In 1986 Gary founded Higbee & Associates (Then called Industrial Safety Consultants) a full service safety training and consulting firm. He managed the consulting firm even though he had full time management positions with John Deere and Maytag until his early retirement in 1998. The firm was incorporated in Michigan in 2002 and is now headquartered in (Johnston) Des Moines, Iowa. Higbee and Associates, Inc. serves companies in the United States, Canada and South America. Gary is also the Senior U.S. Safety Consultant for SafeStart and SafeTrack North America.

Gary has an MBA from the University of Iowa and is a board certified safety professional. Gary is a past recipient of the Safety Professional of the Year award for region IV of the American Society of Safety Engineers. He is considered an expert in Traditional and Behavior Based Safety Technologies as well as Organizational Change.

In addition to his consulting Gary has published many articles. His 2004 releases include "Guaranteeing the Success of Safety Committees", "Nine Steps for Changing your Safety Culture", "Breaking the Cycles of Risky Behavior" and "Frustrations in Safety". His 2005 releases include "Five Stages to World Class Safety", "Visionary Leadership" and "Managing Complex Change". In 2006 he published four articles on safety committees, two on "Breaking the Cycle of Risky Behavior and 3 Attributes to World Class Safety.

Using his over 40 years of experience and a sense of humor Gary has become an internationally known speaker on safety, health, environmental and business issues. Gary is available for consulting, expert witnessing and public appearances. Contact information is listed below. Higbee & Associates, Inc.