Last edited 3:06 p.m., April 12, 2012John Q. Hammons Hotels & Resorts today announced Springfield attorney Greggory Groves will join the company as its senior vice president and general counsel in mid-May.
Groves succeeds Justin Harris, who will continue to serve in a consulting role for JQH Hotels while pursuing unrelated family-owned and startup business ventures, according to a JQH Hotels news release. Harris and Groves previously worked as partners in Lowther Johnson Attorneys at Law LLC, which operates out of Hammons Tower. Groves serves as a managing member for Lowther Johnson, which he joined in 1988, according to the
firm's Web site.
The move marks the fourth corporate executive to step down at JQH Hotels since CEO Jacquie Dowdy replaced founder John Q. Hammons in November 2010. Scott Tarwater, who had served as the company's vice president of development,
left the company abruptly, and corporate architects Steve Minton and David Horst were part of the seven-member design team let go as Dowdy took the reins. Tarwater, Minton and Horst did not sign noncompete agreements and
are now working at competitor O’Reilly Hospitality Management LLC.
Harris joined JQH Hotels in March 2008, according to
Springfield Business Journal archives. He referred questions to JQH Hotels Vice President of Sales and Revenue Management Phill Burgess.
Burgess said this afternoon that Harris stepped down voluntarily.
"It took us by surprise," Burgess said of Harris' resignation, noting it wasn't related to moves by other executives since Dowdy took the company's top post.
While working at Lowther Johnson, Groves has provided occasional legal counsel for JQH Hotels, the release said.
“Gregg comes highly recommended by Justin Harris, whose opinion I value tremendously," Dowdy said in the release. “Backed by his years of hands-on knowledge of John Q. Hammons Hotels & Resorts and decades of legal and management experience, Gregg is the ideal candidate to be our general counsel, and he will hit the ground running."
As general counsel and senior vice president of JQH Hotels, Groves will be tasked with real estate and financing transactions, hotel development activities, acquisitions and dispositions, operational compliance, contract management, franchise licensing, documentation and compliance, human resources, and oversight of claims and litigation involving the company.
“As a Springfield resident, I have great respect for the John Q. Hammons Hotels & Resorts organization and Mr. Hammons’ business and philanthropic accomplishments,” Groves said in the release.[[In-content Ad]]
