Paul Speranza, Jr., past Chairman of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, to receive 2009 Corning Award

• by Business Council of New York State

ALBANY, NY (09/21/2009)(readMedia)-- Paul Speranza, Jr., the Vice-Chairman, General Counsel and Secretary of Wegmans Food Markets, will receive The Business Council of New York State's Corning Award for Excellence for 2009.

Speranza will accept the award Wednesday, September 30, at The Business Council's Annual Meeting at the Radisson Hotel Rochester Riverside.

The Corning Award is sponsored by Corning Incorporated. The Council gives the award each year to a New Yorker who has shown outstanding accomplishment and a deep and sustained commitment to the people of New York. The first Corning Award was presented in 1979.

In addition to his career at Wegman's, which began in 1976 when he was hired to create an in-house legal department, Speranza has been a leader in business organizations at the local, state and federal level.

He has served as the Chairman of the Board of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the world's largest business organization with more than three million members. He also serves on the executive board and as Treasurer of The Business Council and as an executive board member of the Rochester Business Alliance. He leads RBA's Health Care Planning Team.

"Paul is a connector and a coalition-builder. He is great at pulling together diverse people and groups and rallying them to a common cause. His vision, creativity and can-do spirit help all of us in the business community work together more effectively," said Kenneth Adams, president and CEO of The Business Council. "When needed Paul also reaches out to faith-based organizations, organized labor and civic groups to address community needs. If there is someone out there who can help the team, Paul will always get them involved."

Speranza has shown a deep commitment to improving health care availability and affordability and education and job-training programs for disadvantaged youth.

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