Colleen Wegman

President and CEO, Wegmans Food Markets

Years in current role: 5

What are your expectations for 2022?

That it’s better than 2021! We see positive trends emerging that we are excited about — a heightened focus on health and wellbeing, a desire to come together to celebrate with great food, and a growing passion for social responsibility, including how products are grown. We see people making decisions through a set of values and a commitment to doing the right thing and we are working hard to make that easy for our customers.

What is your biggest takeaway from dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic?

The importance of remaining agile and collaborative. We operate with a continuous improvement mindset; always learning and improving. That’s been more important over the past two years than ever before. Everyone in our company has had to come together to find solutions to the many challenges we’ve faced throughout the pandemic. I am so proud of our people and how they continue to give their best every day.

What is your favorite thing about the Rochester community?

Our community’s generosity. We are fortunate to call Rochester — one of the most giving communities — home. There is a genuine kindness and sense of caring that runs deep throughout this community. The collaborative nature and willingness of so many to come together to address the needs of our community is one of our greatest strengths.

If time were no issue, what would you do to help the community that you aren’t already doing?

Making a difference in every community we serve is part of who we are. Through our support of Foodlink, United Way of Greater Rochester, and hundreds of local community organizations large and small, we are focused on helping our neighbors in need. In 2022 and beyond, we’ll continue that support, while also focusing our efforts on key areas where we can have the greatest impact — health, education and support of our youth, and economic mobility.

This profile is part of Rochester Business Journal's Power 100 list for 2022. Information used in this profile was sourced from the honoree. View the full list at rbj.net.