Business View Magazine | May 2019

191 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE MAY 2019 HIGHF I LL INFRASTRUCTURE ENGINEER ING administrative systems. I was reading about other large corporations and how they evolved and matured, or failed and died off. And what I realized was that my personality probably didn’t mesh with the corporate world, so I set out to do something different; to go work for a small company. I still wanted to do consulting services in the water and wastewater arena, but with a smaller firm, with the hopes of eliminating some of these bureaucracies. That led to starting this company, Highfill. I felt that we could create an environment that was better for our clients and our employees, and, in the end, provide a better service.” In 2005, Highfill engaged Ray Cox, currently the company’s Vice President of Marketing, as a business partner. “We were a small company with three employees,” Highfill continues, “me, Ray and a part-time admin/bookkeeper, which was my wife; she was teaching during the day and doing the books at night. Ray and I had some early discussions about what we wanted the company to be. We brainstormed things like: Do I have stayed with HIGHFILL for 13 years because I appreciate the focus on service, whether for clients or the community, and because the working environment allows me to grow as an engineer based on my personal effort.” - Paul Shivers, PE, HIGHFILL Senior Project Manager