The downtown buildings in Bangor that house PROTEA Behavioral Health Services are old and richly laden with history.

The insides still carry traces of fire damage from several decades ago. The original brick walls have not been restored.

A safe sits unused behind an administrative desk – left over from a bank that once resided at the Exchange Street space.

Alex and Roweena Tessman, co-founders of PROTEA – a privately funded, state-licensed agency that provides clinical mental health and substance abuse services – insist they don’t want to change the history of the buildings. They simply want to carve out their own piece of history inside the walls.

“This company was started with our money, our resources,” Alex said. “This is our chance to make a difference and leave the world a better place.”

PROTEA – an acronym for Promoting Realistic Opportunities through Encouragement and Advancement – started in January 2001 with seven employees offering in-home services.

The company now offers a wide range of counseling and therapy as well as medication management, psychological testing and children’s in-home support. PROTEA also provides outpatient substance abuse services and Driver Education and Evaluation Program – also known as DEEP – services.

In less than four years, the company has grown to a staff of about 110 in its original Bangor location and five satellite offices throughout the state. And Alex Tessman said the growth is in no danger of slowing down soon.

“There’s only so many people in the state, so in that sense there is a ceiling,” he said. “But I think we’ll see a continuing growth rate for four or five years before leveling off – based on the need.”

By their own admission, the Tessmans never thought their “little” company would turn into something so expansive.

“I always knew there was a need [for PROTEA’s services]. From there it has just evolved,” Roweena Tessman said.

“If I had known, I don’t think I would have had the guts to start something this big,” she added.

Roweena Tessman is a former nursing professor and department of mental health official originally from South Africa. Alex Tessman is a former business consultant from Vancouver, British Columbia. He handles the business aspects, and she oversees the clinical side of PROTEA.

Together, the married couple built their company from the ground up and have watched its growth, which has been so rapid the Tessmans recently purchased three additional buildings on Exchange Street that currently house the administrative offices of Bangor Hydro Electric Co.

When Bangor Hydro moves out, PROTEA will operate out of six connected buildings on Exchange Street, more than doubling the company’s existing size.

“We didn’t want to leave this big void for the businesses downtown,” LuAnn Williams, Bangor Hydro’s corporate communications officer, said when the sale was announced. “[PROTEA] was right next door,” she said.

“Bangor Hydro bent over backwards to make sure this transaction was successful,” Alex Tessman added.

While PROTEA will not move into the former Bangor Hydro space until early 2005, construction workers are already busy renovating the existing buildings on Exchange Street. The downtown buildings have long been rooted in Bangor’s history, something the Tessmans said is part of the charm.

“These buildings have been underutilized for a long time,” Alex said.

The Tessmans said they settled in Bangor “by accident,” after moving from Aroostook County where Roweena taught nursing at the University of Maine at Fort Kent. She already had established many clinical contacts in the Bangor area but Alex said the downtown buildings sealed the deal.

“It would have been easier or even more cost-efficient to purchase other space, but we really fell in love with the downtown buildings,” Alex said.

Because of the age of the buildings, many of the changes and restorations have had to pass through the Bangor Historical Society. It has meant more work, but the Tessmans don’t mind.

“We are completely and totally committed to what we have here. The quality of PROTEA has manifested into many other things,” Alex Tessman said.

Until renovations are complete, some of PROTEA’s staff, including community relations administrator Mark Nutt, are operating out of a temporary space on Broadway. Nutt admitted it will be nice when everyone is under the same roof.

“Anytime you have offices separated, it’s logistically inefficient,” Nutt said.

Logistics aside, nothing about PROTEA seems inefficient at the moment. So how has this “little” company achieved a level of unmatched growth during a time when other mental health agencies are struggling?

The answer lies in the combination of Alex’s savvy business sense and Roweena’s innovative approach to mental health care. In short, they make a pretty good team.

“We don’t need grant money from the state, so it allows us to be more flexible in our services,” Alex explained. “It allows us to cut through a lot of the red tape.”

In addition, many licensed social workers and counselors are unable to provide services to Medicaid-eligible clients because individual caregivers cannot bill Medicaid for their services. Alex said about 80 percent of PROTEA’s funding comes from Medicaid.

“Our business model is considerably different from the status quo – it would be difficult for the typical agency to replicate our model,” he said, and added that his approach sometimes creates animosity from rival service providers.

Just as important as Alex Tessman’s unique business approach is his wife’s implementation of “whole-person” care to mental health services. She has been using the nursing theory for many years after writing on the topic for her doctoral thesis.

“Over the years, there has been a stigma associated with Maine … that we’re way behind in development,” Roweena said. “But that’s not true, there are so many opportunities to take risks and be creative.”

PROTEA plans to keep taking risks. In addition to five satellite offices in Machias, Calais, Waterville, Wilton and Hallowell, the Tessmans are in negotiations to open additional satellite offices in Portland, Lewiston and Houlton.

“Wherever a need is identified, we tend to explore that option,” Nutt said.

In addition to the Bangor office and its satellites, more than 200 independent clinicians are part of PROTEA’s affiliate network, and that number grows every day, Roweena said.

“Clinicians under our umbrella have all the best features of being self-employed, but with all the financial security and other benefits PROTEA has to offer,” Alex said.

No matter how much PROTEA expands across the state, the Tessmans said, they plan to remain in Bangor “for the long haul.”

The couple owns a home on Green Lake in Ellsworth, which has become a popular spot to entertain employees. The Tessmans said they have every intention of retiring there.

“In about 50 years maybe,” Roweena said.