Stephanie Stuckey

The daughter of former Georgia Member of congress W. S. Stuckey Jr., who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1967 to 1977. She spent her early life in Washington, D.C. Stuckey attended the University of Georgia and earned a B.A. in French in 1989.{{Cite web|date=2020-09-12|title=Alumni Spotlight: Stephanie Stuckey Benfield (J.D.'92) {{!}} www.law.uga.edu|url=http://www.law.uga.edu/alumni-spotlight-stephanie-stuckey-benfield-jd92|access-date=2020-09-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200912141251/http://www.law.uga.edu/alumni-spotlight-stephanie-stuckey-benfield-jd92|archive-date=2020-09-12}} In 1992 Stuckey earned a J.D. from the University of Georgia School of Law.{{Cite journal|last=Communications and Public Relations|first=Office of|date=2013-08-01|title=August 2013 E-newsletter Alumni Spotlight: Stephanie Stuckey Benfield, Executive Director for GreenLaw (J.D.'92)|url=https://digitalcommons.law.uga.edu/profiles/33|journal=Profiles of Members of the Law School Community}}

Stuckey worked as legislative aide and attorney to Georgia Senator Mary Margaret Oliver while building her own practice. In 1998, Stuckey ran her first successful political campaign representing Dekalb County in Georgia's House of Representatives until 2013.{{cite web |title=Rep. Stephanie Stuckey-Benfield |url=http://www.house.ga.gov/Documents/Biographies/benfieldStephanie.pdf |website=www.house.ga.gov |accessdate=12 September 2020}}

During the 2000 presidential election, Stuckey was a Georgia state co-chair of GoreNet.{{cite web |title=GoreNet State Co-Chairs |url=http://www.algore.com/gorenet/net_directors.html |publisher=Gore 2000 |access-date=29 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000815071349/http://www.algore.com/gorenet/net_directors.html |archive-date=August 15, 2000 |date=15 August 2000 |url-status=dead}} GoreNet was a group that supported the Al Gore campaign with a focus on grassroots and online organizing as well as hosting small dollar donor events.{{cite web |title=GoreNet: A Network of Young Americans Dedicated to Al Gore President |url=http://www.algore.com/gorenet/net_directors.html |publisher=Gore 2000 |access-date=29 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000815054240/http://www.algore.com/gorenet/index.html |archive-date=August 15, 2000 |date=15 August 2000 |url-status=dead}}

After 14 years in the Georgia House of Representatives, Stuckey announced in 2012 that she would not seek re-election, instead taking a position as Executive Director of GreenLaw, an environmentally focused law resource center in Atlanta, Georgia.

In 2015, Stuckey was appointed by Atlanta mayor Kasim Reed to be Director of Sustainability for the City of Atlanta and then to the position of Chief Resilience Officer.{{Cite web |date=2015-04-16 |title=Stephanie Stuckey Benfield named new director of sustainability for the City of Atlanta |url=https://saportareport.com/stephanie-benfield-new-sustainability-director-for-city-of-atlanta/sections/reports/maria_saporta/ |access-date=2022-06-11 |website=SaportaReport |language=en-US}}{{Cite web|date=2020-09-12|title=Stephanie Stuckey: Atlanta's Chief Resilience Officer to Speak at College of Environment and Design {{!}} News & Events {{!}} College of Environment + Design|url=https://ced.uga.edu/news_and_events/stephanie-stuckey-atlantas-chief-resilience-officer-to-speak-at-college-of-environment-and-design/|access-date=2020-09-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200912175401/https://ced.uga.edu/news_and_events/stephanie-stuckey-atlantas-chief-resilience-officer-to-speak-at-college-of-environment-and-design/|archive-date=2020-09-12}}

