Roblee's experience, confidence and work ethic pays huge dividends for ICC Members.

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International Code Council board and staff welcome Ohio Building Officials Association (OBOA) President Philip Seyboldt to his second term. Pictured (left-right): ICC Government Relations Senior Regional Manager Corey M. Roblee, ICC Board of Directors President Alex Olszowy III, OBOA President Philip Seyboldt and ICC Board Director William Bryant.

Corey Roblee's resume is so impressive, that when he answers "Having to give speeches in Michigan during the Ohio State/Michigan game week," when asked what the biggest challenge of working at ICC is, you're tempted to believe him. Surely, someone who worked on political campaigns on both the state and national level, was the site lead for President George W. Bush's advance team detail, and now sits on the executive committee for the Franklin County, Ohio, division of the Republican Party would find advocating for such a non-hot-button issue like building codes to be a walk in the park. But when you get into it, it's really not that simple. Many ICC employees come to work for ICC from the construction and code enforcement side, but Roblee comes to Government Relations from the other side. From the time he was a young boy, he's been interested in politics — when he was only six years old, he was already subscribed to Newsweek (him, not his parents) — and he's pursued that career at every level short of actually running for office. He brings a wealth of experience — from working for the Ohio legislature and managing campaigns to freelance contract lobbying — to the table when he goes to work promoting codes and standards across the Midwest. That experience, combined with a remarkable confidence and work ethic, has paid dividends. After only two years at ICC, he was presented with the ICC Employee of the Year award, and two ICC chapters — the Code Administrators Association of Kentucky and the Southwestern Ohio Building Officials Association — have honored him with Patron of the Year and their Presidential Award, respectively, for his service in their states to the Membership and the ICC mission. So what drives him to work with codes? For Roblee, it comes down to two things: the amount of work to do, and the people he does it for. "In the building codes industry, there are always challenges. They might not be the most high profile, but there's never a shortage of work to be done no matter the economic conditions — and you can't say that for a lot of industries," he explains. "When you combine that with the opportunity to work with such a diverse membership from all walks of life and develop close relationships with those people, it feels more like I'm working with friends than doing a job." Roblee is also active working with national activities. He is the staff liaison for the Major Jurisdiction Committee, something he finds extremely rewarding and exciting. "The committee has been a great opportunity to work with the biggest cities and counties in the country," he says. "I think that the effort put into it has rejuvenated ICC's collaborative work on a national level, and all in all it's a great opportunity for the whole country." He also has been chair of the Government Relations staff's Legislative Committee, which is a focused team that analyzes state and local legislation and provides insight to both ICC staff and members on the various intricacies and strategies to use in local politics. But despite all the hard work he does for ICC, he still finds time to give back. Two years ago, he launched Corey's Crusaders, a team devoted to raising money to give to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. "My mother has been an RN at the Ohio State University Hospital working in the cancer ward for 36 years, so caring for people with blood cancers is something I've been a part of since I was a kid," Roblee recounts. "I saw the value in how my mother was impacting the lives of those people, so when I got the opportunity to lead a team in this campaign, I took it. We ended up raising over $66,000 in three months, including $35,000 in the final week." It's clear that Corey has more than a full plate in his work for ICC. But that's what makes it even more tempting to believe that the biggest challenge of the job is based on an ancient college rivalry — he doesn't see the difficult parts of the job as challenges, but rather as opportunities to be seized and people to be helped, and those are things that just come naturally to him. Unlike, for instance, sympathy for the Wolverines.