With more than 17,000 businesses in Sonoma County, it’s not for lack of competition that Exchange Bank has won Best Company to Do Business With in Sonoma County not once, but twice.
“Everyone’s delighted—of course—but not surprised,” says Padi Selwyn, the bank’s senior vice president and director of marketing and public relations. “We work hard to stay the best.”
Besides winning both this award and Best Business Bank in this years’ readers’ poll, Exchange Bank has also been honored with other community recognitions and awards, including Best Local Bank, Best Place to Work and the Business Environmental Alliance Best Practices Award. Besides winning a lot of “bests,” the bank prides itself on being an independent, conservatively run community bank.
“With all the mergers and acquisitions in the banking industry, our customers appreciate our stability and longevity in the community,” says Selwyn. “We support a long list of local nonprofits not only with donations, but through the hands-on involvement of our employees.”
Selwyn credits the bank’s success to four core values: commitment (providing outstanding service to customers and supporting the community with money, time and talent); respect (believing customers and employees are the bank’s most valuable assets and treating them accordingly); integrity (adhering to a high moral and ethical code); and teamwork (achieving goals by working together as a team).
“It’s no secret that banks face increased competition,” Selwyn says. “But we feel our service levels, convenience and community involvement give our customers—and prospective customers—a clear banking choice.”
Exchange Bank has a 118-year history and today has $1.4 billion in assets and provides full banking and wealth management services to its customers at 19 branches in Sonoma County and two branches in Placer County (in Rocklin and Roseville). This past year, the bank launched a new website, www.exchangebank.com, with many new features—including live chat, online loan applications and, soon, opening an account online—and extended its hours in most locations.
“With more branches and ATMs, a more robust website and a telephone customer service center with real local banking experts answering the phone—in English and Spanish—our goal is to be the most convenient, service-oriented bank to do business with,” explains Selwyn.
As for the future, Selwyn says the bank plans to “continue to fulfill its mission statement goal of remaining the premier community bank in its markets.”
This goal includes the initial decision of the bank’s second president, Frank Doyle, to keep Exchange Bank locally owned and independent. He placed 51 percent of his bank stock into a perpetual trust and the dividends are distributed annually to the Frank P. Doyle and Polly O’Meara Doyle Scholarship Fund for students attending Santa Rosa Junior College. To date, more than 115,000 scholarships have been funded, totaling more than $76 million.
Helping fund the education of future Sonoma County leaders…now that’s a wise business decision that positively affects everyone.
