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ORLANDO - Every morning for more than 40 years, Steve High has lived by the same routine.
He gets up with the sun, grabs a cup of coffee and heads to the same modest onestory office building on West Amelia Street. The building is home to H.J. High Construction Co. and has been since 1936, when Steve's father, John High, launched the company.
John High operated the company until he died suddenly of a heart attack in 1968. At that time, Steve High stepped up and took the reins of the family business.
"I was 24 and didn't know daylight from dark," High says.
Today, Steve High is the president of H.J. High and has brought his own son, Robert, on board. The two men are working to continue the family traditions of integrity, quality work and community commitment established by John High 65 years ago. Their main outlet: church construction.
"My father built many churches in his lifetime," says Steve High. "It just seemed natural to stay with it."
It's a family thing
The Highs give new meaning to the words "family business." Robert High has been working for his father since he was little kid. In fact, he grew up on H.J. High work sites. When he was 12, he helped dig ditches for $1 an hour during the summer.
Initially, Robert High didn't intend to enter the field of construction. His formal educational background is in business. He graduated from Furman University and obtained his MBA from Rollins College, but 2 1/2 years ago, he decided to follow in the footsteps...