In late 2019, Stuckey purchased Stuckey's Corporation - the iconic roadside stop famous for its pecan candies and kitschy souvenirs that her grandfather founded in 1937 - for $500,000 and became the third-generation CEO of the family business.{{Cite web |last=Gustafson |first=Deni |date=2022-04-26 |title=Ep: 63 Stephanie Stuckey on Buying Back the Family Business |url=http://liongrouprecruiting.com/2022/04/26/ep-63-stephanie-stuckey-buying-back-family-business/ |access-date=2022-06-11 |website=THE LION GROUP |language=en-US}} She stated that the motivating factors for purchasing the company were an emotional attachment to the family brand along with the desire to make Stuckey's both profitable and a household name again. At the time she purchased Stuckey's, the company was operating at a deficit and had only 13 original free-standing stores in 10 states that still sported the signature sloped original teal roofs in addition to around 65 licensed Stuckey's Express store-within-a-store locations.{{Cite news |title=Stuckey's, the once-beloved road trip staple, tries to stage a comeback |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2022/03/03/stuckeys-road-trip-pecan-rolls/ |access-date=2022-06-11 |issn=0190-8286}}

Within six months, Stuckey restored Stuckey's to profitability, thanks in part to a shift in focus from licensed Stuckey's store locations to the company's classic line of candies. She also expanded the brand back into candy manufacturing with the purchase of a pecan shelling and candy plant in Wrens, Georgia in January 2021. Candy and nut sales have increased to almost 50% of the company’s revenue stream as the brand expands to more national retail locations.

In addition to a modest store growth and candy manufacturing and sales, Stuckey shared how promoting pecans and supporting the vision of the "great American road trip"{{Cite web|last=Retold|first=Retail|title=Retail Retold - EP 045: Stuckey's Roadside Chain in Unadilla, GA with Stephanie Stuckey|url=https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy9mZWM1MWU0L3BvZGNhc3QvcnNz/episode/ODgxYWU0ZmYtNmVkMy00ODE1LTgzZmItMGQxOGM4ODVmZjgx|access-date=2020-09-14|website=Google Podcasts|language=en}} are also a vital part of Stuckey's Corporation growth. As a result, Stuckey hopes to eventually own a handful of Stuckey’s interstate stores to revive the original premise behind the company as a “roadside oasis” while continuing to build up the pecan side of the business to secure its future for another 85 years.{{Cite news |last=Furchgott |first=Roy |date=2022-06-11 |title=The Pralines, Pecan Log Rolls and Nostalgia Fueling the Stuckey's Revival |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/11/business/stuckeys-road-trip-pandemic.html |access-date=2022-06-12 |issn=0362-4331}}

• {{cite book |last=Stuckey |first=Stephanie |title=UnStuck |date=2024-04-02 |publisher=BenBella Books |isbn=978-1-63774-478-9 |publication-place=Dallas, TX}} {{Cite news |last=Cooke |first=Patrick |title='UnStuck' Review: Stuckey's, Back on the Road Again |url=https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/books/unstuck-review-stuckeys-back-on-the-road-again-5c0f9f11 |access-date=2024-05-17 |work=WSJ |language=en-US}}

{{reflist}}

{{s-start}}

{{s-par|us-ga-hs}}

{{s-bef|before=Mike Polak}}

{{s-ttl|title=Member of the Georgia House of Representatives
from the 67th district|years=1999–2003}}

{{s-aft|after=Mike Coan
James Mills}}

|-

{{s-bef|before=Nan Orrock}}

{{s-ttl|title=Member of the Georgia House of Representatives
from the 56th district, Post 1|years=2003–2005}}

{{s-aft|after=Kathy Ashe}}

|-

{{s-bef|before=John P. Yates
John Lunsford}}

{{s-ttl|title=Member of the Georgia House of Representatives
from the 85th district|years=2005–2013}}

{{s-aft|after=Karla Drenner}}

{{s-end}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stuckey, Stephanie}}

Category:Living people

Category:University of Georgia alumni

Category:American women chief executives

Category:Democratic Party members of the Georgia House of Representatives

Category:1965 births

Category:20th-century American women politicians

Category:21st-century American women politicians

Category:21st-century American businesspeople

Category:21st-century American businesswomen

Category:Women state legislators in Georgia (U.S. state)

Category:21st-century members of the Georgia General Assembly

Category:20th-century members of the Georgia General Assembly