Independent Banker - May 2019 - 39

Q&A
Neil D. Grossnicklaus, CEO,
Willamette Valley Bank
Q: You have an extensive offering of home loan
programs. How does
this niche help your
profitability ratios?
A:
on its list of Best Large Companies to Work For in
Oregon in 2019.
We're a community
bank primarily, with
a commercial real estate loan
portfolio. It's a conservative
portfolio, so we supplement
it with fee income from our
mortgage business. We off er
conventional mortgages,
FHA mortgages, USDA/rural
mortgages, VA mortgages,
Jumbo mortgages, HARP, Fannie Mae's HomeReady
loan program, and residential construction loans for
the individual or for the builder constructing a home
for their client.
It's uncommon for a bank our size to do as many
mortgages as we do. Last year, we did more than 3,200
mortgages totaling $740 million, which is a signifi cant
number for a small bank.
We have four traditional banking branches within a
20-mile circle on the western side of Oregon, but we
have a dozen home loan centers around the Northwest,
including in Washington and Idaho. We tend to be
in small communities and not compete in the larger
markets, which has a large impact on our profi tability.
Q: Why is that?
In the smaller communities, personal
relationships tend to be stronger. It's easier
to stand out in a smaller community if you have good
people who give good service-whereas you sometimes
get lost in a large metropolitan area or on the internet,
where people are just shopping for price only.
We're known for taking care of the customer,
sticking with them to get the transaction done. We
do surveys of all of our customers to see how well we
do. I'm very gratifi ed with a lot of the really glowing
comments-that [the process] took very little time or
that we solved a diffi cult problem for them.
Q: What else sets you apart?
A:
We try to make this a fun place to work. Our
Idaho operation came fi fth in Best Places to
Work in Idaho, and Oregon Business put us at No. 12
A:
NEW ENTRANT
#11
Willamette Valley Bank
Salem, Ore.
Assets: $261.1 million
3-yr average ROA: 3.12%
willamettevalleybank.com
This does translate into high performance. Our
turnover is less because of high employee engagement
and morale. The customers who bank with us like our
people, whether it's on the commercial or mortgage
side of the bank. Our employees are very active in
their communities and are highly thought of. Happy
employees translate into happy customers, and that
translates into higher profi tability for the institution.
Katie Kuehner-Hebert is a writer in California.
Less than $300 million in assets
Rank Bank name
1 CBW Bank
2 Independence Bank
City
Weir
East
Greenwich
Parker
State
KS
RI
3 The Philadelphia Trust Company Philadelphia PA
4 Champion Bank
5 Central Bank of Kansas City
6 Bank of Montana
7 FinWise Bank
8 Nebraska State Bank
9 Town & Country Bank
10 PrinsBank
11 Willamette Valley Bank
12 Bank of Morton
13 Home Bank of California
14 State Bank of Wheaton
15 Brazos National Bank
16 Douglas National Bank
17 Cumberland Security Bank, Inc.
18 The National Bank of Andrews
19 Prime Bank
20 Coff ee County Bank
21
22 Security State Bank
23 Bank of Glen Ullin
24 Security State Bank
25 Central State Bank
Farmers and Merchants Bank of
Kendall
CO
Kansas City MO
Missoula MT
Sandy
Oshkosh
UT
NE
Las Vegas NV
Prinsburg MN
Salem
Morton
OR
MS
San Diego CA
Wheaton MN
Richwood
TX
Douglas GA
Somerset
Andrews
KY
TX
Edmond OK
Manchester TN
Kendall
WI
Cheyenne OK
Glen Ullin ND
Sutherland
Clayton
IA
IL
3-yr
average ROA
7.70
7.20
6.64
5.03
4.24
4.20
4.04
3.90
3.74
3.66
3.12
3.02
2.95
2.87
2.83
2.74
2.74
2.73
2.66
2.65
2.62
2.62
2.57
2.56
2.56
independentbanker.org Q 39
http://www.willamettevalleybank.com http://www.independentbanker.org
Independent Banker - May 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Independent Banker - May 2019
