Paula Beauregard was booked to stay in the Marriott in Tower Three, between the twin towers, on 9/11, but her business trip was rescheduled at the last minute. Like many, Beauregard was transformed by the horror of that day, and she set her sites on a new career path to assist first responders facing extreme conditions.
An IT expert, Beauregard was troubled by the communications failures that day, specifically among emergency responders. So she co-founded Edge Velocity in Salem, which designs Mobile IP wireless mesh equipment to allow for seamless, unbroken communication in harsh environments, including fast moving vehicles, congested areas with many users competing for bandwidth and extreme environments including underground.
“We saw significant tech gaps that weren’t being addressed in the industry,” says Beauregard, the company’s CEO, explaining data suggests communications may have played a role in the loss of 343 firefighters on 9/11. “My objective is ensuring security for first responders in uniform.” Founded in 2004, the company went underground for years to develop its technology. Its first major contract was with Raytheon in 2013 to provide secure wireless communications capabilities for the company’s CommandPad system, an incident management system designed to share critical data and improve situational awareness for first responders in extreme urban environments. It is being used by the New York City fire department.
That contract was a major reason Edge Velocity was the fastest growing company on Business NH Magazine’s 2014 list of the Top Women-Led Companies in NH, with a three-year average growth rate of 436.9 percent between 2011 and 2013. Edge Velocity also recently ranked third on the Top 10 Fastest-Growing Women Led Companies in Boston by Inc. Magazine.
Beauregard says Edge Velocity is different not only for its ability to provide seamless and secure communications in environments where other networks can’t, but for being able to conform with clients’ existing technology—a major challenge in the burgeoning machine to machine (M2M) market. “Our competitors say here’s our box, conform to it,” she says. “We built a platform that is flexible, can be customized and can connect with existing networks.” Beauregard says this kind of innovation has allowed her five-person company to beat out larger communications companies for contracts.
The company is outgrowing its 2,000-square-foot office and will move to a 5,000-square-foot space in the spring. “2015 is going to be a very big year for Edge Velocity. We are anticipating a very large increase in sales,” Beauregard says. For more information, visit edgevelocity.com.
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