Commercial Banking Center Profile: Eugene

Heritage Bank’s New Eugene Office Off to a Fast Start

ARTICLE BY JOHN STEARNS

Image l. to r.: Kara McDaniel, Chad McDermott, Jeff Kister, Shanna Reichenberg, Heather Gabbert, Jamie Louie-Smith

Heritage Bank’s first Eugene office and its 11 staff—not unlike the speedy track athletes at nearby University of Oregon— have hit the ground running since the branch opened in August.

In Eugene, known as “Track Town USA,” the branch is the 50th full-service banking office in Heritage’s Northwest network.

“We have done a ton of events,” said Kara McDaniel, senior vice president, relationship banking team lead at the office at 149 W 12th Avenue, about 10 blocks west of the University of Oregon (UO) campus.

That included hosting a branch grand opening event on September 28 that drew more than 250 guests, plus attending and hosting numerous functions throughout the Lane County community. McDaniel said the office’s team of bankers has represented Heritage at more than 50 local events and nonprofit fundraisers in the market since the joining the bank in late May.

Heritage has been well received, she said. “I think the Eugene market knows the name Heritage Bank and we celebrate that because five months ago, nobody had heard of Heritage Bank, or at least very little,” McDaniel said in early November.

The Eugene office, in its short time open, has enjoyed success in both commercial loans and deposits, McDaniel said.

Commercial deals have included providing lending for new off-campus housing for UO students.

“There is a huge demand for student housing in Eugene and that’s something that Heritage Bank does well,” McDaniel said.

“We also have a lot of experience with the nonprofit sector and we worked really hard to be part of that community by being able to serve them through banking services,” she said.

Heritage’s community focus and willingness to give back was attractive to McDaniel and the five other banking officers who have worked together for many years at other banks. They all migrated to Heritage from a larger bank and before that worked at smaller community banks.

“Heritage seemed to have those same core values that we have all kind of grown up with, as far as making sure that we’re giving back to our community and knowing that any community that the bank is in, we want to make sure that we’re doing our part to make it as strong as possible,” said McDaniel, who’s worked in the Eugene market for 16 years.

“We’ve all worked in this community for quite a few years, we’re all very involved in different organizations and nonprofits within the Eugene market, so we’ve been allowed to really stay focused on the things that mean a lot to us, which is really great for Heritage Bank to allow us to do that,” she said.

The office has three commercial bankers who handle customers’ lending needs and are led by Shanna Reichenberger, a senior vice president. The team’s other bankers are Jamie Louie-Smith and Jeff Kister, also senior vice presidents. They specialize in manufacturing, commercial and industrial and health care lending. The office also has three relationship banking officers, led by McDaniel, who handle commercial customers’ dayto-day banking needs, from deposits to wiring money, or ACH payments, payroll transactions and other treasury needs for business clients. The team’s other bankers are Chad McDermott and Heather Gabbert, both vice presidents. They have longtime experience working with Eugene-area nonprofits, the legal sector and communitybased businesses.

Rounding out the team are assistant relationship banking officers Penny Shields and Ashley Mielenz; relationship banking analyst Leana Zdisheva; senior credit analyst Paul Kiesse; and loan production assistant Lalena Selander.

The team was drawn to Heritage for its size, culture and “making sure that we’re able to support our clients’ needs and advocate for our clients and really advocate for our community,” McDaniel said. “It was just a perfect alignment of what our values were, us as a small group of bankers, as well as what Heritage Bank represented, so it was a great fit.”

In addition to the team’s experience with student housing projects, Louie-Smith has experience in lending for the health care and dental sectors, which is a strong niche for Heritage overall, McDaniel said.

Manufacturing is Kister’s specialty and he and Reichenberger both work a lot in that sector, as well as with commercial contractors. Reichenberger also works with trucking companies.

As for community causes the bankers are involved in, the team sits on 24 boards and committees for nonprofits and local government agencies, McDaniel said, including Relief Nursery, United Way of Lane County, Looking Glass Community Services, Food for Lane County, Kids First, Springfield Education Foundation, Parenting Now, the EugeneSpringfield chapter of the nonprofit Risk Management Association and the city of Junction City, among others.

“We’re just excited to be at a community bank where we’re all focused on the same thing, which is building a brand and fitting in the culture piece as well—making sure that we’re here and we’re doing our best to advocate for our clients, for our community and for the bank,” McDaniel said.

BUSINESS IN EUGENE BY THE NUMBERS

Major industries: construction, healthcare, manufacturing, technology, food and beverage production, wood products startups

Major employers: Peace Health Corp, University of Oregon, Eugene 4J School District, U.S. Government, Oregon State Government, City of Eugene, Lane Community College

Statistics courtesy of Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce

ABOUT OUR COMMERCIAL TEAM

Combined banker experience: 162 years

Areas of expertise: Manufacturing, commercial and industrial, healthcare

CONTACT OR VISIT

149 West 12th Avenue Eugene, OR 97401 458.234.4800