Recently we proposed a TeV-scale Supersymmetric Standard Model in which the
gauge coupling unification is as precise (at one loop) as in the MSSM, and
occurs in the TeV range. One of the key ingredients of this model is the p
resence of new states neutral under SU(3)(c) x SU(2)(w) but charged under U
(1)(y) whose mass scale is around that of the electroweak Higgs doublets. I
n this paper we show that the introduction of these states allows us to gau
ge novel anomaly free discrete las well as continuous) symmetries (similar
to "lepton" and "baryon" numbers) which suppress dangerous higher dimension
al operators and stabilize the proton. Furthermore, the mass hierarchy betw
een the up and down quarks (e.g. t versus b) can be explained without appea
ling to large tan beta, and the mu-term for the electroweak Higgs doublets
las well as for the new states) can be generated, We also discuss various p
henomenological implications of our model which lead to predictions testabl
e in the present or near future collider experiments. In particular, we poi
nt out that signatures of scenarios with high versus low unification (strin
g) scale might be rather different. This suggests the possibility that the
collider experiments may distinguish between these scenarios even without a
direct production of heavy Kaluza-Klein or string states. (C) 1999 Elsevie
r Science B.V. All rights reserved.