Columbia Bank Named Top Small Business Administration Lender In Oregon For Second Consecutive Year

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Oct 29, 2019, 14:00 ET

TACOMA, Wash., Oct. 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- For the second year in a row, Columbia Bank was recognized as the leading Small Business Administration (SBA) lender by the SBA Portland District Office, which covers 30 of 36 counties in Oregon and four counties in Southwest Washington.

Columbia Bank also moved up two spots from a year earlier to become the number three ranked SBA lender in the Seattle District Office's region, which spans the vast majority of Washington.

The rankings cover the federal fiscal year that ended Sept. 30 and are based on the number of loans made by each bank during the period. In fiscal 2019, Columbia Bank made a company record 186 SBA loans in the region covered by the Portland office. That was up from 171 a year earlier.

In the Seattle District's region, Columbia Bank made 132 SBA loans in fiscal 2019, up from 77 the previous year.

Clint Stein, Columbia Bank's chief operating officer commented, "Over the past two years, we have ramped up our commitment to small businesses, and increased SBA lending has played a vital role in our efforts. Small businesses help drive employment growth and function as important engines of economic activity in the Northwest, and Columbia Bank is a dedicated partner with these companies."

Scott Bossom, senior vice president and manager of Columbia's SBA program, said the growth is part of a concerted effort to establish Columbia Bank as the premier SBA lender in the Northwest.

"A lot of banks have historically viewed small business loans as, candidly, too small to worry about," Bossom said. "We take a very different view. We aim to build long-term relationships with all of our customers, and we know that when we help small businesses get started or make expansions, we are deepening ties with those customers and playing an important role in growing communities across the Northwest."

"We work across a range of sectors and with companies of varying credit needs," Bossom said. "Columbia Bank offers everything from our $5,000 Express Line of Credit all the way up to the SBA's cap of $5 million loans. We have a genuinely engaged team that continues to build strong momentum, generate excitement and help establish Columbia as the first destination for small businesses across the Northwest."

About Columbia
Headquartered in Tacoma, Washington, Columbia Banking System, Inc. (NASDAQ: COLB) is the holding company of Columbia Bank, a Washington state-chartered full-service commercial bank with locations throughout Washington, Oregon and Idaho. For the 13th consecutive year, the bank was named in 2019 as one of Puget Sound Business Journal's "Washington's Best Workplaces," and for the 8^th consecutive year, Columbia has been ranked as one of the nation's best banks by Forbes. More information about Columbia can be found on its website at www.columbiabank.com.