| Portland's greenest bank walks the line |  |
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| Articles - November 2009 | ||
Ask ShoreBank Pacific CEO David Williams how it feels to be running Portland’s greenest bank these days and he compares it to walking along the edge of a razor blade. ShoreBank Pacific has been pummeled by bankruptcies in the ethanol industry and troubles at its Chicago-based holding company, which received a chilling “cease and desist” letter from the FDIC in July. A subsequent Portland visit from FDIC agents forced the bank to write off new losses and develop a plan to clean up its loan portfolio. “They were singing our praises in all sorts of ways,” Williams says of the FDIC agents, “and then they beat the hell out of us when we did the exam.” Compared to the many regional banks in far worse shape, ShoreBank Pacific remains “enormously liquid,” Williams says. But the bank’s predicament is complex. Because it is wholly owned by Chicago-based ShoreBank Corp., it cannot raise money independently. This leaves Williams trying to convince would-be investors to sign on in theory but to remain patient while things beyond local control get sorted out. Balancing the needs of the bank’s current owners, new potential investors and the FDIC is a whole new endeavor for a banker whose true passion is green revolution. ShoreBank Pacific billed itself as the nation’s first bank with a pure sustainability mission when it was formed in 1997 by the socially progressive ShoreBank Corp. and the Portland nonprofit Ecotrust. After a sluggish start in Ilwaco, Wash., the bank prospered in Portland under Williams, achieving 11 consecutive quarters of record growth. It moved from the Pearl District into a much larger space at the historic Telegraph Building in the summer of 2008, and also built a branch office in Seattle. Strong relationships with solid local companies and steadily increasing deposits seemed to shelter the institution from the downturn. “We do it the old-fashioned way,” Williams wrote in his Sept. 30, 2008, letter to stakeholders. “We earn it based on customer success.” Little did the straight-talking physicist Williams know then that two of the bank’s key customers would soon fail. When the economy collapsed the ethanol industry disintegrated. ShoreBank Pacific, the local lender for two major Oregon ethanol plants that went bankrupt, was left holding the bag. ..... for the rest of the article, see: http://www.oregonbusiness.com/articles/72-november-2009/2488-portlands-greenest-bank-walks-the-line |
