Andy Beaupre '75 runs his top-10 high-tech PR firm from an office overlooking Portsmouth's harbor. Photo by Mark Corliss

An e-Coast Pioneer

Although he is still several years shy of his 50th birthday, Andy Beaupre '75 is one of the "old settlers" of the e-Coast. He and his wife, Karen, moved their fledgling public relations company from a home office in Somersworth to Portsmouth in 1983. Now Beaupre and Co. is consistently ranked among America's top-10 high-tech PR firms.

"In the early days it was tough" being located in New Hampshire, Beaupre says. "No one would come up here because it was too far. Fast used to be an overnight delivery by Fed Ex." Fax machines , e-mail and the Internet changed that, and the success of Beaupre and Co. contributed significantly to the image of the Seacoast as a happening high-tech center.

Beaupre got his start in public relations at UNH, where he put together a self-designed major in public relations and worked as news director for WUNH, the student-run radio station. After graduation, he worked for several PR firms, commuting to jobs as much as 100 miles from home. He was 29 when he and Karen decided to start their own firm. "Our goal from the onset was to create a different kind of PR firm that gives the high-tech market a real alternative," he says. "We don't care about being the largest PR firm, just one of the very best."

Now that so many other high-tech companies have joined his firm in the Seacoast area, Beaupre says he's a little concerned about the possible impact on Portsmouth. "You have to worry about the ripple effects" that growth could have on the area and its celebrated quality of life, he observes. Fortunately, he adds, many e-Coast companies have located outside the city. "Pease is a good example, fitting into the e-Coast nicely," he notes.

-- Margaret A. Paine

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