"I'm extremely proud and honored to be elected to lead such a great company," said Sanders, who is only the company's eighth CEO in its 114-year history. "Sonoco was founded on creativity, hard work, a spirit of innovation, and a focus on satisfying our customers while creating value for our shareholders. We want to continue building on past successes and defining a new future for this exceptional company."
A graduate of Louisiana State University with a B.S. degree in finance, Sanders joined Sonoco in 1988 as national sales and marketing manager for the company's Reels business. In 1992, he was asked to build and lead the development of Sonoco's new Protective Packaging business as its GM and in 1998 was promoted to division VP and GM.
Sanders was elected a corporate officer and named VP, Industrial Products, North America, in 2001. He was subsequently named VP, Global Industrial Products, in January 2006 and assumed responsibility for all Industrial Converting businesses as SVP in July 2007. In 2008, Sanders was named EVP, Industrial, with global operating responsibility for all of the company's businesses serving industrial markets, including Sonoco's tubes and cores, paper, reels, protective packaging, paperboard specialties, and recycling businesses. Prior to assuming his current position, Sanders served as the EVP of Sonoco's Global Consumer businesses, where he was responsible for Rigid Paper and Closures, Rigid Plastics, Flexible Packaging, and Display and Packaging.
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