Although it’s been operating regionally for nearly two decades, many Whatcom County residents probably haven’t heard about Mountain Pacific Bank.
That’s likely to change, however, with the grand opening of its first Whatcom County branch. Located at 2200 Rimland Drive Suite 110 in Bellingham’s Barkley Village neighborhood, the new branch will hold grand opening festivities on Wednesday, September 18 from 3 to 6 p.m.
The event will include free cake, Hors d’oeuvres, beverages, and a 4 p.m. ribbon cutting ceremony featuring Bellingham Regional Chamber of Commerce President Guy Occhiogrosso. There will also be a prize giveaway.
“We want people to come in, see our new location and get to know our staff,” says Mark Duffy, the bank’s founder, president, and chief executive officer, who will be present along with the bank’s management and board of directors.
Community Banking, Done Right
Despite the fact that Mountain Pacific — which opened its first branch in Everett in July 2006 — is one of several growing community banks in Washington State, the number of banks headquartered in the Evergreen State has steadily declined.
Between the Great Recession and a continuing series of mergers and acquisitions, the number of banks based in our state will be just 32 by early next year, Duffy says. That’s down from nearly 100 such institutions when Mountain Pacific was founded.
“They’re becoming rarer and rarer,” Duffy adds of community banks. “But we’re continuing to thrive in this market, and we’re excited for our future.”
Although most community banks all promote excellent customer service, Duffy says Mountain Pacific gets no shortage of compliments for the service and perks they provide their customers.
“We have very customer service-oriented staff, and we give them all the tools to provide great service,” Duffy says. “When you call to talk to somebody, you’re talking to somebody in either Bellingham or Everett. There’s a difference there. I know it’s not easy for people to switch banks, but if they do, they will not regret it.”
Mountain Pacific caters to both personal and business customers, but operates with a strong commercial focus that helped it expanding from a single bank and $16.5 million in capital to five branches and over $700 million in assets.
After its initial Everett branch, Mountain Pacific added a Lynnwood location in 2008, a Ballard branch in 2015 (which focuses on maritime lending), and a Burlington branch in 2019.
In addition to generous certificate of deposit rates, the bank offers the holder of any checking account no-cost ATM fees — at their banks or elsewhere.
“We don’t charge a fee,” he says. “And if you go to another bank and use their ATM, and they charge you their fee, we will reimburse that up to $30 in fees monthly.”
Mountain Pacific also offers mobile branch banking — not just the cellular kind, but a literal vehicle that visits businesses to pick up their commercial deposits. It saves businesses the headaches of time and traffic, Duffy says, and has been greatly appreciated by businesses that make use of the service.
A Busy Bellingham Future
The new Bellingham branch, which had a soft opening at the end of July, employs six people, including a commercial lender and loan assistant.
Duffy says they wanted experienced local bankers in expanding northward and got them with people like branch manager Christina Murray. Two members of this new branch are already well-known in the Bellingham community, Commercial Loan Officer John Cruikshank, and Customer Service Manager Tamara Carrington.
The bank hopes to add additional commercial lenders to the Bellingham branch as things progress.
Mountain Pacific has particular expertise in business and commercial real estate loans, as well as construction financing of both commercial and single-family homes.
“We’re excited to be up in Bellingham,” Duffy says. “We like the North Puget Sound, and we’d always planned to come up to Whatcom County and have our footprint be from Snohomish County to the Canadian border.”
For more information on Mountain Pacific’s new Bellingham branch, call 360.685.8477 or email info@mp.bank.
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