TEC happy to be part of the 'heart' beach business scene
By Kyle Stucker
Hampton Union, May 9, 2014
[The following article is courtesy of the Hampton Union and Seacoast Online.]
Mitch Keamy Jr., president/CEO of TEC, walks with N.H. Gov.
Maggie Hassan, after he gave her a tour of the company, which
is the first year-round business at the Casino Ballroom complex.
[Deb Cram photo]
HAMPTON — It may have taken 115 years, but the Hampton Beach Casino complex officially got its first year-round tenant Thursday.
The long wait for that accomplishment only helped build the excitement for those who gathered in a large tent in the Casino Ballroom parking lot to celebrate the historic grand opening of The Engineering Company.
"Good things are worth waiting for," said Gov. Maggie Hassan.
TEC is an engineering firm that has served New England for the past 15 years, and their projects include several projects in Portsmouth and Seabrook, among other area towns. The business recently opened its new office in a space that was created on the rear portion of the Casino complex as part of an approximately $700,000 overhaul and expansion to the entire facility.
TEC President Mitch Keamy said his company sought an office on Hampton Beach to be closer to its New Hampshire and Maine clients, although he said it wasn't lost on him just how significant it is to be the first year-round, non-hospitality business in the center of the beach.
"We want to support the places we work the best we can," said Keamy. "They refer to the Hampton Beach Casino as the 'heart' of Hampton Beach. I feel like we're part of that heartbeat now."
Keamy said he's "thrilled" to have struck a deal with Casino complex owner and Sal's Pizza mogul Sal Lupoli to bring his firm to the beach, and he said he hopes TEC can help Lupoli accomplish his strong "vision" for expanding the summer tourism season.
Lupoli said TEC is the first "tipping point" for that change, and he hopes it will prompt other year-round businesses to open along Hampton Beach.
"This is the lynchpin," said Lupoli, who suggested before the Thursday's event that the Casino's rear parking lot could be developed in order to bring new establishments to the property. "I really have big plans for this real estate. Big plans."
Hassan applauded TEC's decision to open an office in the area, and she said she hopes it'll have a "ripple effect" on development in the area and throughout the state.
"We are really, really glad to have you here," said Hassan. "I am always glad to welcome business expansion and new businesses to the Granite State. We want to encourage the kind of jobs (and increased economic vitality created by businesses like this)."
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