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The Woodlands Area Chamber of Commerce announces new chair, vice chair

By: The Woodlands Area Chamber of Commerce
| Published 04/26/2018

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THE WOODLANDS, Texas -- The Woodlands Area Chamber of Commerce announced Stuart Lapp as the chair of the board of directors and Jeff Garrett as the vice chair for the 2018-19 year.

Lapp and Garrett will begin their roles Sept. 1. Lapp succeeds Frank Holmes, vice president for university advancement at Sam Houston University. This marks the first year in the chamber’s 40-year history that the organization has elected a vice chair.

“We are thrilled to have Stuart Lapp serve as the 2018-19 chairman of the board,” J.J. Hollie, president and CEO of The Woodlands Area Chamber of Commerce, said. “Stuart has been a tremendously active board member since 2015 and has served as the vice president of government affairs. His drive to strengthen The Woodlands area business community makes him the perfect candidate to lead our chamber into the next 40 years.”

Lapp is a partner at Stibbs & Co., P.C., Attorneys, a business law firm specializing in areas of energy and business law, employment law, complex commercial litigation and commercial real estate. He heads the litigation section and practices in the areas of complex commercial transactions, commercial real estate and finance.

“I am humbled and honored to be elected as chairman of the board of The Woodlands Area Chamber of Commerce,” Lapp said. “I look forward to continuing the leadership legacy of the strong leaders who have served before me as our community and region continues to grow and prosper.”

Garrett serves as an assistant general counsel at Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LP located in The Woodlands.

“The role of vice chairman is an important commitment to the legacy and director of our leadership,” Hollie said. “Jeff Garrett’s leadership in our community and service as a board member since 2016 makes him an excellent candidate as vice chairman.”

About Stuart Lapp

Prior to joining Stibbs & Co. in 2015, Lapp served as general counsel for Petroleum Wholesale, L.P. and Sun Development, L.P., headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas, for 12 years.

For nearly 20 years, he privately practiced civil trial law and mediation. He is licensed to practice law in the State of Texas and is admitted to practice in the U.S. District Courts for the Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western Districts of Texas and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

He is a member of the State Bar of Texas, the American Bar Association, the Houston Bar Association, the Montgomery County Bar Association and The Woodlands Bar Association. He is a certified mediator having received training from the Attorney Mediators Institute and the A.A. White Dispute Resolution Institute. He also served as an administrative hearing officer for the Texas Education Agency and presided over administrative hearings involving involuntary termination of teacher contracts for Houston ISD, Klein ISD and Spring ISD.

From 2007 to 2016, Lapp served as a board member of The Woodlands Area Economic Development Partnership and board chair from 2014 to 2015. He is a member of the Parish Council for St. Anthony the Great Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church in Spring, Texas, and has served terms as president and treasurer of the council. He is a founding member of the Voter Awareness Council, a nonprofit. nonpartisan organization dedicated to increasing voter awareness and encouraging voter participation in local elections. He is a member of George’s Coffee Club, a nonprofit, non-political organization founded to share information about George Mitchell’s leadership and contribution in the development of The Woodlands and to broaden awareness of Mitchell’s vision for the community.

Lapp is a graduate of Leadership Montgomery County. He is also a self-described BBQ nerd, and with the support of Stibbs & Co., founded The Woodlands BBQ Festival, a family-friendly event held annually at Town Green Park. The Woodlands BBQ Festival showcases talented and celebrated BBQ pitmasters from around Texas, and, like the annual Woodlands CrawPHish Festival, raises money and awareness to extend and improve the lives of those affected by pulmonary hypertension.

Lapp moved to Texas in 1973 when George Mitchell hired his father to join the team that designed and built The Woodlands. He graduated from Spring High School, Southern Methodist University (B.A. - Criminal Justice) and The University of Houston Law Center (J.D.). He and his wife, Eve, live in Magnolia and are the parents of three adult daughters and grandparents of one energetic granddaughter.

About Jeff Garrett

Garrett is a member of the State Bar of Texas, registered before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and a registered Professional Engineer in the State of Texas.

He has previously served as vice president of economic development for The Woodlands Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. He has also served as a board member for the Education for Tomorrow Alliance and The Woodlands Bar Association and as a Pacesetter Chairman for the United Way of Montgomery County. He and his wife, Debra, have two children.

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