RankingBanking 25 - Flipbook - Page 19
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from Washington state to Southern California
with additional markets in the Southwest. Executives expect the latest deal to close in the second
half of this year.
Stein and his executive team are pushing forward despite investor skepticism, with a strategic
focus on creating long-term value rather than
The Pacific Premier Deal Would Increase
Columbia’s Presence in the Northwest
Source: Columbia Banking System and Pacific Premier Bancorp
growth for its own sake. But will investors like the
deal as much as they do?
Seattle
A Solid Banking Franchise
Columbia traces its roots back to 1993, when
W.W. “Bill” Philip sold Puget Sound Bancorp to
KeyCorp and started another community bank.
Later, Melanie Dressel, who had been a part of the
original team to launch the bank, became CEO.
She was famous for her “no jerk” rule — she
pledged not to employ jerks at Columbia. She
built market share in the Washington region by
Los Angeles
focusing on strong customer relationships and
profitability, not growth for its own sake. But her
goal was to double the size of Columbia to make
sure the bank remained relevant no matter what
happened in the industry, and Stein says he embraced that goal. “It wasn’t just about trying to
Columbia (296)
Pacific Premier (58)
get to a certain asset size, but it was about what
would guarantee our relevancy,” he says.
Stein, who was CFO, became Dressel’s handpicked successor. A few years after she died in
2017, Stein took over. His management team will
think he looks to the strength of the team rather
than one leader.”
Stein is a bit humble. He likes to joke that what
tell you, he’s no jerk. “We’re a learning organiza-
made him an A student in math inherently made
tion, and we’re going to make mistakes, but he’ll
him a C student in English. “He’s got a very in-
allow us to do that,” says Columbia’s Christopher
depth knowledge of the financials of the bank and
Merrywell, president of consumer banking, who
what it takes for us to achieve our goals,” Mer-
has worked with Stein for more than a decade.
rywell says. Drew Anderson, chief administrative
“And I think it’s part of his vision of creating
officer, describes him as focused on bottom-line re-
better leaders.”
sults rather than top-line growth. In fact, the bank
Others have a favorable view of Stein’s person-
rarely dips below 1% return on assets. “There’s
ality as well. “I think he’s certainly a high-char-
not a lot of guesswork in terms of what he wants
acter individual,” says Jeffrey Rulis, a managing
us to become, which is great because it’s a clear
director and senior research analyst at D.A.
direction,” Anderson says. “He’s hard-charging,
Davidson Cos. “He is a very team-oriented CEO. I
but he knows what we can become.”
