Joseph M. McGraw

Joseph M. McGraw was born in Beckley, West Virginia on April 27, 1953, the son of (the late) Horace and Rita McGraw of McGraws, (Wyoming County) West Virginia. He attended WVU from 1971-1975 and graduated magna cum laude with a BSEE in December 1975. He was a member of the engineering honoraries Eta Kappa Nu and Tau Beta Pi at WVU. In 1974-75 McGraw was chosen Outstanding Electrical Engineering Student by Eta Kappa Nu. McGraw attended graduate school at Virginia Tech and obtained a MSEE in March of 1977.

His first job after graduation was as a software engineer for the Bendix Corporation. While at Bendix, he was involved in developing microprocessor software to control gas chromatographs. Later he managed a project to develop a process Infrared Analyzer based on technology from the U.K.

In February, 1983, he was laid off from Bendix and he decided to start his own company, Greenbrier Electronics. Greenbrier Electronics' products were a portable electronic tester (called the 4400), which would permit relatively lower skilled personnel to troubleshoot electronics. The product was successfully developed but the sales were not great enough to support an independent company. McGraw sold the assets of Greenbrier Electronics to Temco Instruments, Inc. in 1986. McGraw subsequently worked for Temco for three years and was primarily responsible for Marketing and Sales.

McGraw left Temco in May of 1989 to form Greenbrier Technical Services, Inc. (GTS). GTS was initially founded to provide electronic repair services to OEMS, industrial and commercial customers. Later replacement parts such as electronic modules and electromechanical assemblies were developed and now represent about 80% of the company's sales. GTS operates a 7,200 square foot headquarters in Lewisburg, WV and a 14,000 square foot production and repair facility in Ronceverte, WV.