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CONTACT:
Nicole Vanderstoep, Community Affairs Manager
Umpqua Holdings Corporation
One SW Columbia, Suite 900
Portland, OR 97258
Phone: (971) 544-1103
BACKGROUND
This small but growing banking corporation that serves Oregon and southwest Washington has never forgotten its roots – small communities. “We’d been talking about encouraging community service for some time, when our president and CEO Ray Davis finally said, ‘no more talk!’” says Nicole Vanderstoep, community affairs manager for Umpqua Bank. So, in early January the bank launched its Connect Volunteer Network to encourage bank employees to volunteer time in their local schools.
“You can simply give money to a good cause – or you can also engage employees in volunteering and hope it has a more lasting effect,” Vanderstoep said. “At Umpqua Bank, we do both, but encouraging service helps our employees get in touch with needs in their own communities.”
THE PROGRAM
The Connect Volunteer Network provides full-time Umpqua Bank associates with 40 hours of paid volunteer time per year to devote to youth and education organizations. Volunteer time is donated during regular work hours. The bank set up an “intra-net” that helps staff explore opportunities, talk about their experience, suggest ideas and get matched up with teachers and school programs.
The program provides full-time Umpqua Bank associates with 40 hours of paid volunteer time per year to devote to youth and education organizations. The paid volunteer time is to be fulfilled during an associate’s regular work-day. This innovative program, which officially launched Jan. 2, already has nearly 800 of Umpqua Bank’s 900 eligible employees signed up to participate. An email was sent to “test the waters” for interest, and the response was overwhelming, Vanderstoep said.
Through the Connect Volunteer Network, Umpqua associates choose the organization they would like to work with. They will engage in a variety of activities, with some spending their
time in schools working alongside teaching staff, while others may take on a mentoring project or dedicate their time to a relief nursery.
LEAD BY EXAMPLE
Gary Pierpoint, Umpqua Senior Vice President and Area Manager in Eugene, already gives far more than his 40 hours. He co-chairs the Eugene Partnership for Student Success, one of several pilot projects around Oregon coordinated through
E3 (Employers for Educational
Excellence). Eugene launched a major effort in April 2004 to increase middle school students’ reading skills. Umpqua also sponsored the first Employer Education Forum for E-3 on March 31 to inspire more local businesses to get involved in schools. Pierpoint chairs the Eugene project with Eugene Superintendent George Russell and Eugene Chamber of Commerce President David Hauser. E3's Partnership for Student Success provides private sector expertise, including focus groups, strategic planning and communications support to increase community and business involvement in education.
EXECUTIVE SUPPORT
“We’ve created a volunteer program that not only encourages associates to make a difference, it compels them to do so,” said Ray Davis, president and CEO of Umpqua Bank. “With 90 percent of our employee base already signed up, it’s exciting to know that the impact of this program will be felt immediately in the communities we serve. Collectively, our Umpqua associates will be able to do in one year of volunteer time what it would take one individual nearly 20 years to accomplish.”
Umpqua Bank has a strong support system for the volunteer program with full board and executive backing, and extensive participation at every level of the organization. Umpqua has also created a new position with the primary responsibility of administering the program, researching volunteer opportunities for associates, and assisting them in getting started with their chosen organization.
ABOUT UMPQUA BANK
Umpqua Bank, headquartered in Roseburg, Ore., is a subsidiary of Umpqua Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: UMPQ) and has 64 locations between Ashland, Ore. and Vancouver, Wash., and along the Oregon Coast. Umpqua Holdings also owns retail brokerage subsidiary Strand, Atkinson, Williams & York, Inc., which has 14 locations throughout Oregon and Southwest Washington and offers brokerage services within Umpqua Bank stores. Umpqua Bank's Private Client Services Division provides tailored financial services and products to individual customers. Umpqua Holdings Corporation is headquartered in Portland, Ore.
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