Columbia Banking System Inc
Our goal is to continue to be a leading Pacific Northwest regional community
banking company while consistently increasing shareholder value. We continue
to build on our reputation for excellent customer service in order to be recognized
as the bank of choice for retail customers and small to medium-sized businesses
in all markets we serve.
We have established a network of 149 branches in Washington, Oregon and Idaho
from which we intend to grow market share. We operate 74 branches in 21 counties
in the state of Washington, 59 branches in 16 counties in Oregon and 16 branches
in 10 counties in Idaho.
Our branch system funds our lending activities and allows for increased contact
with customers, better serving both retail and business depositors. We believe
this approach enables us to expand lending activities while attracting a stable
core deposit base and enhancing utilization of our full range of products and
services. To support our strategy of market penetration and increased profitability,
while continuing our personalized banking approach, we have invested in experienced
banking and administrative personnel and have incurred related costs in the
creation of our branch network. Our branch system and other delivery channels
are continually evaluated as an important component of ongoing efforts to improve
efficiencies without compromising customer service.
Our business strategy is to provide our customers with the financial sophistication
and product depth of a regional banking company while retaining the appeal and
service level of a community bank. We continually evaluate our existing business
processes while focusing on maintaining asset quality and a diversified loan
and deposit portfolio. We continue to build our strong core deposit base, expanding
total revenue and controlling expenses in an effort to gain operational efficiencies
and increase our return on average equity. As a result of our strong commitment
to highly personalized, relationship-oriented customer service, our varied products,
our strategic branch locations and the long-standing community presence of our
managers, banking officers and branch personnel, we believe we are well positioned
to attract and retain new customers and to increase our market share of loans,
deposits, investments, and other financial services. We are committed to increasing
market share in the communities we serve by continuing to leverage our existing
branch network, adding new branches in key locations and considering business
combinations that are consistent with our expansion strategy throughout the
Pacific Northwest. We have grown our franchise over the past decade through
a combination of acquisitions and organic growth.
We place the highest priority on customer service and assist our customers
in making informed decisions when selecting from the products and services we
offer. We continuously review our product and service offerings to ensure that
we provide our customers with the tools to meet their financial needs. A more
complete listing of all the services and products available to our customers
can be found on our website: www.columbiabank.com.