Oregonians for a State Bank is a diverse and growing coalition dedicated to creating a sustainable, healthy economy in Oregon. We are community bankers, small business owners, farmers, and supporters of Main Street; we represent all political leanings, faiths, backgrounds, and corners of the state.
An idea that unites Oregonians
Posted: March 12th, 2011 | No Comments »
“The Working Families Party put forward the proposal for a State Bank for Oregon back in early 2009 as we were beginning to understand the devastating effect of the Wall Street implosion on our own local economy. A State Bank would keep our money circulating here at home and free us from the vagaries of the “too big to fail” Wall Street Banks. It will be an important boost to small businesses, family farms, homeowners and students. It will help to create much needed jobs and it will also help to guarantee that we have a robust, diverse, local, home grown financial sector. This is something all Oregonians — rural and urban, “red” and “blue” — can unite around.”
Barbara Dudley
Co-Chair, Oregon Working Families Party
Making our money work for us
Posted: February 26th, 2011 | No Comments »
“A state bank makes perfect sense to me. Oregonians pay billions of dollars to the State in the form of taxes and fees. The majority of this money is invested in large banking institutions outside of the State. Those banks make money off of OUR money. Meanwhile small business owners are being turned away by these very banks when they apply for business loans. Let’s keep our money locally so that Oregonians can use the money to grow our businesses.”
Nancy Matela
Broker for Meadows Group, Inc., Realtors
Creating jobs in our communities
Posted: February 14th, 2011 | No Comments »
“The creation of a state bank would bring financial stability to small businesses and give them the resources they critically need to expand their businesses and create new jobs. Many of Oregon Action’s members are among the hardest hit by the Great Recession—people of color, minorities, and the working poor. And new job creation is exactly what these folks desperately need.”
Ron Williams
Executive Director, Oregon Action
Something has got to change
Posted: January 22nd, 2011 | No Comments »
“I have a small business, and for over ten years I had a $25,000 line of credit through Bank of America. I never used over $10,000 of it until one year when things got tight. Then I got a letter saying my credit limit had been lowered to $19,000, because I was ‘not using it enough.’ Over the next three months, I paid down my bill, and then I received another letter saying that because I was using too much of my credit line, my interest rate was going up. It takes a long time to pay off my line of credit because so much of my payment goes to the high amount of interest and very little to principle. Something has got to change.”
Mary Ann Koch
Owner, Beads A Million, Salem
Protecting community banks
Posted: January 21st, 2011 | No Comments »
“As a community banker, I pride myself on having strong relationships with my customers. For us, our customers are often our neighbors and the people we see in the grocery store. This is what sets us apart from the national chains. Unfortunately, when you look at the entire banking sector, this financial crisis has hit community banks disproportionately hard. In many cases we want to make loans to local businesses, but the ground has shifted below us and it has become hard for us to do what we do best. I don’t think the Oregon State Bank will solve our state’s problems overnight, but I do see that in the long term, it can help prevent community banks from going through what we are going through in this economy right now.”
H. Rex Brittle
MBank President, Gresham
A State Bank would be a strong partner
Posted: January 20th, 2011 | No Comments »
“As a business owner, I have spent 15 years working with every bank, and I have come to understand their underwriting process. I can see why lending is difficult during these times. A State Bank would be a strong partner with any bank in being able to offer a strong loan package and reduce liability for all involved. An increase in loans to small businesses… creates more opportunties… creates more jobs. It’s that simple”
Jose Gonzalez
Owner of Tu Casa Realty and President of the Latino Business Alliance
Supporting entrepreneurs, catalyzing business
Posted: January 14th, 2011 | No Comments »
“As a business owner working exclusively with local and sustainable wood products companies, I am regularly made aware of the capital needs faced by entrepreneurs in the rural communities of our region. Those needs are often especially acute for pioneers taking risks in their field. The model proposed by the Oregon State Bank has the potential to support and catalyze a new breed of wood products industry leaders who are capitalizing on the strengths of our state while looking towards its future.”
Ryan Temple
President, Sustainable Northwest Wood, Inc.
Preserving Oregon’s rural way of life
Posted: January 14th, 2011 | No Comments »
“As an organization whose mission has been to protect and promote socially responsible agriculture in our state, we consistently hear from family farmers and ranchers throughout Oregon who are unable to obtain credit from the existing lending agencies. Dealing with the business side of farming can be difficult even during good times, but during this economic crisis, and without available credit, family farmers and ranchers are just barely able to scrape by. If we don’t do something to get micro-financing for small farms and ranches, we risk losing a whole constituency of agrarians and along with them a critical piece of Oregon’s rural way of life, economy and culture.”
Kendra Kimbirauskas
President, Friends of Family Farmers
Supporting the wood products industry
Posted: January 10th, 2011 | 1 Comment »
“I am the son of a forester, and I grew up in the Oregon woods. I see our woodland industries as a vital part of our state’s economy. My father joined with other land owners to form the Oregon Woodland Cooperative to protect the small tree farmer. As the current president, we are working to develop new products from this wonderful resource–and to do so in a sustainable way. A few years ago my dad and I wanted to buy some forest land in Gaston, and when we looked around for a loan the only option available to us was from an out-of-state bank. It’s ironic that for an industry so associated with Oregon, we have to look out of state for financing in the forest products industry. I believe the Oregon State Bank could help us change that, and it is why I support it.”
Neil Schroeder
President, Oregon Woodland Cooperative
We need credit for family farms
Posted: January 5th, 2011 | No Comments »
“We’ve have been farming for four years and in many ways financing a farm now seems even less possible than when we started. There is no credit to support family farms. We have honestly considered whether it makes sense to remain dedicated to a livelihood that is such an uphill battle.”
Sarah Brown
Owner, Diggin’ Roots Farm
Meeting the credit needs of our communities
Posted: December 27th, 2010 | No Comments »
“I see the state bank as a partner for community banks and a benefit to the state as a whole. By putting public funds to work in Oregon we encourage Oregon to grow. The stronger the state is, the stronger community banks will be. In addition, a state bank is a vehicle community banks can use to help smooth economic cycles, which allows us to better meet the credit needs in our communities.”
Mahlon Vigesaa
President and CEO of Centerpointe Community Bank
Economic independence for Oregon
Posted: December 24th, 2010 | No Comments »
“A state bank is about Oregon’s independence and economic health. I have worked in the finance industry, and I can say from personal experience that as it stands now Oregon has little insulation from outside economic factors like this international banking crisis. I first got involved with the “Move Your Money” campaign as a way to keep money circulating in our local economy, and I see the campaign to create an Oregon State Bank in much the same way. We can’t afford to allow our state to be at the whim of financial markets half a world away, and The Oregon State Bank will fill an important roll in our banking sector by shoring up community banks for the medium and long terms.”
Jared Gardner
Oregonians for a State Bank
Helping small farms and agriculture
Posted: March 17th, 2010 | No Comments »
“Just as we had a great opportunity to expand our cidery, responding to very positive reviews and sales, we found that we couldn’t get credit to buy the equipment we needed. In the end we had to ask our parents to step in with collateral. Small farms and agriculture related businesses are a growing part of Oregon’s economy but that growth can’t continue if our community banks can’t lend. A state bank is a great idea to help get credit moving again to grow businesses and jobs. ”
Nick Gunn
Owner, Wandering Aengus Ciderworks
