A longtime Tucson welding supply company has been acquired by the nation's biggest supplier of industrial gases.
Pima Welding Supply, Inc., an industrial gas and welding supply distributor, was purchased by Radnor, Pa.-based Airgas Inc.
The local company's operations at 727 E. Evans Blvd. and 1883 W. Prince Road have been integrated into Airgas West, one of the regional companies within Airgas.
Pima, which had annual sales of nearly $5 million in the year ended June 30, had been owned and managed by Randall Gephart. His father, Dean Gephart, purchased the business in 1976 and operated it until his death in 1990.
Airgas West operates in southern California, Nevada, Hawaii and Arizona, where it previously had two Tucson locations.