When Citizens was sold in 1996, “I believed there was a definite need for a community bank” and, Rushing noted, with Olivier he “formed an organizing committee and sold our stock in record time. Now, we have 40 employees, three branches, and are only one of the few banks in the state that is solidly in the black.”Rushing credits longtime area banker Joe Nesbitt with not only his interest in the bank, but for being the SCVB president/CEO for a year, after the departure of Steve Voelker. “Joe was so committed to a community bank that he took a year out of his life - and didn’t collect a salary - to ensure that we would continue to have a hometown bank,” with lending decisions made locally and customer service a top priority.Overall, Rushing admitted, “I’m pretty proud of birthing something,” a process that took hundreds of hours and more than a year. “I’m proud Don and I pulled if off and that SCVB has been supporting the community” and its financial needs, as well as charitable organizations. “I feel my legacy down the road is SCVB is still going,” Rushing noted, “even when I’m not.”According to President/CEO Michael D. Hause, 2001 deposits are now hovering over $103 million. “Strong banks that are going to be in control going forward are the ones that stayed away” from the frenzied real estate market and its non-conventional loan practices. “SCVB is very strong,” and its policies will only cause the bank to “benefit from the current malaise” in the banking sector.The success of SCVB is due to the “passion of our bankers who love what they do and to serve our customers. We continue to get referral upon referral upon referral... we’ve had four so far this week,” Hause noted Tuesday. “It’s awesome, major businesses in the region we are talking to.... We feel very strong and proud of how we have contributed to the financial well-being of many businesses. We have money to lend and help our businesses thrive and grow... we’re very proud of that.”
|
Mayor Bob Gonzales presented a Proclamation from the City of Santa Paula, celebrating the 10th anniversary of Santa Clara Valley Bank, to Chairman of the Board Guy Cole and President/CEO Mike Hause (photo by Debbie Johnson). |
Santa Clara Valley Bank celebrates a decade of community banking
December 17, 2008
Santa Paula News
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula TimesSome initially said it couldn’t be done, but Santa Clara Valley Bank (SCVB) reached its 10-year anniversary as the community bank, opened in the wake of the purchase of the city’s then-only hometown financial outlet.After Citizens State Bank - which had opened only a few days before the stock market crash of 1929 - was purchased by Santa Barbara Bank & Trust, an organization effort led by Don Olivier and Scott Rushing led to the opening of SCVB - headquartered on East Main Street in Santa Paula - on December 1, 1998. The bank has branch offices in Fillmore and Valencia, reflecting its vow to primarily serve residents and businesses within the Santa Clara River Valley area.Ten years later the anniversary milestone was celebrated at a reception held at Logsdon’s, where founder and Chairman Emeritus Don Olivier was among those who addressed the large crowd. Olivier noted that initially he and Scott Rushing “spent hundreds of hours encouraging people to start a new community bank in Santa Paula.... When Citizens closed we wouldn’t have a hometown bank, just branches of other, larger banks.”The result of such discussions led to more than 100 bank founders, “which helped with the monetary part of the bank, and then we sold 4.5 million shares in six weeks,” a feat Olivier said “must be a record.” SCVB has “been growing ever since... my goal was that we would have $100 million in deposits in 10 years, and we reached that before the decade. It was my personal goal and made me feel very good.”Olivier credited customer service for much of the bank’s success. “At this time we have wonderful people working for us; customers are called by their first names and treated wonderfully by staff, and as long as that continues the bank will continue to grow.”Rushing said the continuing success of SCVB is especially notable in today’s economy. “We made a wise decision not to make residential loans,” but rather to concentrate on commercial lending, “helping the businesses,” an early policy that has kept SCVB financially viable while benefiting the community’s overall economic stability.Subsequently, “We’re not experiencing anything close to what other banks are facing,” said Rushing. The eight-member SCVB Board of Directors is “very committed... there are eight of us with different points of view, but we hang together, can discuss differences but be reasonable, and always come to a consensus of where to go.”
