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UP CLOSE / CONNELL STAFFORD, director of public strategy at Troutman Sanders Strategies: He's a triple threat

Former Coca-Cola vice president wields influence in business, politics and education

By Caroline Wilbert
For the Journal-Constitution
Published on: 08/03/08

Connell Stafford's career has taken a lot of turns.
He started as a middle school teacher in his hometown of Macon. He wanted new books for his students —- a process that became more complicated than he expected. He made the request to the principal and hit a brick wall. He then went to the superintendent and eventually wound up making his case for funding for the books to a legislator. That experience led him to an interest in politics. Eventually, he went to Washington to work for then-Sen. Sam Nunn (D-Ga.).

Later, when he returned home to Georgia to work in government relations at Coke, he felt his life was coming full circle. His father had worked for a Coke bottler. Stafford has memories of helping stock vending machines and riding on Coke trucks.

He had always wanted to work for Coke, he said, and ended up spending 25 years at the company, rising to the title of vice president of government relations. Five years ago, during a restructuring at the beverage giant, he left.

These days, the non-attorney is director of public strategy at Troutman Sanders Strategies, the lobbying arm of the Atlanta-based law firm. He also is chairman of the board of trustees of Georgia Southern University, his alma mater in Statesboro.

Q: Tell me about your job, what it entails.
A: Troutman Sanders Strategies is a professional government relations firm, and what we do is we work with various businesses on issues they have in government. I am director of the public strategies group.

Q: So you help them deal with both local and state governments?
A: It could be local, it could be city, it could be state. . . . I came from Coca-Cola after 25 years there. The way I can bring value to the people we represent today and to Troutman Sanders Strategies is I understand the insides, if you will, of a big corporation. I can bring that knowledge to the people we represent, as they seek to deal with government issues.

Q: What were some of the big issues you worked on at Coke?
A: Special taxes, if governments tried to levy special taxes on our products. That happened a lot around the country. We were always trying to make our case against special taxes. We tried to make sure we got involved in recycling, working with municipalities and state governments to put in place voluntary recycling.

Q: What advice would you have for a young person interested in the field of government relations?
A: First of all, you have to learn what I would call the fundamentals of government. I think some of the best government relations people are those who have worked in government and then bring those skills and abilities to the business world. They've worked for a senator or a member of Congress or legislators or a governor, and then they come to work for corporations. They understand how to deal with government. It gives them a good base and a good groundwork to start on and then help businesses deal with government issues. If you have worked in government, you know how to deal with government officials, you understand them. If you meld the two, the business experience with the government experience, you've got a pretty good package.

Q: What do you think about all the vice presidential speculation around your former boss Sam Nunn?
A: I worked for him for six or seven years. He was an honors graduate from Emory Law School. He served in the Legislature, he served in the U.S. Senate, he was a fabulous teacher for me to work for because I learned so much from him. If [Barack] Obama chooses him as an adviser or any type of position in his government, he would be wellserved. Whether or not that will happen, I don't know. But I know this, it would be a great benefit to the nation and to Obama himself if Nunn is around —- particularly on national defense issues and international issues.

Q: Do you think your work experience and relationships have helped the school [Georgia Southern University]?
A: I think it has been helpful. One of the things we've done, well, Coca-Cola helped by providing the funds for international scholarships for kids to study overseas. All of that has been really, really tremendous.

Q: Did your experiences there as a student have a big impact on you? Is that why you want to give back to the school now?
A: Oh, yeah, as a kid coming out of south Macon, it provided a lot of opportunities for me. I have been fortunate enough to be able to give some things back to them.

THE CONNELL STAFFORD FILE
> Age: 60
> Family: Married for 33 years; two grown daughters
> Home: Brookhaven
> Grew up: Macon
> Last book read: "Team of Rivals" by Doris Kearns Goodwin
> Favorite movie: "Doctor Zhivago"