Poulsbo Banner Bank to be acquired by Liberty Bank
Tuesday, February 27, 2018
Poulsbo, WA – Liberty Bank announced today it has entered into an agreement with Banner Bank to acquire the deposits of its Poulsbo location. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the second quarter of 2018.
“We look forward to welcoming the employees and clients of the Poulsbo Banner Bank location to Liberty Bank and extending to them our extraordinary client service and local expertise,” stated Rick Darrow, President and CEO of Liberty Bank. “We believe this expansion is a natural fit that increases our opportunity to build new client relationships and strengthens our community.”
The Poulsbo branch is Banner Bank’s only location in Kitsap County. The agreement is to purchase deposits of approximately $25 million, including both personal and business accounts. Notices will be mailed to each client with more details regarding the transaction.
About Liberty Bank: Headquartered in Poulsbo and serving clients throughout the West Sound and Puget Sound regions, Liberty Bank is a full-service community bank committed to highly personalized service and to reinvesting in the communities it serves. The bank provides loans and professional banking solutions to businesses, non-profits, and consumers. More information is available at libertybanknw.com or by calling 360-779-4567.
About Banner Bank
Banner Bank is a Washington-chartered commercial bank conducting business from 175 locations in Washington, Oregon, California and Idaho. Banner Bank is a community bank which offers a wide variety of commercial banking services and financial products to individuals and small- and medium-sized businesses and their employees throughout the western U.S. Banner Bank is a wholly owned subsidiary of Banner Corporation, headquartered in Walla Walla, Washington with $9.8 billion in assets. Visit Banner Bank at www.bannerbank.com.
HRB Breakfast Fundraiser
The Housing Resources Board breakfast was a community event sponsored in part by Liberty Bank to support affordable housing on Bainbridge Island. 
The HRB provides assistance for rental housing, home ownership and independent living (home modifications can be made so elderly and disabled can remain in their homes). It was well attended by professionals and community members, including Denise Nicolet, VP & Loan Officer, and Kristi Sutton, Relationship Associate, of Liberty Bank. The speaker was Dwight Sutton who was the Mayor of Bainbridge Island from 1997-2001.
Bremerton Chamber Gala
The Bremerton Chamber Gala was held on October 26th at the Kitsap Golf & Country Club. Tony Fyrqvist, VP and Relationship Manager at Liberty Bank, and his wife attended the event. “Besides raising funds for worthy causes, to me the auctions are fun because of the close knit comradery and coming together of people who want to do what they can to help their local communities,” Tony says.
Poulsbowood Gala 2017
Poulsbowood was a gala event sponsored in part by Liberty Bank and held on Friday, October 20th at the Clearwater Events Center. The event raised approximately $90,000 for the Rotary Club to use for various community projects both locally and internationally. The evening featured a fun Hollywood theme. In addition to dinner, there was a raffle and an auction to raise money for the Poulsbo-North Kitsap Rotary Foundation. The Foundation supports local and international projects including Fish and Oyster Parks, Coffee Oasis, Scholarships, Polio eradication, sustainable gardening in Ethiopia and health/sanitation/water education in Bolivia.
Viking Tour 2017
Kathleen Sutton Fundraiser
Liberty Bank was one of the proud sponsors of the Kathleen Sutton Fundraiser that was held on September 30, 2017 at the Hood Canal Pavilion in Port Gamble. Over $63,000 was raised at the auction to support its mission: to assist women who are undergoing treatment for all cancers with their travel expenses. 
Liberty Bank employees Rachael Sutherland, Jeremy Key, Kelly Garcia and Jennifer Carrier volunteered at the event. Cybele Gonzalez, Loan Operations Specialist with Liberty Bank, who was also at the event said there was a nice turn out. “It’s fun to see everyone supporting a good cause that makes a difference in our community,” Cybele shared.
The Equifax Data Breach: What to Do
September 8, 2017 as reported by the Federal Trade Commission
If you have a credit report, there’s a good chance that you’re one of the 143 million American consumers whose sensitive personal information was exposed in a data breach at Equifax, one of the nation’s three major credit reporting agencies.
Here are the facts, according to Equifax. The breach lasted from mid-May through July. The hackers accessed people’s names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and, in some instances, driver’s license numbers. They also stole credit card numbers for about 209,000 people and dispute documents with personal identifying information for about 182,000 people. And they grabbed personal information of people in the UK and Canada too.
There are steps to take to help protect your information from being misused. Visit Equifax’s website, www.equifaxsecurity2017.com
Senior Financial Fraud & Abuse
Elder financial fraud and abuse victimizes hundreds of thousands of seniors each year. Older Americans hold the largest percentage of the nation’s wealth, making them prime targets.
All seniors, regardless of income, are at risk. Financial abuse may be perpetrated by anyone – a professional con artist, a paid caregiver, a stranger or casual acquaintance, or even a son, daughter, or other family member.
The following factors contribute to the prevalence of senior financial abuse:
- A high percentage of seniors live alone and may be more vulnerable to scams.
- