For community banks in the South Silicon Valley, it’s all about
the relationships.
That’s how Miles Takeda of Morgan Hill’s South Valley National
Bank branch summed up the company’s devotion to customers and the
community.
For community banks in the South Silicon Valley, it’s all about the relationships.
That’s how Miles Takeda of Morgan Hill’s South Valley National Bank branch summed up the company’s devotion to customers and the community.
And that’s precisely how all three area banks – one each in Gilroy, Morgan Hill and Hollister – go about doing their business.
Although the stereotypical bank of old may be as much a relic as “It’s a Wonderful Life,” executives from all three of these institutions say they strive to strut the image of maintaining an immersed local pride.
Moreover, they try doing that while being owned by a much larger corporation. South Valley National Bank branches in Morgan Hill and Gilroy and San Benito Bank in Hollister are all part of Pacific Capital Corp.
As mergers have become a common part of the banking industry, First National Bank acquired all of them about seven years ago, and Pacific Capital Corp. followed up shortly after with a purchase of the three.
“We have the image of being a local bank,” said Brigitte Nicholls, client relationship manager at the Gilroy branch.
“We still make local decisions,” she said.
It seems they work hard to maintain that presence in all three communities, even while under the watch of a larger corporation. And to compete with the national chains, Nicholls said, they still offer “all the bells and whistles of a big bank.”
South Valley National Bank celebrated its 20th anniversary last August, and San Benito Bank will celebrate its 20th birthday this September.
One of the keys, according to the bank leaders, is a continual effort by their staffs to get involved in happenings around town. Jeff Perkins, out of the Morgan Hill branch, called it a “commitment to the community.”
And for that allegiance, two of the banks – Morgan Hill and in Hollister – were voted as 2003 service organizations of the year in their respective jurisdictions.
Perkins said bank officers are on an array of, if not all, nonprofit organizations’ boards in the three communities.
“(If there’s) anything going on, chances are there will be someone on the board (there),” Perkins said.
Nicholls recently finished her term in 2003 as the president of the Gilroy Chamber of Commerce. She said that experience was a privilege and allowed her to work more closely with community leaders.
“We are involved with the community so deep. … That is what we’re known for,” she said.
Will Sutton, senior vice president at San Benito Bank, said the notion of being a community-focused bank is not just an image. It’s reality.
“For some, it’s talk and not the walk,” Sutton said. “But we really practice the walk here.”
He pointed out how most of – if not all – bank employees live in San Benito County, which is something the company promotes within its ranks. That means, he said, all their salaries and families’ incomes are circulated right back into the local economy, he said.
Plus, he said, the average employee stays at San Benito Bank for more than 10 years.
Another way they continually support local businesses is through the commercial lending aspect of the business, the leaders said. With a local customer base and being so close to most of their clients, they’re ready to tend to whatever needs or problems arise.
“We take pride in the fact that we maintain a local customer base,” Nicholls said.
The banking industry has actually lessened its focus on commercial lending, according to Nicholls, and grown in the retail banking end – in other words, everyday individuals’ accounts.
“That’s the market we are working with,” Nicholls said.
Perkins heads the commercial lending operations at the Morgan Hill branch. His focus, he said, is the business community. His “middle market commercial lending” division deals with any company earning $5 million or more in revenue a year.
“Our role is to know our customers,” Perkins said.
