WASHINGTON — April 15, 2024 — Can Manufacturers Institute (CMI) President Robert Budway today announced Tim Ebner will join the association as director of communications. Ebner will lead CMI’s annual strategic process for all internal and external communications programs. He will develop communication programs to protect and promote the industry’s interests to ensure the metal can is recognized as the superior sustainable package.
Ebner comes to CMI from the American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) where he served as the director of communications and press secretary overseeing media relations, and communications and marketing campaigns advancing the association’s leadership in sustainability.
He also serves as an active volunteer for the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) and previously worked as a senior editor of Associations Now where he covered association leadership, membership, marketing, and technology trends.
“Tim has a unique mix of experience both as a journalist and communications professional that will further advance and create new energy through effective communications on the metal can’s superior sustainability that reinforce or change purchasing and recycling behavior,” said Budway. “We are pleased to welcome Tim to the CMI team and look forward to his contributions.”
Prior to his role at AF&PA and ASAE, Ebner served in a variety of communications and journalism roles. This includes work as an editorial manager and content editor at Atlantic Media, publisher of The Atlantic, and his role leading the launch of e-books and digital publications at Editorial Projects in Education, publisher of Education Week.
Tim is also an award-winning food and travel writer. He was honored by the International Association of Culinary Professionals Food Writing Awards for his coverage in Edible DC magazine, and he actively contributes to Eater and Resy. He also served on the 2023 James Beard Awards voting body.
Ebner began his career working for Xenophon Strategies, a leading Washington, DC, public affairs firm specializing in issues management and crisis communications.
“I am thrilled to join the talented team at CMI where I will continue working to advance critical recycling priorities,” said Ebner. “I look forward to collaborating on CMI’s exciting initiatives and actions to shape the future of the metal package’s sustainability profile.”
Upon her retirement in early August, CMI’s Vice President of Marketing and Communications and Lead Strategy Officer Sherrie Rosenblatt said, “I am so pleased that we have secured Tim’s expertise to lead CMI’s communications department efforts to ensure that all stakeholders know the metal can industry’s commitment to manufacturing the best quality, most sustainable metal packaging.”
Ebner graduated cum laude from Fordham University in the Bronx, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in American and Spanish Studies. He earned a Master’s in Journalism from the University of Maryland in College Park and received the Gene Roberts Award and was recognized as an Eleanor Merrill Graduate Journalism Fellow.
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The Can Manufacturers Institute (CMI) is the national trade association of the metal can manufacturing industry and its suppliers in the United States. The can industry accounts for the annual domestic production of approximately 135 billion food, beverage, aerosol and general line cans; employs more than 28,000 people with plants in 33 states, Puerto Rico and American Samoa; and generates about $15.7 billion in direct economic activity.
Contact: Sherrie Rosenblatt, CMI’s vice president of marketing and communications | Phone: 202-329-0178 | Email: srosenblatt@cancentral.com