(Photo | by Cascade Business News)
Washington Trust Bank, the largest privately held full-service commercial bank in the Northwest, recently celebrated the grand opening of its Bend Financial Center.
Community members were invited to visit the new branch, located at 1219 NE Third St., Ste. 120, to meet the Bend-based team and explore the range of financial services available.
“The grand opening of the Bend Financial Center is a milestone in our commitment to serving our Central Oregon customers,” said Cory J. Allen, senior vice president and Central Oregon team lead for Washington Trust Bank. “Our team is fully equipped to support local personal and business banking clients’ needs directly from the financial center.”
Allen heads the Central Oregon team which includes ten employees, comprised of personal banking, small business banking, commercial banking and mortgage lending experts, with more than 90 years of combined experience serving Central Oregon communities.
Washington Trust Bank has enjoyed a growing presence in Oregon since it first entered the Portland market in 2005. Since then, it has assembled an Oregon-based commercial and industrial banking portfolio along with deposits totaling nearly $386 million and $405 million in assets within its trust and wealth management group.
“At Washington Trust Bank, we believe our region’s recovery will continue to be driven by small businesses,” said Allen. “Our number one priority is to ensure that all our customers have the information and services they need to be successful in their personal and professional lives, which in turn supports the growth of the Central Oregon economy.”
Leading up to and directly after the open house, the Bend team partnered with local businesses and nonprofits to celebrate the grand opening. Team members volunteered within the community, surprising community members through Washington Trust Bank’s signature ‘Random Acts of Awesome,’ among other activities.
One of the only new central Third Street retail developments in Bend in over a decade, the new location was unveiled as a model project within the city’s Central District Overlay — an initiative aiming to transform the area into a vibrant, healthy and inclusive mixed-use neighborhood with safe connections between east and west in close proximity to downtown.
A former church site, it has been reinvented as a sleek new retail building including housing a Starbucks coffee shop with drive-through — taking advantage of the high traffic counts in that corridor — with the balance of the building occupied as the flagship location for Washington Trust Bank.
When the plans for the new financial center were first announced, President of Washington Trust Bank’s Oregon Region Mike Williams commented, “Our expansion into Central Oregon represents the organic growth of our organization through the incredible dedication of our bankers during unprecedented times.
“At Washington Trust, culture has been the key to our 120-year-long success. We find the most talented and committed people to serve our clients and our community.
“We moved to Central Oregon because we’re absolutely thrilled about the region and its vast potential and bring the best Washington Trust Bank has to offer to the area.”
For more information, call 541-516-8324, or visit the new Bend Financial Center at 1219 NE Third St., Ste. 120.
About Washington Trust Bank:
Washington Trust Bank is the largest independently owned full-service commercial bank in the Northwest, serving the region since 1902. A wholly-owned subsidiary of WTB Financial Corporation, Washington Trust Bank has assets exceeding $11 billion. Headquartered in Spokane, Washington Trust Bank currently has more than 40 branches and offices in Washington, Idaho and Oregon. The bank employs approximately 1,100 people. The bank is also active on Facebook, Twitter Instagram and LinkedIn.
