Welcoming TAPPI’s New Leader, Lawton Roberts, Paper360º January/February 2026

To hear him tell it, Lawton Roberts’ beginning with TAPPI was shrouded in darkness— really. As the founder/CEO of his own tech consultancy, Roberts already counted TAPPI as a valued client when Larry Montague came on board as president and CEO in 2006. The two bonded over what they saw as a common problem: the halls of TAPPI’s headquarters building were too dark.

Says Roberts, “TAPPI’s hallways weren’t the brightest, in a literal sense. The association wasn’t spending a ton of money on maintenance and there were lights out in the hallway. I knew more was possible. Larry came on and saw the same vision and, as TAPPI’s new leader, he actually did something about it. That’s one way he started building the team and the culture we have today—and where my TAPPI journey actually began.”

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