Thomas J Collamore

Immediately before joining the Chamber in October 2007, Collamore served as chief operating officer of the Friends for Fred Thompson Committee. Before that, he spent 14 years with Altria Group, Inc., as vice president of Corporate Public Affairs. There he was responsible for the strategy, direction, and management of the company’s public policy, public affairs, charitable and political giving programs, and outreach to important external stakeholders. He directed the departments that handled Corporate Strategy and Social Responsibility, Corporate Contributions, External Affairs, Corporate Identity, Environmental Affairs, and Agricultural Relations. Collamore previously served as chief of staff and assistant secretary of Commerce in the George H.W. Bush administration. He represented the secretary before the White House, federal agencies, Congress, and private industry and oversaw the implementation and administration of department policies and programs. Collamore earlier served as assistant secretary of Commerce for administration. In this position, he served as the secretary’s principal advisor on management issues and as the department’s chief financial officer. His responsibilities included budget, organization, personnel, administrative services, grants management, and finance and accounting for the approximately $3 billion agency. Collamore was also a member of the President’s Council on Management Improvement and served as chairman of the council’s Committee on Government Operations. For these positions, Collamore was nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. Collamore served in the White House on former Vice President Bush’s senior staff from 1985 to 1989. From 1987 to 1989, he was assistant to the vice president for Operations. He also served as liaison to the transition offices of the president-elect and the vice president-elect from 1988 to 1989. He was deputy assistant to the vice president and staff secretary from 1985 to 1987. During that time, Collamore traveled with Bush, visiting more than 30 countries and all 50 states, and served as a senior traveling aide throughout the campaign for president, culminating in Bush’s 1988 election. Collamore was special assistant to Secretary of Commerce Malcolm Baldrige from 1981 to 1985. He received the Commerce Gold Medal Award for Distinguished Achievement in the Federal Service in 1985. Collamore is on the board of Citymeals-on-Wheels of New York; the Silver Shield Foundation of New York; the Public Affairs Council; the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s National Chamber Foundation; the Imagination Stage in Bethesda, Maryland; the Advisory Board of the National Domestic Violence Hotline in Austin, Texas; and the Advisory Board of the George Bush Presidential Library in College Station, Texas. He is chairman of the board of the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Washington, D.C. Collamore also serves on the board of trustees of the Foundation for the Benedictine School for Exceptional Children in Ridgely, Maryland. A native of Connecticut, Collamore graduated from Kingswood-Oxford School in West Hartford, where he serves on the board of trustees. He graduated magna cum laude from Drew University, where he previously served on the board of trustees and currently serves on the board of visitors. Collamore resides in Chevy Chase, Maryland, with his wife, Jacqueline, and their four children.