Dim where as variant in onclick

I am creating a select query with the querydef procedure in Access 07 VBA.

I am having trouble adapting a text field to return only records that do not equal certain text, that are blank.
This field in the table is blank or it is "REG HIGH" - that's it
what is the best way to write this where clause to give me the blanks?

where = where & " AND [Unapplied] <> '" + "REG HIGH"

Thank you in advance for your help!