Matthew Echols

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Matthew Echols is the Director of State Government Relations at The Coca-Cola Company. "Echols worked in the House clerk's office at the Georgia State Capitol, then with U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston and later for then U.S. Rep. (now Sen.) Saxby Chambliss."

The Coca-Cola Company, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, is the world's largest soft-drink company. The company owns four of the top five soft-drink brands (Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Fanta and Sprite). Other brands include Minute Maid, Powerade and Dasani water. In North America it sells Groupe Danone's Evian. Outside of Australia, Europe and N. America, the company sells brands from the Dr. Pepper/ Snapple Group (Crush, Dr. Pepper and Schweppes). Coca Cola makes or licenses over 3,000 drinks in some 200 countries. It owns 32% of Mexico's bottler Coca-Cola FEMSA and 23% of European bottler Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling. In late 2010, it bought out its leading bottler, Coca-Cola Enterprises, and renamed it Coca-Cola Refreshments USA.

Ties to the American Legislative Exchange Council

Echols formerly sat on the Corporate ("Private Enterprise") Board of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).

About ALEC

ALEC is a corporate bill mill. It is not just a lobby or a front group; it is much more powerful than that. Through ALEC, corporations hand state legislators their wishlists to benefit their bottom line. Corporations fund almost all of ALEC's operations. They pay for a seat on ALEC task forces where corporate lobbyists and special interest reps vote with elected officials to approve “model” bills. Learn more at the Center for Media and Democracy's ALECexposed.org, and check out breaking news on our PRWatch.org site.