Sonoco Products Company announced senior leadership changes which became effective on January 3, 2025.
Jerry Cheatham, a 36-year finance leader within Sonoco, has been named interim Chief Financial Officer, replacing Chief Financial Officer Rob Dillard, who has departed the Company.
Mr. Cheatham has been Vice President of Global Finance for the Company’s Industrial Paper Packaging segment since December 2022 and previously served in several finance and accounting leadership roles since joining the Company in 1988. Mr. Cheatham holds a BS degree in Accounting from South Carolina State University and an EMBA from Vanderbilt University. The Company is undergoing a retained search for internal and external candidates to identify and select a permanent Chief Financial Officer.
Also reporting to Coker is Shawn Munday, Vice President of Strategic Finance. Mr. Munday has responsibilities for Sonoco’s global treasury, tax and mergers and acquisitions functions. Before joining Sonoco in 2022, he was professor of the practice of finance and Executive Director of the Institute for Private Capital at the University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School. Prior to that he was a managing director in the alternative assets group at Citigroup and served as a commissioned submarine officer in the U.S. Navy. He received his MBA from UNC Kenan-Flagler and a BS in electrical engineering from the United States Naval Academy.
John Florence, Sonoco’s General Counsel and Secretary, who has been serving as General Manager for the Company’s Converted Paper Products division in North America for the last three years, has been given the additional operational responsibilities over the Company’s North America Paper division. As General Counsel, Secretary and Vice President and General Manager of Industrial Paper Packaging, North America, Mr. Florence will continue to report to Coker for his legal responsibilities and to James Harrell, President, Industrial Paper Packaging, in his operational role.
Roger Schrum has been named interim Head of Investor Relations, replacing Lisa Weeks, Vice President of Investor Relations and Global Communications, who will leave the Company at the end of January 2025. Mr. Schrum returns to Sonoco after retiring in 2022 as Vice President of Investor Relations and Corporate Affairs following a 17-year career with the Company.
Sonoco Products Company is a global leader in high-value sustainable packaging.
