Published December 2005

With expansion
into Darrington, Coastal
follows its banking mission

By Kimberly Hilden
SCBJ Assistant Editor

In mid-2005, two events occurred that helped better define Coastal Community Bank’s purpose: The bank completed an organization-wide strategic plan, and Bank of America announced it would be closing branches in Darrington and Sultan.

The former gave the Everett-based bank 50 objectives to meet, including everything from increasing loans and deposits to empowering local decision making, said Coastal chief executive Lee Pintar. It also created a mission statement that included providing “local business owners and community-minded families” with financial services ranging from money management to personal and commercial loans.

The latter event created a demand for banking services within those communities — with Bank of America being the only bank in Darrington and one of only two banks in Sultan — and an opportunity for Coastal to put its community-banking mission into practice.

“I didn’t plan on doing a Darrington (branch) this year, but we take opportunities as they offer themselves,” said Pintar, who was approached by Darrington business leaders to open a branch office in their town of nearly 1,500 people.

Soon after, a community meeting was held in Darrington to discuss the possibility of Coastal’s entry into the market, with more than 150 residents in attendance.

“I think the impact of that meeting was the joining together of a small, closely knit community with a community bank that wanted to be there,” said Pintar.

And within two months, the bank was there, even after Bank of America decided to remain in both Darrington and Sultan.

Coastal had hired away staff from Bank of America’s Darrington branch in the interim, initially opening shop in August at a couple of card tables inside Darrington Hardware before moving into an adjacent trailer.

“Several hundred accounts opened in the first month, and several hundred accounts opened in the second month,” Pintar said, adding that the bank has implemented some innovative promotional programs to encourage deposits.

One such program involves the bank’s scholarship program, which annually hands out a $1,000 educational scholarship within each community that the bank operates. For the opening of the Darrington branch, the bank decided to augment the program for the first year of the branch office’s operation so that an additional $1,000 scholarship will be handed out in Darrington for each $1 million of deposits raised over and above the first $1 million.

“We thought that was an interesting way to get the community involved,” Pintar said, adding that plans are under way for a permanent, 1,700-square-foot branch office, to be located inside the hardware store while having a street entrance as well.

The branch, which could open as early as January, will include drive-up check-cashing and depository services as well as an on-site drive-up ATM.

While Coastal works to grow deposits in Darrington, the bank also is expending energy in construction of branch facilities in the northwest region of its market footprint, namely Freeland and Stanwood.

The bank, which opened its Freeland branch in late 2004, will be moving into a permanent, 2,500-square-foot branch in early 2006 just off the town’s main thoroughfare, Pintar said, adding that the bank is still working with the Stanwood planning department on details for a new permanent branch there.

“We will be putting compaction dirt on the site within a month. Construction could start within three to five months, with the new branch open about this time next year,” he said.

With so much activity under way and a branch network that has grown to seven, including branches in Sultan, Monroe and Camano Island, Pintar has named Laura Byers to the newly created position of Coastal branch administrator.

Byers, who managed EverTrust’s Stanwood branch before joining Coastal in 2004, has been the branch manager for Coastal’s Stanwood and Camano Island branches.

“She will continue to manage the Stanwood/Camano branches but also oversee the overall branch operations,” he said, noting that Byers’ understanding of daily branch operations will serve the bank well. The new position is part of Pintar’s tweaking of the senior management team following the departure of President and Chief Operating Officer Mark Duffy earlier this year. Instead of replacing Duffy, Pintar created the branch administrator position and also the position of senior vice president/loan portfolio manager.

Dennis Krey, formerly a vice president/commercial loan officer for Coastal, was promoted to loan portfolio manager, a position that includes coordinating and building the bank’s service to businesses and overseeing Coastal’s loan officers.

“I feel in many ways today that we’re in a stronger senior management position than we were previously,” Pintar said.

And as for the bank’s future growth, Pintar said he does not plan on opening another branch in the next 12 to 18 months, but were another opportunity to present itself, “we would definitely evaluate it.”

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