Bank of the West 2005 Annual Report Download - page 17

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15
Supporting our Communities
Bank฀of฀the฀West฀invested฀in฀Homestead฀Capital’s฀$4.7฀million฀development฀in฀rural฀Washington฀(left)฀to฀provide฀farmworkers฀and฀฀
their฀families฀with฀affordable฀housing.฀Homestead’s฀Fremont฀Mews฀apartment฀complex฀in฀Sacramento,฀California฀(right)฀provided฀for฀฀
49฀lower-income฀families฀with฀investment฀by฀Bank฀of฀the฀West.฀฀(Aaron฀Johanson฀photo)
In฀2002,฀Bank฀of฀the฀West฀announced฀a฀
ten-year฀goal฀to฀support฀communities฀
in฀several฀ways,฀ranging฀from฀small฀
farm฀loans฀to฀church฀credit,฀community฀
development฀lending,฀investment฀and฀
minority฀contracting.฀฀
With฀the฀acquisition฀of฀Commercial฀
Federal฀ Bank฀in฀ 2005,฀ the฀ bank฀ in-
creased฀and฀extended฀ its฀pledge฀to฀
$75฀billion฀in฀community฀investment฀
through฀2015.฀The฀significant฀increase฀
in฀our฀commitment฀is฀based฀on฀our฀
recent฀growth฀ and฀our฀belief฀that฀ it฀
is฀our฀responsibility฀to฀meaningfully฀
support฀the฀communities฀in฀which฀we฀
live฀and฀work.฀฀
Our฀expansion฀in฀the฀ Midwest฀ and฀
Rocky฀Mountain฀states฀has฀also฀ in-
creased฀our฀commitment฀to฀commercial฀
business,฀small฀business,฀consumer฀
and฀community฀ development฀ lend-
ing,฀investment฀and฀philanthropy฀in฀
economically฀challenged฀areas.
With฀162฀of฀our฀branches฀located฀in฀
underserved,฀low฀income฀communi-
ties,฀the฀bank฀is฀firmly฀committed฀to฀
investing฀and฀lending฀to฀qualified฀in-
dividuals,฀small฀businesses฀and฀larger฀
enterprises.฀฀Through฀its฀SBA฀program,฀
the฀bank฀is฀also฀making฀thousands฀of฀
micro-loans฀to฀small฀businesses,฀con-
sumer฀loans,฀philanthropic,฀minority฀
vendor฀and฀community฀partnerships.
Noteworthy฀among฀the฀bank’s฀commu-
nity฀investments฀of฀the฀past฀year:
•฀ A฀$4.5฀million฀investment฀in฀bonds฀
as฀well฀as฀a฀long฀term฀loan฀are฀help-
ing฀finance฀construction฀of฀a฀40-unit฀
multi-family฀affordable฀housing฀de-
velopment฀for฀disabled฀lower-income฀
adults฀ in฀ Stockton,฀ California.฀ In฀
2005,฀the฀bank฀made฀$465฀million฀in฀
community฀development฀loans฀and฀฀
investments฀for฀affordable฀housing,฀
economic฀development฀and฀neigh-
borhood฀revitalization.