He says he's gone from antipasto to anti-pesto.
Tom Aspinwall of Rye has lived in the seacoast New Hampshire area since the late 1980s when he sold his restaurant in Bow, to work for his father-in-law's pest control business. Now he owns the business, is expanding it and moving it to a new building
GSC Pest Management, Inc. was founded in 1964 by Aspinwall's father-in-law, Arnold Gilmore. In 1989, Aspinwall assumed ownership of the company and has continued to keep it locally owned and operated throughout the Seacoast area of New Hampshire and southern Maine.
GSC Pest Mgmt. currently has 3,000 customers as far as an hour from Portsmouth. The staff includes an office manager and three technicians as well as another part-time employee.
"Being in the pest control business doesn't bug me at all," said Aspinwall. "We have partnered with some of the biggest contractors in the state and the region. It is amazing how many of them get into a building to repair, remodel and restore and one of the first things they find is that pests have been causing problems for years and they need to rid the property of this problem before they can even start their work," said Aspinwall.
With the pest business growing and thriving Aspinwall has decided to move his company to a bigger location. At first he looked into renting or even buying space, before he hit the jackpot. "I was lucky, I just kind of fell into it," Aspinwall said of the opportunity to purchase buildable land, with frontage on the Spaulding Tpke. in Newington. From there, his expansion plans grew to include Nimble Hill Office Park. Phase 1 of the $3 million construction project will soon be home to GSC Pest Mgmt. The Phase 1 building will have some surplus space for an additional tenant. The success of Phase 1 has given Aspinwall confidence to start Phase 2, which will be an additional 10,000 s/f.
"Our research showed that even in this challenging economy, there were businesses that either wanted to expand or wanted to move their operation to this area. But before they would commit, they wanted to be sure they had certain business advantages," Aspinwall said.
Those advantages, which have been built into Nimble Hill Office Park, include all the modern conveniences and technologies, high volumes of traffic in the area, easy accessibility and what Aspinwall describes as the crown jewel of the office building, location. Nimble Hill Office Park is located on Spaulding Tpke. and is situated at the foot of the General Sullivan Bridge, the main thoroughfare between Portsmouth and the prospering areas located to the north including Dover and Rochester. Eighty thousand vehicles pass this location on an average day. Plus, the state of New Hampshire just approved a $120 million expansion of the bridges and roadways in that area so the expectation that this will be an even more heavily traveled road makes it a perfect location for anyone who wants to be "close to the action. In addition, I-95 is less than a mile away and Pease International Tradeport is next door. "Perfect location for anyone looking for foot traffic like a medical facility or for a company that needs easy access to roadways like I-95, Rtes. 4, 16 or 1," said Aspinwall.
Aspinwall is no stranger to construction. In 1976 he purchased an old barn he then turned into the Trinity Tavern, a restaurant that specialized in fine American cuisine. In 1988, he sold it and moved to Portsmouth, married and joined his father-in-law's business, which he said was one of the best decisions he ever made. Thus making his move from antipasto to anti-pesto and now to property leasing/management.
Aspinwall supports many non-profits including the Strawbery Banke Museum, the Seacoast Science Center, Cross Roads House and Bethany Church all in the Portsmouth area. When the Strawbery Banke couldn't afford the $1,000 pest control services for carpenter ants and beetles that were damaging the Thomas Bailey Aldridge House, Aspinwall offered to adopt the building and maintain it. He has continued and expanded his relationship with Strawbery Banke by providing additional pest control services to them and helping to keep many of the historical buildings in operation for years to come.