Business Leader
English
1998 Recipient
Ed Robson, chairman of Robson Communities, graduated with a degree in business and banking from Colorado College in Colorado Springs. After college he played hockey for Team USA and was an alternate member of the U.S Olympic Hockey Team. While in the U.S. Marine corps he was designated a naval aviator at Pensacola and served for five years as a helicopter pilot, attaining the rank of captain.
After leaving the Marines, Robson settled in Phoenix working as a salesman for Coldwell Banker and later as Director of Corporate Sales for the Del Webb Corporation. He started his first business in 1965, marketing resort homesites in Bullhead City, Arizona, and then developing the Pinewood Golf Community in Flagstaff, Arizona.
In 1972 Robson acquired the original farmland that became Sun Lakes and embarked in a community development program which has grown rapidly into the largest privately held adult resort retirement community in the country. Robson Communities currently include Sun Lakes, a 3500 acre community with over 10,000 residents; a 2100 acre community in Tucson called SaddleBrooke; Sun Bird, a 320 acre golf resort in Chandler; and PebbleCreeek, 2200 acres in Goodyear which opened in the Fall of ’92. Robson employs more than 820 people and is listed as the 19th largest private company in Arizona.
Father of five children and grandfather of twelve, he still finds time to participate in community affairs. He was the 1993 Heart Ball Honorary Chairman who was instrumental in netting approximately $1,00,00. In 1994 he was the chairman for the Phoenix Boys and Girls Club and remains active on their Board of Directors. In addition he serves on a number of civic boards including the Board of Directors of Bank One Arizona N.A., St. Luke’s Foundation, United for Arizona, American Heart Association and chairman of the Cardiovascular Education Committee. He is also involved with Arizona Boys Ranch, Salvation Army and many others. An embellishment to his active community participation is his philanthropic generosity. His contributions have served as added resources for many organizations. The tennis center at the University of Arizona is named after his wife LaNelle. In 1994 he was inducted into his High School Hall of Fame in Arlington, Massachusetts. In 1993 he was selected by Arizona State University as Entrepreneur of the Year. Besides the organizations already listed, the group includes: Phoenix Art Museum, Arizona Historical Society, American Cancer Association, Ballet Arizona, Compass, Arizona State University, University of Arizona, Arizona Humane Society, Arthritis Foundation, and the March of Dimes.
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