The Central Florida Chapter of ICC was presented with the 2012 Chapter of the Year Award during the ICC Annual Conference in Portland. To be recognized as the Chapter of the Year, a Chapter must demonstrate a high degree of professionalism in promoting the vision, mission and goals of the Code Council.

The Central Florida Chapter has created quite a legacy serving their communities and as a local Chapter of the Building Officials Association of Florida. "The Chapter is known for its leadership on committees, and participation in code development hearings, both at the state level and at the ICC," said International Code Council Board of Directors Immediate Past President Bill Dupler. "Even in these tough economic times, the Central Florida Chapter continues to grow dramatically."

International Code Council Board of Directors Immediate Past President Bill Dupler presided over the Chapter President's Breakfast at the 2012 Annual Conference in Portland.

"Our Chapters are one of our association's greatest resources and do an outstanding job of providing professional development and networking opportunities," Dupler said. "Chapters also provide a great deal of support for I-Code adoptions and other important mutual initiatives from Building Safety Month to the Code of Honor Scholarship Program, and increased public awareness of the value of code compliance."

Dupler told Chapter Breakfast attendees that one of the Code Council's objectives is to provide benefits that are of direct value to our Chapters. He illustrated this concept with the enhancement of the Chapter Education Benefit, which gives qualifying Chapters a full day of training at little or no cost. This benefit provides Chapter members with an opportunity to meet their education goals and earn CEUs; and for many Chapters, it is an opportunity to generate revenue to support their efforts. Dupler also shared that the "My Chapters" area on the ICC website, just a year old now, is getting positive feedback from the many Chapter officers who have experienced it. He also mentioned that ICC is exploring additional programs to assist Chapters with their administrative tasks.

Following presentations by Jason Wortham, Vice President of EnerGov Solutions, and Al Ramirez, Regulatory Services Regional Manager from Underwriter's Laboratories (EnerGov and EnerGov and Underwriter's Laboratories were this year's Chapter Presidents Breakfast sponsors), Code Council Board of Directors Member and Member Services Committee Chair Jeff Whitney updated breakfast attendees on the activities of the Member Services Committee and the progress the committee is making.

Dupler recognized the host Chapters of this year's conference—the Oregon Building Officials Association and the Northwest Chapters—with a plaque to Melanie Adams, Chair of the Host Chapter Committee and President of the Oregon Building Officials Association. "The Members of these Chapters have devoted many hours of their personal time," Dupler said. "They worked hard to make sure this conference is a success. They have been working closely with the Code Council staff for more than a year to plan this week's events. We could not be successful without the support of your group and all of our Chapters."

Six new ICC Chapters have been approved since the 2011 Annual Conference in Phoenix: the Illinois Mechanical Inspectors Association; the Wisconsin Code Officials Alliance; the Cayman Islands Codes Association; C.A.S.E.D.I. from Mexico (an International Chapter); the Louisiana Building Code Alliance, LLC; and Region II that includes Chapters in the states of Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming.

The chapters were welcomed by ICC Board of Directors Immediate Past President Bill Dupler during the Chapter President's Breakfast at the 2012 Annual Conference in Portland.

"Congratulations to all of you and welcome to the ICC family of Chapters as the newest Chapters," Dupler said. "We hope you will play an active role in ICC and look forward to building a partnership with you in the future."

The International Code Council now has 352 Chapters worldwide, and the Chapter Program continues to grow.

Code Council Board member Tina Rakes swore in the new Region II Chapter officers, which includes Chapters in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming during the ICC Regional Meetings at the 2012 Annual Conference in Portland.

Code Council Board of Directors President Ron Piester swore in the new officers of the Women in Code Enforcement and Development (WICED) Chapter during ICC's 2012 Annual Conference and Group A Final Action Hearings in Portland. Pictured below left, Piester swears in WICED President Eirene Oliphant. Pictured below right, he swears in WICED Vice President Amber Armstrong (center) and Secretary/Treasurer Kecia Lara. The Chapter hosted a speed mentoring event during this year's conference where participants could find out more details about being a code official and a member of the building safety industry.