WASHINGTON – Tom Buis, Chief Executive Officer of Growth Energy, announced today that the renewable-energy advocacy group has named Christopher Thorne as the company’s Director of Public Affairs, responsible for message, strategic communications and media relations.
“Chris knows the Hill. He knows how best to serve the needs of news reporters inside the Beltway as well as outside the Beltway, and he knows how to communicate effectively to decision-makers as well as to the wider public,” Buis said. “As Growth Energy broadens the conversation over ethanol’s place in a renewable energy future, Chris will be responsible for making sure we are talking to the right people, at the right time, and saying the right things.”
Thorne, 41, is a veteran of both Capitol Hill and journalism. He is leaving the staff of Senator Kent Conrad, D-ND, where he served as Senior Advisor for Public Affairs and Communications. Previously, he worked for Sen. Conrad in the posts of Communications Director and Deputy Communications Director.
Prior to joining Conrad’s staff, Thorne wrote for the Associated Press (AP) in Washington, DC. He also served the AP as a correspondent in Delaware and Illinois, and as a newsman in the AP’s Albany, NY, bureau. Earlier in his career, he worked for The (Middletown, NY) Times Herald-Record, then a 100,000-circulation daily in New York’s Hudson Valley.
A native of Philadelphia, Thorne resides in Silver Spring, MD, with his wife and two children. He is a graduate of Pace University’s College of White Plains (NY), with a major in journalism and political science.
“I’m really humbled. Growth Energy is giving me an enormous opportunity to join the movement to make America more energy independent and invigorate our rural economy,” Thorne said.
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About Growth Energy
Growth Energy is a group committed to the promise of agriculture and growing America’s economy through cleaner, greener energy. Growth Energy members recognize America needs a new ethanol approach. Through smart policy reform and a proactive grassroots campaign, Growth Energy promotes reducing greenhouse gas emissions, expanding the use of ethanol in gasoline, decreasing our dependence on foreign oil, and creating American jobs at home. More information can be found at GrowthEnergy.org.