  In order to generate, in the context of gauge mediation, a Higgs mass around
126 GeV that avoids the little hierarchy problem, we explore a set of models
where the messengers are directly coupled to new vector-like fields at the TeV
scale in addition to the usual low energy degrees of freedom. We find that in
this context, stop masses lighter than 2 TeV and large $A$-terms are generated,
thereby improving issues of fine tuning.
