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Retention, training and employee integration are priorities for Wheatland Bank president and CEO Susan Horton During the first 100 days Glacier Bancorp acquires Spokane-based community bank.
In the coming weeks, Wheatland will continue to build relationships with customers in the communities where it operates, add new technology and pursue loan and deposit growth, she said.
“We’re going to be very busy that first year,” Horton said. “Wheatland Bank is doubling in size and on a very positive growth path.”
Wheatland became a division of Glacier Bancorp on January 31 through an acquisition valued at $80.6 million, according to a previous report by The Wall Street Journal. Glacier’s North Cascades Bank unit in Chelan, Wash., is merging with Wheatland, which will increase Wheatland’s total assets under management by approximately $750 million.
Overall, Kalispell, Montana-based Glacier Bancorp currently operates 17 separate banking divisions, including Wheatland Bank—There are more than 200 branches in 8 states in the western United States.
Horton said the acquisition and merger with North Cascades Bank enhance Wheatland’s ability to grow.
With the merger of North Cascades Bank and Wheatland Bank, Wheatland doubled its assets to $1.6 billion, increased its workforce by 67% and opened nine branches in Eastern Washington in the next 10 weeks Horton said the acquisition of Glacier Bancorp.
“We will be able to continue to provide greater and deeper market penetration into Eastern Washington than before,” she said.
About 100 North Cascades Bank employees transferred to the Wheatland unit in March, joining Wheatland’s 150 employees. Following the acquisition, Wheatland Bank’s total number of employees will be 250. Horton said her responsibilities have evolved as the company has grown.
Some of her previous responsibilities have been transferred to Glacier’s corporate division, where the holding company has dedicated compliance, legal services and information technology teams.
Holden has “More presence in the community, more Get involved and more is available arrive Our employees,” she said. “We don’t need another FDIC inspection. … There are resources at the holding company level to deal with this issue.”
“I am honored to be the person who will continue to lead Wheatland as CEO and President,” said Horton.
As a publicly traded company with total assets of $28 billion, Glacier has the financial resources to provide higher loan limits to clients who need more capital than Wheatland can provide Before.
“One of the things holding back community banks today is lending restrictions,” she said. “We have the loan limits, resources and tools to do business with another tier of customers and provide our existing customers and communities with more tools and resources than before.”
Upgrading technology e.g. Automated teller capture programs help improve transaction efficiency and accuracy and help reduce rejected items at branches.Other software programs can help improve Construction financing and general loan processing functions.
“We’re going to have access to a lot of technology that wasn’t available in the past, and that’s going to really benefit customers,” she said.
Wheatland now offers instant-issue debit cards and, through an updated online banking system, the bank’s customers can make person-to-person payments for the first time. Horton said business banking, which accounts for about 25% of Wheatland’s deposit customers, will also improve with the implementation of Glacier Bank’s treasury management system.
“It has everything from cash management to remote deposit capture, automatic payroll deposits and forward payroll,” she explains. “When you partner with a large company like Glacier, there are a lot of economies of scale and buying power.”
In March, Wheatland’s data processing system was converted to Glacier’s banking platform. So far, customer feedback on all the changes has been mostly positive, she said.
“We really haven’t seen any negative messages from customers, shareholders, or even employees,” she said. “As[customers]grow, they know they’re not going to outgrow Wheatland and we’re going to have the resources to take care of them. They want to make sure they can still deal with the same people and have the same branches in the same areas. Same market.”
Glacier’s employee-centered culture already That’s affecting recruiting efforts, she said.
“Glacier has very low employee turnover, which is very consistent with Wheatland. We have a lot of employees who have been with us for 20 or 25 years or so, which speaks volumes about our culture.”
As a division of Glacier, Wheatland employees are eligible for profit sharing and a bank-wide bonus plan based on the success of individual divisions and overall Glacier performance. Horton noted that previously, Wheatland was unable to offer bonuses to all employees as an independent community bank.
Glacier also has the resources to invest in advanced training and education, enrolling employees at the Pacific Coast Bank School in Bellevue, Washington.
“The investment for one employee to complete the program is about $25,000, and last year, Glacier had more than 30 graduates,” she said. “It prepares young bankers to one day become bank operators and leaders.”
Wheatland has grown to 23 physical branches in Eastern Washington.
In downtown Chelan, Wash., Wheatland will move into the recently completed three-story financial center in North Cascades and will sell a 2,000-square-foot branch located about a block away.
In Wenatchee, Wash., which has branches in both the Wheatland and North Cascade branches, the North Cascade branch will transform into a commercial lending center, while the Wheatland branch will remain a retail bank, Horton said.
Wheatland will also close its Spokane Valley location at 14732 E. Indiana after leasing the space for about 25 years. Coeur d’Alene-based Mountain West Bank, also a division of Glacier Bank, will serve Wheatland customers through its two-story branch at 12321 E. Mission.
After the first 100 days, Wheatland’s credit card portfolio will be converted to Glacier’s banking platform, Horton said, and in September, Wheatland will host Glacier Bancorp’s annual board meeting. Wheatland executives will also participate in regular meetings throughout the year with Glacier’s 17 other banking divisions.
Wheatland Bank, an independent community bank that first opened in Davenport, Washington, in 1979, has been with the financial institution for 25 years.
“Considering a merger with a partner that brings additional resources is somewhat a natural evolution in the life cycle of a community bank,” Horton said. “Our vision all along has been that if we’re going to do this, we have to partner with a regional bank that shares our vision, appreciation and focus on community banking.”
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