The Lake Houston Area Chamber of Commerce has been a regional business champion and advocate for the Lake Houston area since 1923. In this time, the Chamber has been the recipient of numerous local, state, and international awards, including twice being named a top-three chamber of commerce in North America (2015, 2018) by the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives. The Chamber serves local businesses by providing business development strategies, advocating for business-friendly policy and legislation, business connection events and leadership programs, all designed to help the Lake Houston area flourish.

In 2012, the Chamber Board of Directors launched the Lake Houston Economic Development Partnership as a separate entity within the chamber umbrella dedicated solely to growing and attracting jobs and capital investment and tax base in the area. The initial years of Economic Development Partnership were dedicated to educating the Lake Houston area community on the importance of economic development and increasing area awareness among local, national and international site selectors. A strong emphasis was also placed on business retention and expansion efforts.

As the partnership flourished, the EDP’s focus grew to encompass capital investment, job creation and retention, public and private infrastructure projects and securing various economic development incentives for new and existing businesses. These efforts helped retain and create a significant amount of quality jobs for the area with millions of dollars of new investment in our region.

In August 2017, Hurricane Harvey hit the Lake Houston Area with devastating effects. The LHA Chamber and the Lake Houston Economic Development Partnership partnered with each other to create opportunities that did not exist before and figured out a way to collectively respond for the good of the entire Lake Houston area. Together these organizations leveraged their talents and resources to create workshops, tax credit seminars, funding for both individuals and businesses and a number of other services. This was the start of a long-term recovery task force and a new level of collaboration between the two entities.

After much deliberation and the successful collaboration of LHAC and LHEDP after Hurricane Harvey, the board saw an opportunity to streamline and integrate processes for both entities to be more efficient, grow and provide increased value to investors and the business community. On October 29, 2020 Jenna Armstrong, president and CEO of Lake Houston Area Chamber of Commerce and Mark Mitchell, president of Lake Houston Economic Development Partnership announced the merger of their organizations into one cohesive organization. The newly announced “Partnership Lake Houston” continues to perform both the chamber and economic development work.

“Commerce is our focus, and as such, providing services to our business and building a strong local economy will remain the forefront of work,” said Armstrong. “Aligning the strategic resources of our organizations will better position efforts to promote local businesses, enhance economic and community development, and serve as a catalyst for improving the overall quality of life in the Lake Houston area.”

”Our organizations have been able to work in lock-step for over three years now and have effectively leveraged our existing resources that have led to new opportunities that otherwise wouldn’t have existed working independently,” Mitchell said.

According to Armstrong, the original premise of the Chamber and the LHEDP will remain the same, but by streamlining the organization and integrating processes, Partnership Lake Houston will be more efficient and provide increased value to our investors in the business community.

“When we talk to businesses about the work of our organizations, the message of two separate entities can be confusing at times,” Armstrong said. “Relaunching as one organization helps us tell the story of our work more efficiently and better positions us to expand services and programming to our businesses.”

Partnership Lake Houston is led by Jenna Armstrong, who remains chief executive officer, and Mark Mitchell, chief economic development officer.

On October 29, 2020 Jenna Armstrong, president and CEO of Lake Houston Area Chamber of Commerce and Mark Mitchell, president of Lake Houston Economic Development Partnership announced the merging of their two organizations into one cohesive organization. The newly announced “Partnership Lake Houston” continues to perform both the chamber and economic development work.

The pair first collaborated in August of 2017 when Hurricane Harvey hit the Lake Houston Area with devastating effects. The LHA Chamber and LHEDP collaborated in order to collectively respond for the good of the entire Lake Houston area. Together they leveraged their talents and resources to create workshops, tax credit seminars, funding for individuals and businesses and a number of other services.

After the success of this collaboration, the Chamber board saw an opportunity to streamline and integrate processes so both entities to be more efficient, grow and provide increased value to investors and the business community. The original premises of the Chamber and the LHEDP remain the same, but by aligning the strategic resources, Partnership Lake Houston will be in a better position to promote local businesses, enhance economic and community development, and serve as a catalyst for improving the overall quality of life in the Lake Houston area.