Dennis Powers (born 1953) is an American politician.
/ref>Official website
/ref> He serves as a Republican member of the

Tennessee House of Representatives The Tennessee House of Representatives is the lower house of the Tennessee General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee. Constitutional requirements According to the state constitution of 1870, this body is to consis ...

for the 36th District, encompassing Campbell County and parts of

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

and Anderson Counties.

Biography

Early life

He was born on September 14, 1953 in

LaFollette, Tennessee LaFollette is a city in Campbell County, Tennessee, United States. Its population was 7,456 at the 2010 census, with an estimated population in 2018 of 6,737. It is the principal city of the LaFollette, Tennessee micropolitan statistical area, w ...

. He graduated from LaFollette High School and received a Bachelor of Business Administration from the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Tennessee, Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Di ...

Career

He started his career at the Baird Supply Company as a salesman, followed by the Furtex Corporation as a machinist, and later at the LaFollette Hardware and Lumber Co., a construction company. He then worked as an Electronic Data Processing Technician for

Union Carbide Union Carbide Corporation is an American chemical corporation wholly owned subsidiary (since February 6, 2001) by Dow Chemical Company. Union Carbide produces chemicals and polymers that undergo one or more further conversions by customers befor ...

(a subsidiary of

Dow Chemical The Dow Chemical Company, officially Dow Inc., is an American multinational chemical corporation headquartered in Midland, Michigan, United States. The company is among the three largest chemical producers in the world. Dow manufactures plastics ...

) in

Oak Ridge, Tennessee Oak Ridge is a city in Anderson and Roane counties in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Tennessee, about west of downtown Knoxville. Oak Ridge's population was 31,402 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Knoxville Metropolitan Area. Oak ...

with a Security

Q clearance Q clearance or Q access authorization is the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) security clearance required to access Top Secret Restricted Data, Formerly Restricted Data, and National Security Information, as well as Secret Restricted Data. Restri ...

. He also worked in the Energy Department Manager of the East Tennessee Human Resource Agency (ETHRA) for Campbell, Union and surrounding counties. He now works as an insurance agent. He is former President of the Campbell County Young Republicans. From 1992 to 1996, he was a Republican nominee for the 36th district of Tennessee. Since 2010, he has served two terms for this district as a state congressman. He is a member of the Tennessee

Tea Party A tea party is a social gathering event held in the afternoon. For centuries, many societies have cherished drinking tea with a company at noon. Tea parties are considered for formal business meetings, social celebrations or just as an afternoon ...

, the Heritage Foundation, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the National Right to Life, the

National Rifle Association The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent Gun politics in the United States, gun rights ...

, the

National Federation of Independent Business The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) is an association of small businesses in the United States. It is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, with offices in Washington, D.C., and all 50 state capitals. The goal of NFIB is to ad ...

, the Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation, and the

National Conference of State Legislators The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), established in 1975, is a "nonpartisan public officials’ association composed of sitting state legislators" from the states, territories and commonwealths of the United States. Background ...

. He is a member of Friends of

Cove Lake State Park Cove Lake State Park is a state park in Campbell County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. The park consists of situated around Cove Lake, an impoundment of Cove Creek created by the completion of Caryville Dam in 1936. The park's ...

, committee chair of the

Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded i ...

, and serves on the Campbell County Board of

Habitat for Humanity Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI), generally referred to as Habitat for Humanity or Habitat, is a US non-governmental, and nonprofit organization which was founded in 1976 by couple Millard and Linda Fuller. Habitat for Humanity is a Ch ...

. He volunteers at LaFollette Medical Center. Other philanthropic endeavors include the Wounded Warrior Project, the

American Cancer Society The American Cancer Society (ACS) is a nationwide voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer. Established in 1913, the society is organized into six geographical regions of both medical and lay volunteers operating in more than ...

and Relay for Life.

Personal life

He is married to Tracy (Adkins) Powers, and they attend the First Baptist Church of Jacksboro, Tennessee.

References

Living people 1953 births People from LaFollette, Tennessee People from Jacksboro, Tennessee Republican Party members of the Tennessee House of Representatives 21st-century American politicians {{Tennessee-stub