Highlands Construction is a commercial general contractor that specializes in upscale restaurant and retail, office, and industrial projects. The company was co-founded by Shaz Butte and Assem Mourad in 2018 and has since grown its Houston footprint to $5.9M in revenue in 2023.
Highlands Construction is a minority-owned, small to midsize general contractor based in Houston, Texas. Its co-founder and CEO, Shaz Butte, asked Foreword to help raise the company’s profile in local and regional markets.
With countless general contractors serving Houston, it can be difficult to establish brand awareness in the construction sector. Butte hoped to break through the noise in a crowded competitive landscape to establish a widely-recognized and well-respected brand and reputation for Highlands.
Foreword developed and executed a comprehensive strategy that included an executive branding campaign for Butte and co-founder Assem Mourad, paired with a plan to pursue both local and national awards to expand Highlands Construction's professional profile, and soft PR surrounding the company’s community engagement and giveback efforts.
Executive branding is a growing need for businesses as potential clients and partners crave authenticity and personal connection. Especially in B2B industries, growing the profiles of the C-suite team helps to elevate the profile of the company overall, build credibility, and bring in new business.
Through our year-long partnership, Highlands Construction won four awards—one attributed to each founder and two for the company itself.
The company reported receiving higher quality leads from clients with bigger budgets, and more opportunities for repeat business. Highlands also saw significant traction on LinkedIn with colleagues, current and former clients, and connections from Butte’s and Mourad’s broader networks reaching out to congratulate the award wins.
“Eighteen months ago, eighty percent of our projects were with one-off smaller customers. Today, seventy percent of our projects come from larger customers with repeat business, and we already have a 2025 project backlog larger than our projected revenue for 2024,” said CEO Shaz Butte.
Butte was asked to join the board of directors for the Houston Area Women’s Center (HAWC) after leading a successful fundraising campaign for the organization in 2023, building on Highlands’ reputation for community involvement and volunteerism. Highlands is also in the process of developing a jobs training partnership with SERJobs, another established Houston nonprofit.
Additionally, Highlands has launched the CORE Mentorship Program for Texas college students to help lift up the next generation of construction, design, and real estate professionals. Participating mentors assist students through expert guidance, career advancement opportunities, networking, and skill development.
Highlands’ involvement with HAWC and SERJobs, along with the forming of the CORE Mentorship program as part of Foreword’s executive branding campaign strategy, all present ongoing PR opportunities and create brand awareness for Highlands Construction.
Partnering with Foreword on a cohesive long-term reputation building and PR strategy achieved the goal of raising Highlands Construction’s profile in local and regional markets, and improving the company’s credibility to bring in new business.
“Working with Foreword helped legitimize Highlands for a lot of people who didn’t know us and were on the fence about choosing a young company as their general contractor,” Butte commented.
As a result of the efforts, Highlands also formed strong relationships with community organizations, strengthening the company’s public image.
Foreword has a history of award wins for clients, including:
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