JIM WALLACE, executive vice president and chief operating officer for BayCoast Bank, was recently presented with the Roger Valcourt Outstanding Citizen Award by the One SouthCoast Chamber of Commerce during a special dinner at White’s of Westport. The award was named in memory of Roger Valcourt, a local who bestowed great character and commitment to the community along with a reputation for excellence who died suddenly in 1979. Wallace, who began his banking career in 1982, has been a longtime supporter of community initiatives in southeastern Massachusetts.
What does receiving the Valcourt Award mean to you? I am truly honored to be receiving this award considering who the award is named after and the list of the past 56 recipients. Roger Valcourt … was a person of great character and was committed to the Fall River community. I am the third officer at BayCoast to receive the award [after] Zelma Braga in 2009 and [BayCoast Bank CEO and President] Nicholas Christ in 2017. To be included with both individuals is very rewarding.
What was the impetus of you wanting to devote your time to help the local community? I came to work in the Fall River community in April 1990 at Citizens-Union Savings Bank, now known as BayCoast Bank, and have worked for Nick [Christ] for the past 33 years. Nick encouraged me and every employee to give back to the community. He suggested that I volunteer as an allocations committee member at the United Way of Great Fall River, which I began serving in January 1991. My youngest son has down syndrome, so I have also been involved with organizations and sports teams that support individuals with developmental disabilities. Special Olympics, Down Memorial Baseball Challenger Division, Downey Memorial Special Needs Basketball and The Arc of Greater Plymouth, to name a few.
In what ways have you helped the United Way of Great Fall River as a board and finance committee member? I have volunteered with the United Way of Great Fall River for 32 years and am still actively involved. I first served as an allocations committee member for 10 years before joining the board of directors in 2001 and becoming the allocations committee chair for an additional seven years. Over the last 21 years, I have been a member of the finance committee, served as board chair from 2009 to 2012, finance committee chair for seven nonconsecutive years and [an] endowment committee member for eight years.
What other areas or initiatives are you working on to support the community? The United Way gives out food grants each year around this time; the goal this year was to raise $80,000 to match last year’s total. The United Way was short $30,000 because of some one-time donations last year. I volunteered to solicit other banks and companies to raise that shortfall. The Foundation to Advance Catholic Education held its 29th annual FACE Fall Scholarship Dinner on Nov. 9. This event enabled FACE to provide scholarships so that everyone has the opportunity of attending one of their schools.
