My Heritage: Jeff Kister

Full-Time Banker, Part-Time Tree Farmer & Proud Dad

You might say I have two “branch” offices.One is indoors at the new Heritage Bank Eugene, Oregon, branch, where I work as senior vice president-commercial banking officer. The other is outdoors at my in-laws’ Junction City, Oregon, tree farm, where each branch literally plays a supporting role (think lights and ornaments) in shaping the perfect Christmas tree.

During the holidays, I spend my weekends helping my wife’s parents, Mike and Judy Campbell, operate Campbell’s Tree Farm, which roars to life around Thanksgiving and doesn’t slow down until Christmas Day. It’s a u-pick, we-cut farm, but customers are welcome to use a handsaw to cut their own trees. Weekends are spent cutting, wrapping and loading trees for customers in all kinds of weather.

It’s hard work but people are in such a good mood. They’re appreciative and excited, especially the kids. It’s a fun industry. We have one month to achieve our annual sales goals so there’s a lot of energy expended to ensure everybody’s ready and performing to expectations.

Sometimes you’ll have one weekend where you sell 3,000 trees with only four or five of us working. We have a lot of fun, and you definitely sleep well those weekends. I also help occasionally other times of the year with tasks like fertilizing or replanting. I’ve tried the all-important job of pruning or shaping the trees, which is done with a machete-like tool. It’s an art form and I haven’t mastered that, so I leave shearing to the experts.

Campbell’s Tree Farm is a true family affair. My wife, Jody, and our three wonderful kids—daughter Jenna, 20, a junior at George Fox University; son Jaxson, 17, a senior at Junction City High School; and daughter Jordyn, 15, a sophomore at JCHS—all work during the holidays, too, making the farm a three-generation operation. My wife’s brother has younger kids who are learning about the farm, too.

My wife, who works as a 911 dispatcher for the Eugene Police Department, introduced me to the tree-farm business 22 years ago when we were married. The farm also grows hazelnuts.

Separately, we partnered with her parents to open a wholesale plant and tree nursery 12 years ago and later expanded into retail nursery sales, a side hustle for Jody and me. But in 2021, we sold that business.

Like farming, softball is also a family affair. My father-in-law, Mike Campbell, is longtime head coach of the Junction City High School varsity softball team. The day our oldest daughter, Jenna, was born, Mike gave her a softball that he signed with a message saying that he looked forward to coaching her someday. And he did.

Jenna played for her grandfather as a pitcher at JCHS before playing two years at Montana State University Billings, then transferring to George Fox, where she also plans to pitch.

Before challenging batters, Jenna had her own challenge to overcome. She was born with a rare chest cavity deformity, pectus excavatum, in which her sternum and breastbone were sunken into her chest, putting pressure on her lungs and heart, making it difficult to breathe and play sports. When she was 12, Shriners Children’s Portland placed a bar in her chest for three years to correct the problem. She’s been healthy and grateful ever since.

That process was so impactful to her that the moment she became healthy again, she wanted to give back to Shriners, which paid for the surgery.

Her idea: annual softball clinics to teach skills to girls— clinics taught by Jenna, her high school and college teammates and her grandfather. The annual clinic is free but any donations from players’ families go to Shriners Children’s. Jenna has led the camp for seven years, raised $8,000 so far and deserves full credit for it, but my wife and I help with some administrative tasks.

As foster parents, an organization we support includes CASA of Lane County for the amazing work it does for children coming from difficult family environments. I’ve volunteered at CASA’s annual casino-night fundraiser, working as a dealer the past eight years.

Similarly, I’m on the finance committee for Parenting Now, a nonprofit that provides parenting education and support to families with young children.

A professional organization I chair is the Eugene- Springfield chapter of the nonprofit Risk Management Association, which helps advance sound risk principles in financial services.

Heritage Bank supports its employees’ participation in community organizations, which is a big reason why I joined Heritage in May from another bank. I started in banking in 1998, working for two larger institutions before Heritage.

My wife and I have more of a rural community connection and we’ve passed that down to our kids, to give back to our communities. It’s something that Heritage seems really focused on. The culture they represent is that their employees are part of the company, so it really is this collaborative effort. That was extremely appealing and Heritage Bank’s brand has been well represented in every conversation I’ve had with colleagues from other banks.

Banking is an industry focused on bottom line. There are different paths you can take to achieve that success for shareholders, and in contrast to other banks, it seems like Heritage Bank focuses on keeping employees happy so they can do their jobs really well.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jeff has worked in banking for 24 years in both retail and commercial banking departments. This wide range of first-hand experience has enabled him to work efficiently with clients of various needs and specialties and find unique solutions to help them reach their financial goals.