Versatility and volunteerism Hallmarks of Heritage’s Yakima & Toppenish Lenders

BY JOHN STEARNS

Similar to the neighboring farmers who produce Central Washington’s bountiful crops, Laura Terrazas and the Yakima area commercial banking team work hard to sow success—from helping local businesses grow to strengthening community safety nets through nonprofit support.

“A lot of times, people are very defined on what type of lending they do, and we wear many hats around here,” said Terrazas, senior vice president-commercial banking team leader for Heritage Bank’s two Yakima branches in downtown, Union Gap and one in nearby Toppenish. “We can do any type of lending; any of us can do it,” including agriculture, commercial and industrial, owner-occupied real estate and nonprofits.

If the bankers don’t know the answer or how to underwrite a customer’s needs, they can tap experts elsewhere in Heritage’s tri-state network to help. The Yakima-Toppenish team is also cultivating more business in south-central Washington’s Tri-Cities: Kennewick, Pasco and Richland.

Terrazas’s commercial lending team knows the Central Washington region well, leveraging their years of experience living and working there. Terrazas and her six colleagues—Dawn Williams and Steven Gustafson, both vice presidents and commercial banking officers; Shanna Barnhart and Alex Richardson, credit analysts; and Irene Baker and Susana Maria, loan production assistants—have a combined 110 years in banking, with 78 of those years at Heritage or Central Valley Bank, which was a division of Heritage starting in 1999 before its merger with Heritage was completed in 2013. Each team member averages 11 years with the bank. Baker leads the pack with 27 years in-house.

“I think that says a lot about the bank itself and how it treats its employees and that we’re happy here,” Terrazas said of the team’s tenure at Heritage.

The Yakima-Toppenish offices include another 18 people, counting those in the three nearby branches.

Terrazas, Williams and Gustafson were each working on a nonprofit loan in late March when this story was written.

One was bridge financing for the YWCA of Yakima, which has been serving the community since 1909 and assisted more than 14,000 people last year. With YWCA’s current facility at capacity, it turned away more than 1,000 families last year. It will convert the former St. Elizabeth’s School of Nursing building into an emergency shelter with an additional 41 bedrooms and 112 beds, including a separate men’s suite of eight beds. Through grants and a capital campaign, YWCA had raised more than 85% of the project’s costs as of early April. Heritage will provide bridge financing for the balance of costs.

Another is a loan for a larger and centralized commercial kitchen in Yakima for People for People to consolidate meal preparation and distribution for the Meals on Wheels program for seniors, as well as provide onsite dining and socialization for seniors. People for People, which cooks more than 178,000 meals annually, now makes the food at three community centers. As with the YWCA, the loan will bridge whatever is needed to finance the kitchen beyond grants and fundraising. People for People had raised 70% toward its $2.79 million goal as of April 5, according to its website.

The bank has also provided a couple bridge loans recently for the Toppenish School District to cover solar power and lighting projects until the district receives state grant funding for the work, a type of specialized lending the bank has been expanding.

On the business front, Gustafson recently booked a flooring line of credit for a used car dealership that previously used another bank before transitioning to Heritage. Flooring lines are used by auto dealers to buy vehicles at auction, for example, with the credit line paid off as the vehicles are sold. The dealer, happy with Heritage’s service, moved its entire banking relationship, Terrazas said.

“As you can tell, we pride ourselves in relationship banking and knowing and being in our community,” she said in an email.

Banking officers’ specialties

Terrazas, who grew up in Toppenish and has lived in the area on and off the last 30 years, has spent her entire career in banking—25 years, the last 15 with Heritage. Her expertise includes agricultural lending, from tree fruit in Chelan, row crops in the Tri-Cities, to tree fruit, row crops and hops in Yakima, plus other areas of business and nonprofit lending. Her community involvement has included serving on the boards of United Way of Central Washington, United Way of Central Washington Foundation, Yakima County Development Association and the Capitol Theatre.

Williams has 24 years in banking, with 12 at Heritage. Her expertise includes agricultural lending, and she’s passionate about small-business lending. She loves helping small businesses get to the next level and achieve their dreams, according to Terrazas. Williams also works a lot with businesses in trucking and transportation. Williams’s community involvement includes serving on the YWCA board and being part of Soroptimist International for 22 years.

Gustafson has 12 years in banking, two at Heritage. His expertise is commercial and industrial as well as commercial real estate lending. His community involvement includes membership in the Yakima Downtown Rotary, executive board member for Yakima Valley Tourism and vice president of the Selah National Little League board.

The team’s three branches also volunteered at three sites during the bank-wide Volunteer Day last September, with one branch helping a local school district in its food pantry, another assisting in clearing a home damaged by a fire that swept through the Yakima Nation Reservation and a third helping at the YWCA.

“We all have pride in the community that we live in and we all want the best for it,” Terrazas said, noting Heritage was quick to respond to YWCA’s lending query when it was seeking financing. “And even with the (YWCA) domestic violence shelter, it’s something that you hope that you never need, but the need is there for this community and the bank is willing to go ahead and support it.”

It’s about relationship banking, being accessible and listening to clients’ stories, she said.

Terrazas added, “Most of our business comes from us being involved or referrals—and truly we strive for that excellence in banking.”

Business in Yakima by the Numbers

Major industries: agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting; government; health care and social assistance; retail; manufacturing

Labor supply: 118,088 workers

Yakima is the second largest county in Washington state at 2.75 million acres.

Yakima County Development Association has created 5,750 new jobs at over 150 businesses and facilitated $490 million in investments in Yakima County businesses esd.wa.gov/jobs-and-training/labor-marketinformation/reports-and-research/labor-market-countyprofiles/yakima-county-profile chooseyakimavalley.com/

About our Yakima Commercial Team

Combined banker experience: 110 years

Volunteer hours served in 2024: 214

Charitable giving in 2024: $25,275

Top nonprofits: Yakima County Development Association, Capitol Theatre, SOZO Sports of Central Washington, Rotary Club of Yakima Downtown, Downtown Association of Yakima

Contact or Visit

Toppenish

537 West 2nd Ave.

509.865.2511

Rocio Guzman, Branch Manager

Downtown Yakima

301 W Yakima Ave.

509.453.1172

Kerry Steele, Area Manager

Union Gap

2205 S First St.

509.576.0424

Jennifer Frost, Branch Services Officer