Biography ~ Chuck Sawyer, RCOT President - 2018/19Born in 1958, Chuck first came to Tucson as a child in the early 60’s with his Air Force family living on base at Davis Monthan. After five moves, including a memorable year in the Philippines, the family returned to Tucson in 1974 and Chuck graduated from Catalina High School in 1976.
He went to the University of Oregon graduating with a double major in marketing and international studies. From there, Chuck went to the Thunderbird School of International Management in Phoenix, with a primary focus on finance and Spanish and earned a master’s in international management. Thunderbird is where Chuck met his wife Kathy who was also a student there. They will be married for 34 years this December.
For the next 20 years, Chuck and Kathy focused on corporate careers in New York City, Chicago and Kansas City. Chuck worked for Fortune 100 companies such as Colgate Palmolive, R.R. Donnelley and Hallmark, as well as a few start-up companies; Computerized Marketing Technologies and internet start-up CoolSavings. His focus was in marketing, sales and business development. Kathy worked for Eastman Kodak in sales and marketing and currently works for Watermark Retirement Communities at the Hacienda at the River in Tucson.
In 2004, Kathy and Chuck were able to move back to Tucson and open their own business, Cartridge World Tucson, an environmentally-focused international franchise started in Australia. The business focuses on helping customers save money on printer imaging and printer cartridge needs. The firm has a total of six retail outlets in the Tucson area, with their main retail store located in the Midstar Plaza at Broadway and Swan.
Chuck and Kathy are blessed to have three great kids: Kristen, Bennett and Hannah. Kristen, the eldest, is a world traveler and writer employed by National Geographic as a group expedition leader for high school and college students. In the next six months she will travel to the Fiji Islands, Costa Rica, Brazil, South Africa and India. Bennett lives in Chicago and works in client management for the financial firm, Standard & Poors. Hannah, the youngest, just graduated from college and is working in San Francisco, getting ready to take a post-graduation trip to Europe in August. The Sawyers also have a well-loved family pet, Scout, a Bernese Mountain dog. She is responsible for keeping this wayward pack in line.
