In the early 1940’s, Clyde and Billy Horne opened Horne Brothers Shipbuilding on the waterfront of the James River in Newport News, VA. John Quisenberry, who later became the president of the company, gained the major interest in the business.
In 1962 Mr. Quisenberry opened Mechanical Piping Incorporated (MPI) on the small boat harbor at the foot of Newport News. In those days before the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel, a ferry in the small boat harbor connected the peninsula to the Norfolk Naval Base.
MPI was opened as a union shop for piping work being done at NASA and other government facilities. It also supported the shipbuilding industries in the area as a wholesale supply house.
Horne Brothers eventually became part of what is now Newport News Shipyard, while MPI continued to operate on the small boat harbor.
In 1994, the business moved to Copeland Industrial Park in Hampton.
In 2004, MPI Fastech was purchased by its current owner, Donald Ragland and is now headquartered in Virginia Beach.