Parent company of Heritage Bank will close 9 branches
The parent company of Olympia-based Heritage Bank will close nine branches, the company announced Thursday as part of its third-quarter earnings.
The branch locations were not identified. One branch has or will close in October, followed by eight more in January.
The closures will reduce the total number of branches to 53 from 62. Company officials say the closed locations will be integrated into other branches in its network.
Heritage Financial operates branches in western and central Washington, as well as in the Portland area.
“This move is in response to our ongoing efforts to improve efficiencies, and at the same time, respond to the evolution of the industry overall,” Chief Executive Jeffrey Deuel told analysts during a conference call on Thursday.
The company expects annual savings of about $2.3 million as a result of the consolidations.
“We started this process several months ago, and went through a pretty rigorous analysis of each of the locations in our overall footprint,” Deuel said in response to a question during the earnings conference call. “Up till now, you know, we have closed, I think, 22 branches over the last seven to 10 years, we’ve done them in ones and twos. And we have some experience with it.”
He added the branches that are closing are relatively close to another branch.
This story was originally published October 23, 2020 at 5:45 AM.
