Builder - January 2009 - (Page 99) THEINTERVIEW ANSWERING THE CALL: Joe Robson is eager to work with the new administration to revive housing. NEW LEADERSHIP AT THE NAHB The Activist Joe Robson of Oklahoma sees himself as a unifier. BY JOH N CAUL F I E LD s founder and president of The Robson Cos., a developer based in Tulsa that was Oklahoma’s Builder of the Year in 1994, Joe Robson is well acquainted with issues that builders large and small grapple with every day. And as the NAHB’s incoming chairman for 2009, Robson brings more than 30 years of community and association activism to a job that faces the daunting task of leading an industry in turmoil. The soft-spoken, 54-year-old Robson arrives at his new post just as a new administration enters the White House. Robson is confident that builders can and should play an important role in helping a new president and Congress find solutions to repair the economy. “I am excited about this year,” he A tells Builder. “In one way, we’re part of history because we will play a part in rewriting the whole financial system.” Robson fi rst got involved in his local HBA in 1976 and has held several positions with the national association since becoming a board director in 1990. Robson’s résumé includes a stint as director of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Topeka, Kan.; director of local and state Chambers of Commerce in Oklahoma; a member of the Oklahoma Judicial Nominating Committee; and chairman of the Tulsa Area Command of the Salvation Army. HOW DID YOU GET INTO DEVELOPMENT? I’ve known I wanted to be in real estate since I was in high school. I grew up on a cattle ranch east of Tulsa and had an uncle in the commercial development business. I went to SMU [Southern Methodist University] because it was one of the few colleges at the time that had a real estate program. When I graduated, I got into commercial real estate brokerage working with local land developers for six years. In the early 1980s, I took over a development company my family had formed that owned 80 acres that had been sitting idle for a decade. The development was called Oaklane. WHEN DID YOU START YOUR BUSINESS? When I formed Robson Cos. in 1986, I bought out other family members who were tired of being in the development business. At the time, I did everything: made all of the sales calls, met with all of the planners. Then in 1988, I developed and turned a 1,000-acre ranch into a master planned community in Broken Arrow, [Okla.], called Forest Ridge, which included a dailyfee golf course. At the time, Tulsa was underserved by public courses. Homes in Forest Ridge are priced from $180,000 to close to $1 million. We are now primarily a (see page 100) land developer but have W W W.BUILDERONLINE.COM ja n ua ry 2 0 0 9 BUILDER ■ 99 http://WWW.BUILDERONLINE.COM
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