Bank of the West 2005 Annual Report Download - page 5

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When฀asked฀what฀defines฀our฀brand,฀we฀
like฀to฀say฀it’s฀about฀“Getting฀Bigger฀by฀
Acting฀Smaller.”฀You฀will฀still฀find฀the฀
phone฀number฀of฀each฀of฀our฀branches฀
in฀your฀local฀directory.
As฀Bank฀of฀the฀West฀has฀grown,฀our฀
organizational฀structure฀has฀evolved฀
with฀the฀objective฀ of฀maintaining฀a฀
relationship฀focus฀with฀our฀clients฀by฀
vesting฀local฀decision-making฀authority฀
with฀their฀banker.฀฀We฀have฀also฀worked฀
very฀hard฀to฀ensure฀that฀all฀our฀products฀
and฀services฀are฀available฀from฀across฀
the฀organization฀to฀each฀client.฀We฀be-
lieve฀in฀relationship฀banking.
Commitment฀to฀Community
The฀impact฀on฀any฀community฀in฀which฀
an฀acquired฀bank฀is฀headquartered฀can฀
be฀significant.฀We฀are฀aware฀of฀this,฀
and฀with฀each฀acquisition฀we฀make,฀
our฀goal฀is฀to฀minimize฀this฀impact.฀In฀
the฀three฀acquisitions฀discussed฀earlier,฀
we฀retained฀essentially฀all฀branch฀per-
sonnel.฀฀In฀addition,฀in฀both฀Fargo฀and฀
Omaha,฀we฀have฀established฀regional฀
headquarters฀and฀company-wide฀op-
erational฀support฀centers฀that฀employ฀
a฀large฀number฀of฀former฀Community฀
First฀and฀Commercial฀Federal฀staff.฀฀We฀
look฀forward฀to฀expanding฀these฀opera-
tions฀as฀we฀continue฀to฀grow฀Bank฀of฀
the฀West.
In฀2002,฀Bank฀of฀the฀West฀established฀a฀
ten฀year฀goal฀to฀provide฀$30฀billion฀in฀
financial฀support฀through฀loans,฀invest-
ments฀and฀contributions฀to฀individuals,฀
businesses฀and฀non-profit฀organiza-
tions฀in฀lower-income฀communities.฀฀
To฀date,฀we฀have฀achieved฀in฀excess฀of฀
75%฀of฀this฀goal.฀In฀2005,฀we฀revisited฀
this฀commitment฀in฀the฀context฀of฀our฀
recent฀growth฀and฀increased฀the฀goal฀
to฀$75฀billion฀by฀2015.฀฀
At฀Bank฀of฀the฀West,฀we฀believe฀we฀
have฀an฀important฀role฀to฀play฀in฀the฀
development฀and฀growth฀of฀the฀com-
munities฀in฀which฀we฀live฀and฀work.฀฀
This฀belief฀extends฀to฀our฀support฀of฀im-
portant฀community฀events,฀whether฀it’s฀
Frontier฀Days฀in฀Cheyenne,฀Celebrates฀
America฀in฀Omaha,฀Parade฀of฀Lights฀in฀
Denver,฀Albuquerque฀International฀Bal-
loon฀Fiesta,฀or฀our฀sponsorship฀of฀the฀
Bank฀of฀the฀West฀Classic,฀the฀longest฀
running฀tournament฀in฀professional฀
women’s฀tennis.
Into฀the฀Future
Looking฀into฀2006,฀we฀anticipate฀infill฀
growth฀in฀our฀current฀markets฀through฀
further฀acquisitions,฀as฀opportunities฀
present฀themselves,฀and฀through฀con-
struction฀ of฀ approximately฀ 20฀ new฀
branches฀in฀areas฀where฀we฀can฀en-
hance฀client฀coverage.฀Our฀appetite฀for฀
growth฀is฀fully฀supported฀by฀our฀share-
holder฀BNP฀Paribas,฀which฀has฀invested฀
substantially฀in฀the฀Bank฀of฀the฀West฀
network฀and฀brand,฀and฀in฀our฀holding฀
company,฀BancWest฀Corporation.
Our฀Service฀Philosophy
In฀a฀world฀of฀high฀technology,฀Bank฀of฀
the฀West฀has฀both฀harnessed฀that฀tech-
nology฀and฀also฀retained฀a฀personalized,฀
high฀touch฀approach฀to฀banking.฀We฀
put฀our฀customers’฀interest฀foremost฀
and฀treat฀them฀as฀we฀wish฀to฀be฀treated฀
by฀a฀service฀business฀—฀with฀friendly฀
respect,฀courteous฀service฀and฀quality฀
products฀and฀services.฀฀
Our฀ service฀culture,฀ our฀values฀and฀
the฀employees฀ who฀ embody฀them฀
make฀Bank฀of฀the฀West฀a฀strong฀and฀
successful,฀high-performance฀organi-
zation.฀฀Without฀the฀11,000฀employees฀
who฀energize฀this฀bank,฀there฀would฀
be฀no฀Bank฀of฀the฀West,฀and฀to฀them฀
I฀extend฀my฀heartfelt฀thanks.
Don฀J.฀McGrath
Chairman฀and฀CEO฀