Alexander Heap grew up in an aviation family. While he did not initially pursue a career in the industry, his dad’s passion for aviation left an indelible mark upon him.
“My dad was Theodore Howard Heap, who was a very successful corporate litigator and also started Air Oregon in 1977 with one of the founders of United Airlines,” Heap said. “I was going towards my private [pilot license], but my dad died when I was 19 years old. I lost my direction for a bit but then got into excavation. I really wanted to be an operator, but they told me to ‘operate this first’ and handed me a shovel. There are many ways to operate a shovel, which I learned, and worked my way up from being a laborer to project manager and estimator.”
Heap would ultimately carve his own path, founding a real estate development company that he named Third Eye Development. Past projects undertaken by the company have included RV parks, hangar projects, and more.