'We’ve got to go out and help people': Carl Sawejko to be named citizen of the year

SOMERSET — Carl Sawejko says the local chamber of commerce practically had to trick him into accepting their outstanding citizen of the year award.

“We went to lunch at Harry’s, and after eating they said, ‘You know why we’re here. You can’t say no,’” he said, referring to Harry’s Restaurant in downtown Fall River where Sawejko had been invited by Mike O’Sullivan and Rick Kidder, the dual CEOs of One SouthCoast Chamber in Fall River and New Bedford.

The award that will be presented to Sawejko this month at White’s of Westport is officially known as the Roger Valcourt Memorial Outstanding Citizen of the Year Award.

Among those scheduled to be in attendance that night is Gov. Charlie Baker.

The chamber of commerce award pays tribute each year to a business or community leader with a track record of volunteerism and community leadership. It was named in honor of Roger Valcourt, who owned an industrial supply company in Fall River, after his death in 1979.

"It really is an incredible honor," said O'Sullivan.

He said it's not uncommon for someone who has been selected for the Valcourt outstanding citizen award to try to decline the honor.

"They're not looking for any recognition," O'Sullivan said.

Sawejko, who was born in Fall River but grew up and continues to reside in Swansea, is president of Sawejko Enterprises in Somerset.

The company, which he started in 1982, now consists of 12 telephone system and alarm service companies in Somerset, Fall River, Swansea, Dighton, Taunton, Westport, Fairhaven and Hyannis.

Known for his community involvement

During the past four decades Sawejko has become a familiar face in terms of local community involvement.

He’s been involved for a quarter-century with Fall River’s Diman Regional Vocational High School, having served on both the alumni and “hall of fame” committees; on the committee that sought and evaluated a new superintendent; and more recently on the building committee for what eventually will be a new and larger school.

Sawejko, 63, is currently president of the Diman Bengal Foundation, which he helped found. He also received an honorary diploma from Diman in 2006 and a year later was inducted into the school’s hall of fame.

For the past 15 years he’s coordinated emergency management services for Swansea’s police and fire departments as well as the town’s emergency management services.

He serves as president of Swansea Ambulance Corps, which provides 911 medical rescue services, is a member of the town’s COVID-19 task force and in 2014 was named Swansea Citizen of the Year.

Sawejko also is president of the Southeastern Massachusetts Emergency Management Directors Association.

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His community involvement has also included assisting the city of Fall River in designing and implementing a new wireless fire-alarm monitoring system for all municipal buildings as well as businesses.

After 11 years as president of Fall River’s Battleship Cove Museum, Sawejko stepped aside in 2019 and subsequently was bestowed with the title of president emeritus.

Since that time he’s served on the board of directors for the Fall River Salvation Army and had previously donated a phone and public address system to the Swansea Salvation Army store and donation center.

He’s also a board member of One SouthCoast Chamber.

In 2017 Sawejko donated a 24-hour phone line and answering service to the Fall River Opioid Task Force Project ReConnect program, and in January of 2021 he donated a new $4,000 phone system to the city’s Forever Paws animal shelter.

Sawejko, who has no children but has been involved in a personal relationship with the same woman for more than 30 years, credits his late parents for his relentless work ethic and commitment and dedication to worthy causes.

“My parents were very active in their church and the community and always said that we’ve got to go out and help people. They sort of instilled it in us,” he said, referring to himself and his younger brother Jeff, who works as an electrical contractor.

A career path of his own

Sawejko said his father worked as an electrical foreman until his retirement at the former Montaup Electric Company power plant in Somerset. His mother, he said, was a clothing designer at the former Anderson-Little clothing manufacturer and retailer in Fall River.

Before heading off to college Sawejko says he asked his father to get him a job at the power plant but he refused.

“He said it was a dead-end job,” Sawejko said.

He founded Sawejko Communications in 1982 on South Main Street in Fall River’s South End while attending the Rhode Island Institute of Technology in Providence.

After graduating, Sawejko joined the faculty first as its coordinator and then as dean of students. He left in 1986 to devote his energies to his telephone company.

“In the early '80s you had 200 phone systems,” Sawejko said, referring to the era before New England Telephone merged with New York Telephone in 1984 to form NYNEX, which in 1997 was acquired by Bell Atlantic and eventually became known as Verizon.

“I always had a great working relationship with the telephone company,” he said, referring to New England Telephone. “They gave me the contract for the rental phone store on South Main Street.”

Sawejko says nearly every business acquisition he’s made has involved an owner who either wanted to retire or simply wanted to get out of the alarm and answering service business.

“I found out that the way to grow in this sort of business is to buy out your competition when the time comes for them to leave. I actually end up helping them,” he said.

Soft spot for newspapers

Sawejko says he’s always appreciated local newspapers, including The Herald News.

He said for at least 10 years he made a habit of delivering candy and sweets for Christmas to Herald News employees when the newsroom was still located on Pocasset Street.

“I truly believe that everything I’ve been able to accomplish in helping the community is because of the newspapers getting the word out,” he said.

Sawejko says it was the late Rev. Robert Lawrence, who died in 2018, who began the long-running holiday tradition of bringing candy into the Fall River newsroom.

“I considered him my mentor even though I was Catholic and Bob wasn’t. He was very active in the community,” Sawejko said.

Charles Winokoor may be reached at cwinokoor@heraldnews.com. Support local journalism and subscribe to The Herald News today.

This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Sawejko chosen by chamber of commerce as outstanding citizen of year