A lot of people are hurting," High said during a recent interview in his family-owned company's longtime headquarters on West Amelia Street in downtown Orlando. A paid-off building and low overhead helps his small business survive lean times, he said, along with the many contacts the company has made through the decades.

And much of the work has been and continues to be for religious projects, from simple church additions to mega-churches. The company is now doing pre-construction work for a commons area and plaza at First Baptist Church of Orlando, and a sanctuary in Fort Myers to hold about 4,000 people. Another big project upcoming: the Bill Bright Training Center, an estimated $14 million facility named for the late founder of Orlando-based Campus Crusade for Christ.

Longtime company executive Karen McEver estimates that the company has done more than $140 million worth of religious-related construction through the years, mainly in Central Florida communities such as Oviedo, Leesburg, Ocala and Gainesville, as well as in the Tampa area and southwest Florida.

Founded in 1936 by Harlem J. High, the company has handled many other notable projects through the years, including the Walt Disney World casting center, WESH-Channel 2 studios, and the main campus for Florida Hospital in downtown Orlando. It's also about to start constructing an educational facility in Indian River County.

But Robert High said the company's work on faith-based projects is clearly the most rewarding, with projects that often start on faith and a fundraising drive and end with a celebration because of the thousands of lives that will be touched. "It's a sense of satisfaction we really enjoy," he said.