Our History
Tar Heel Paving Company had a dwarfed beginning, in 1954, when it was chartered with Harvey F. Moore as President. Soon after it was chartered, Mr. Moore asked his nephew, Roland E. Cecil, who was doing landscaping work, to join him in the business.
Second-hand equipment, limited personal investments and mostly borrowed capital from High Point Bank & Trust were the resources for beginning the business.
Struggling to survive, the opportunity to do patchwork on pavement for Piedmont Natural Gas Company was a welcomed opportunity for the two striving entrepreneurs. Of the new company, Piedmont Natural Gas observed the quality of their work, and especially their personal attention to ethical practices to their minor assignments of patchwork. Consequently, Tar Heel Paving Company was given more responsible opportunities – contractual opportunities to install gas lines for Piedmont Natural Gas. That contractual working relationship still continues more than a half century later.
After ten years of providing quality work with Piedmont Natural Gas Company, North State Telephone Company learned of the quality of work done by Tar Heel Paving Company and their business ethics and was interested in a colleague-firm which was supervised by owners/managers who would ensure that employees did not cover up underground mistakes with dirt; consequently, Tar Heel Paving Company has been a coworker with North State Telephone Company for forty-plus years. However, the company continues to specialize in residential and commercial paving.
Upon the death of Mr. Moore, Mr. Cecil and his immediate family purchased Tar Heel Paving Company in 1966. Quality work, fair and honest practices are still policies with the company, even after the death in 2001 of Mr. Cecil, the second major stockholder. Mr. Cecil’s’ daughter, Ms. Becky Handy is currently President of the company and carries on the ethics and practices of her father and great-uncle. In 1993, Kenneth Ray Handy, joined the company after graduating from High Point University with a double major in Business and Accounting. He is currently serving as Treasurer and Chief Estimator
Tar Heel Paving, named by our founding-fathers, was named for our State, as well as the name being symbolic of the tar that might collect on our working shoes. We do paving work for private citizens, as well as corporations in High Point and surrounding communities.
In 2005, the High Point Chamber of Commerce awarded Tar Heel Paving Company a certificate of recognition of 50 years of service with outstanding service to the community. We are proud of our practices and the workmanship we have exemplified in our 50-plus years of experience.
We have fair pricing and guarantee our work. At the same time, we work at alerting the public, in person and on our web-site, to numerous unethical threats that may be encountered in choosing a paving firm. In the general public, quite often, a passer-by who is traveling in a paving truck and quotes the sought-out prospective customer “a bargain price too good to resist,” (and does not provide a local address) turns out to be a scam.
Fairness to our customers and prospective customers is among our concerns and emphasis. So are our employees, and their well-fare among our primary concern. The promise in our Employees’ Handbook carries out written commitment of fairness to those who help us carry out our daily activities. “It is our policy to work with all members of our team in a fair and friendly manner and to treat each team member with dignity and respect. The management of Tar Heel Paving Company will work continually for the benefits of our present and prospective customers, as well as our employees, . .”
One of our practices over the years has been to give special consideration in the pricing of paving projects we do for non-profit organizations. This is our way of giving back to, the community in which we live and serve. Examples of charities receiving our special prices are: Habitat for Humanity House, High Point Endowment Fund, YMCA, Theater Arts Gallery and Leslie’s House, all in High Point; and Baptist Children’s Home, Pleasant Grove United Methodist Church and Cooperative Ministry in Thomasville.
Tar Heel Paving Company is a member of the Better Business Bureau, High Point
Chamber of Commerce and American General Contractors.
