Dennis Graham has announced his candidacy for mayor of Brownwood in the May 8 election.

Graham moved to Brownwood in 1979 and joined his father in business after several years of working in sales management for Grant Supply in West Texas. Together, the two men built a successful medical, safety and welding supply company which was known as Brownwood Welding Supply. They sold the business to Airgas in 1990, and shortly after that, Graham accepted a promotion with Airgas and moved to Amarillo as district manager.

He became area manager, vice president of sales, and in 1997, he was promoted to president for Southwest Airgas. A few years later Airgas consolidated into 13 regional companies and he became vice president of National Strategic Accounts. Graham is responsible for negotiating contracts with firms that want to buy Airgas products. Airgas is currently the largest U.S. distributor of industrial, medical and specialty gases.
In 2004, Graham’s father was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) and Graham moved his family back to Brownwood to take care of him. Graham always thought he would move back to Amarillo at some point, but after coming home to Brownwood, he said he rediscovered a quality of life that cannot be equaled.

Graham’s wife of 20 years, Kimberly, manages their commercial and residential property business, H.C.D. Graham Investments LLC.

Graham said he and his wife are committed to seeing Brownwood continue to prosper and grow. He said there is a simple reason for wanting to be mayor – he wants to have the opportunity to give something back to Brownwood – a town, he said, that has provided a great place to call home, has “helped me grow as a person” and has allowed him to support and raise his family. He said it would be his pleasure to work for the citizens and give back to a community that has been home for so many years.

He said Brownwood is a great place to live, raise children and make an honest living. He said as mayor, he would do all he can to support the community and promote new business for the area. He said he believes his experience in business would make him a good choice for the community’s mayor.