Some of us like to think of ourselves in Quincy as being in the middle of nowhere.

Favorite son and Champions Tour pro D.A. Weibring said about 12 years ago when I moved to Quincy that we are "a rocking chair community .... rock too fast and people get mad. They just like it nice and easy."

It's part of the charm, and frankly, it's a good reason to live here.

Driving five minutes to work. Going "all the way across town" to get to the mall takes all of 10 minutes. The character of our parks and neighborhoods, the passion for basketball and sports, the respect for history in Quincy.

When you come to Quincy on Interstate 172, you drive and drive and drive and then, wham! There it is, looming, with a couple of signs on a lonely highway to welcome you.

In the middle of nowhere? Maybe.

Drive to St. Louis, Chicago or even Springfield, Ill., and maybe you might just appreciate our slower pace and ways.

So it was very interesting this week to hear a visitor say Quincy is actually "in the middle of everywhere."

Nautel, a radio frequency company based in Maine and Canada, officially unveiled a customer support office at the Quincy Business and Technology Center Thursday. Customer service manager Kevin Rodgers lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia, not far from the company's base in Hackett's Cove.

The company hired some very talented people from local competitors, the main reason Nautel is here.

Another reason? Quincy is not in the middle of nowhere.

"Actually, it's in the middle of everywhere," Rodgers said. "It's actually right in the middle of our market, where we are trying to go."

Nautel President and CEO Peter Conlon laughed when hearing about Quincy being considered an isolated area.

"If you think Quincy is remote, try living in Hackett's Cove, Nova Scotia," he said.

Conlon, who has that Canadian hoser lilt in his voice and loves to talk about his Montreal Canadiens hockey team, seemed genuinely touched by about 30 people attending Thursday's news conference. Cleve Barkley of Loraine even welcomed attendees by playing the bagpipes.

You think the mayor, the head of the chamber of commerce, local media, business associates and bagpipes would have welcomed Nautel to Chicago?

Conlon says Nautel has doubled its engineering team by 50 percent and tripled sales and marketing teams. This appears to be a company serious about muscling into the competitive world of radio frequency products, with Quincy heavyweights Harris and Broadcast Electronics among them.

Nautel has opened a "depot" in Memphis, Tenn. It could have opened its new customer support service anywhere, but it chose Quincy.

So far, all is well with the new office opening. Rodgers was effusive in praising the city, the Great River Economic Development Foundation and the Quincy Business and Technology Center staffs.

"The vendors here have been great, too," he said. "We ordered office furniture, and it was here the very next day."

Nautel is starting in Quincy with four employees. Rodgers hopes to expand.

Certainly Nautel is an underdog in this type of business, a company fighting to gain a foothold. Perhaps the company likes being looked at as the little guy making big strides.

The company thinks Quincy, not really in the middle of nowhere, is the perfect place to expand.

Beauty, eh?

-- rhart@whig.com/221-3370