Paul S. Speranza Jr. is immediate past chairman of the board of directors of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. He served as U.S. Chamber vice chairman and regional vice chairman (eastern region), chairman of the Taxation Committee for nine years, and chairman of the Employee Benefits Committee for seven years. He is a member of the Executive Committee.

Speranza believes passionately in democracy, capitalism, freedom, opportunity, and hope for all. As an attorney, he believes that the rule of law is the cornerstone of society. Speranza recognizes that quality education can vastly improve people's lives, as was the case for both him and his family, and believes that economically disadvantaged children should have access to health care. Such success stories are not unique but, rather, the American dream, according to Speranza.

As chairman, Speranza addressed, worked with, and called to action state and local chambers, associations, other business groups, and civic and charitable organizations to advance pro-growth policies and programs. Speranza has three goals: first, improve education and workforce development, especially for the economically disadvantaged; second, improve health care affordability, quality, and access; and third, strengthen, coordinate, and focus the U.S. Chamber's initiatives to better align them with those of state and local chambers.

Wegmans Food Markets is a 70-store supermarket chain with stores in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, and Maryland. The family-owned company employs 35,000 workers and generates more than $4 billion in annual sales. Founded in 1916, Wegmans is recognized as an industry leader and innovator. In a front-page feature article, The Wall Street Journal quoted an industry expert who called "Wegmans the best food retailer in the country, maybe in the world." In 2007, the Food Network, in its first-ever awards show, gave Wegmans the award for the "grocery chain that has changed the way we shop," and BusinessWeek magazine 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 takes particular pride in the fact that Ethisphere Magazine named Wegmans one of the most ethical companies in the world based on the implementation of its code of ethics, how it handles litigation, its compliance with laws and regulations, and its leadership, among other criteria.

Speranza joined Wegmans in 1976, where he chairs a number of committees and is responsible for legal, tax, government relations, and labor relations, among other management duties. He is a member of the board of the Business Council of New York State, where he also serves as vice chairman of the Finance Committee and a member of the Executive and Policy Committee. He serves on the board of directors and the Executive Committee of the Rochester Business Alliance 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.

Speranza is past chairman of several boards, including Lifetime Health, Inc., a $5 billion Blue Cross Blue Shield company based in Upstate New York, where he worked on governance issues, education, and helped provide health care to economically disadvantaged children. He is also past chairman of Our Lady of Mercy High School, where he instituted a scholarship program for economically disadvantaged students, as well as the former chairman of the Food Marketing Institute Lawyers and Economists Committee.

Speranza is active in a number of business, civic, and professional organizations and is a speaker on business, legal, and civic matters. He is a member of the California, New York, Pennsylvania, Tax Court, Second Circuit Court of Appeals, and Supreme Court of the United States bars. 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), which is consistently ranked as the number one graduate tax program in the United States.