Paul S. Speranza Jr. Elected Chairman of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

WASHINGTON, DC—The United States Chamber of Commerce's board of directors today elected Paul S. Speranza Jr. chairman for 2007. The U.S. Chamber is the world's largest business federation representing more than 3 million businesses and organizations of every size, sector, and region. Speranza is vice chairman, general counsel, and secretary of Wegmans Food Markets, Inc.

"Paul is a leader of leaders and brings high-level experience, energy, passion, and creativity to this position, and he knows how to get things done," said Chamber President and CEO Tom Donohue. "He will be an extremely effective advocate for the Chamber." As chairman, Speranza will address, work with, and call to action state and local chambers, associations, other business groups, and civic and charitable organizations to advance pro-growth policies and programs. He is particularly interested in education and workforce development, especially for the economically disadvantaged, and in the quality, affordability, and accessibility of health care.

Wegmans is a 70-store supermarket chain with stores in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, and Maryland. The company employs 35,000 workers and generates more than $4 billion in annual sales. This family-owned company, founded in 1916, is recognized as an industry leader and innovator. In 2007, Ethisphere magazine named Wegmans as one of the "World's Most Ethical Companies," and the Food Network, in its first-ever awards show, gave Wegmans the award for the "grocery chain that has changed the way we shop." Also this year, BusinessWeek named Wegmans number five on its customer service champion list. For the last 10 years, Wegmans has been on FORTUNE magazine's list of the "100 Best Companies to Work For." In each of the last three years, Wegmans has been ranked number one in the over 10,000 employee category.

Speranza joined Wegmans in 1976 and is responsible for legal, government relations, and tax and labor relations, among other management duties. He is a former Chamber vice chairman and regional vice chairman (East). He served for nine years as chairman of the Chamber's Tax Committee and for seven years as chairman of the Employee Benefits Committee. Speranza is a member of the board of the Business Council of New York State, where he also serves as vice chairman-finance, and is a member of the Executive and Policy Committee. In addition, he represents the Business Council on the U.S. Chamber board. He serves on the board of directors and the Executive Committee of the Rochester Business Alliance (the Rochester chamber of commerce) and also chairs its Business Advocacy/Community Issues Committee. Speranza is a member of the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance Taxpayer Advisory Council. He is active in numerous business, civic, and professional organizations and is a frequent speaker on business, legal, and civic topics.

Speranza is a graduate of Eastridge High School (1965), Syracuse University (B.S., 1969), the University of San Francisco (J.D., 1971), and New York University (LL.M. in Taxation, 1972). He is a member of the bars of California, New York, Pennsylvania, the Tax Court, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, and the Supreme Court of the United States.

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