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The Benefactor of the Ball
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His company, which has been through hard times and good times, has 475 employees and expected revenue of $150 million this year, he said. Stafford founded it in the late 1980s. The firm did an array of work for the likes of NASA, almost went bust in the 1990s, recovered and began specializing in training and weapons simulation devices for the military. It now provides systems that use lasers to simulate the effects of gunfire during exercises and recently supplied the military with simulated makeshift bombs that soldiers can use to train.
Stafford is a tall man with graying hair who wears cuff links, peers over gold-rimmed glasses and still recalls the kindness of a tough high school homeroom teacher who once took him home for dinner. "He invested in me," he said.
Stafford attends Alexandria's Alfred Street Baptist Church, one of the oldest African American churches in the country.
His undertaking will be complex.
"It will definitely be a challenge," Ralph B. Everett, president of the D.C.-based Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, said in an e-mail. "But if anyone can make this happen, it's Earl Stafford. . . . We are determined to do everything possible to help Earl achieve his vision."
Stafford said he began shopping around for a suitable inauguration venue months ago. He tried the Newseum and the Willard Hotel, and was considering a smaller suite at the Hay Adams Hotel when he read a newspaper story about the Marriott's package. "The price tag was pretty stiff, but we felt that that's what the Lord would have us to do," he said.
"There's a saying in the Bible," he said. "To whom much is given, much is required."
To learn more about the Stafford Foundation visit www.thestaffordfoundation.org.
Staff researcher Julie Tate contributed to this report.
