S. Dale High, Chair Emeritus of High Industries Inc. and High Real Estate Group LLC, joined the family business full-time in 1963 after graduating from Elizabethtown College. From its beginning in 1931 as a welding shop to its status today as a diverse and growing organization consisting of multiple businesses, High established a reputation for excellence in serving customers, quality in all products and services, personal and corporate integrity, and beauty in projects affecting the environment. High employs nearly 2,000 co-workers in 11 businesses at 38 locations across six states.
Under Mr. High’s values-based leadership, the company began to grow into new strategic directions, adding new products, acquiring companies, and starting new ventures. In 2022, it was announced that S. Dale High transferred his ownership in High Industries Inc. to the High Foundation, emboldening the Foundation through an extraordinary act of business leadership and philanthropic innovation that will benefit communities for generations to come. As of December 2023, High Real Estate Group joined High Industries in its ownership transition to High Foundation. The completion of the transfer of Mr. High’s interest in High Real Estate Group to the Foundation will provide even more opportunity for community impact, realizing his vision of a group of companies existing to benefit the community. This new structure results in profits being invested into the Lancaster community, and other communities where High provides economic investment and employment, by providing co-workers a direct line to create more thriving, vibrant communities where they live and work. This gift continues the legacy of Mr. High’s transformative and innovative leadership, which has guided High in using business as a force for good in the community for decades.
Formed in 1980, the High Foundation has been a thought leader and community partner, supporting philanthropic efforts in Lancaster County and beyond. High Foundation’s 40-year legacy of impact spans improvements in education, health and human services, arts and culture, environmental stewardship, and social enterprise.
Mr. High was also the Founder of the High Center for Family Business at Elizabethtown College. This organization provides education, support, and peer dialogue for family businesses in the region and is growing annually.
Throughout the years, Mr. High has also been active in a variety of associations and organizations, and has been recognized with numerous awards, most recently The Pennsylvania Society’s Distinguished Citizen of the Commonwealth Award received in the Spring of 2023.
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