ROBERT E. COKER

Robert is Senior Vice President, Public Affairs, of United States Sugar Corporation. He is responsible for managing the company's federal, state and local government affairs department and the company's corporate and charitable giving programs that encompass numerous community and employee relations activities.

Prior to joining U.S. Sugar, Mr. Coker spent three years as executive assistant to the executive director of the Florida League of Cities. Before that, he worked for State Representative Ted Ewing, District 74. Mr. Coker holds a bachelor's degree in political science from Florida State University and has completed graduate work in public administration at Florida State University.

He is a former chairman of the board of regents for Leadership Florida. He serves on the board of directors for the Florida Council on Economic Education, the board of trustees of United Way of Palm Beach County and is vice chairman of the board of directors of the Southwest Florida Work Force Development Board. He is a member of the Florida Agriculture Advisory Council and a member of the Florida Self-Insurers Guaranty Association Board of Directors.

Coker is vice chairman of the Hendry County Industrial Development Authority and a director of the Hendry County Farm Bureau. He is also a member and past president of the Clewiston Chamber of Commerce, a member of the Executive Board of the Gulf Stream Council Boy Scouts of America and serves on the FSU National Seminole Boosters Board of Directors.

Raised in Gainesville, Florida, Mr. Coker currently resides in Clewiston with his wife and three children.