Employees of Summit State Bank smiling ear to ear with their new travel mugs in honor of Employee Appreciation Day.
Summit State Bank is a traditional, community bank that has been providing personal, business banking and loan needs to its customers for over 40 years, with five branches in Sonoma County—on Bicentennial Way and at Montgomery Village in Santa Rosa, plus Rohnert Park, Petaluma and Healdsburg.
Summit State Bank’s President and CEO Brian Reed says, “The critical component for us is providing a high level of customer service, which means a couple of things—understanding enough about your job to be able to respond to customers quickly and then, just overall, having a great response mechanism, so not taking a long time to come up with answers for people.”
Giving back to its community has been a priority at the bank for some time. In 2009, they established a program called the Nonprofit Partner Program, where local nonprofits earn an above-market interest rate on their operating account. According to Reed, the bank has 240 nonprofit partners involved in the program. In 2023, the company provided $677,000 to the organizations in its Nonprofit Partner Program and, since 2009, the company has given $5.8 billion to its Nonprofit Partner Program for local nonprofits.
In addition to the $677,000, almost $200,000 in contributions were made to nonprofits outside of the company’s Nonprofit Partner Program, which resulted in about $875,000 total in donations last year. Reed says in years past the company has made significant donations to nonprofits like the Secret Santa Program, the Boys & Girls Club of Sonoma-Marin and Legal Aid of Sonoma County. Last year Summit also hosted its third annual North Bay Nonprofit Event, which helps enhance its relationship with its existing nonprofit partners by providing the opportunity for education and resources, support and fellowship.
By putting clients and community first and supporting various nonprofits, Summit State Bank has been voted Best Business Bank by NorthBay biz readers more than 15 times, earning induction into the Best of the North Bay Hall of Fame. Reed says the recognition by the magazine and its readers is appreciated and the company is honored to be inducted alongside other high-quality North Bay businesses.
“You know, we’ve been out for over 40 years, and we’ve been dedicated to serving and giving back to our customers in the community by delivering the best service and solutions possible,” says Reed. “I think that’s culminating in the results here—it’s been a longtime focus of the institution and will continue to be.
“We really appreciate this recognition.”
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