Photo Courtesy of Oregon Community Bank
Sponsored by Oregon Pacific Bank
Money Matters: Oregon Pacific Bank’s community legacy
By Kelli Warner & Paul Johnson
Oregon Pacific Bank’s mission began in 1979 with five people operating out of a single-wide mobile home in Florence. They set out to fulfill a need that was missing in the community.
“The small town of Florence at the time was controlled largely by regional banks and there was a lost sense of relationship and service, and these five businesspeople thought we could create that by having a bank that is committed to the community,” says Ron Green, President and CEO of Oregon Pacific Bank.
Today, Oregon Pacific is the longest-serving community bank in Lane County and serves communities around the state with branches in Florence, Eugene, Roseburg, Coos Bay, and Medford, and in 2023 it opened a commercial loan office in Portland.
Oregon Pacific Bank has sustained its nearly 45-year legacy by continuing to operate on its founding principles—local, personal service and a commitment to community.
“You’re getting your own unique team that knows you well and understands your business and is willing to continue learning and growing with you and your business over time,” says Vicki Gray, Relationship Banking Team Leader at the bank’s Eugene Branch.
As Oregon Pacific has grown through the years, it has stayed true to what makes it strong. Before the great recession of 2008, there were 41 community banks headquartered in Oregon. Today there are only about 15.
Oregon Pacific Bank’s success and longevity can be attributed to attracting and investing in exemplary employees, empowering its employees to make decisions at the local level, and creating responsive relationships with clients.
“They can call, and they know they’re talking to someone who’s familiar with what they’re up to, familiar with them, familiar with their business and can offer a solution,” says Mike Webb a Commercial Relationship Manager at Oregon Pacific Bank’s Florence Branch.
Deena Gisholt, a Team Leader and Commercial Relationship Manager at the Coos Bay Branch, says the relationships we build with clients extend to the community as a whole. “I feel that we’re different in that we really, truly are a community bank,” she says. “Every dollar that you bring in and deposit with me, I’m loaning out in the same community.”
While Oregon Pacific Bank has expanded over the past four decades, its primary goal has never changed: to help businesses and nonprofits succeed and to reinvest in the communities it serves.
“When business owners call me and say I probably couldn’t have survived these last three years if it wasn’t for your organization, that’s impactful for them and honestly, it’s impactful for us,” he says. “We realize we’re doing the right thing.”
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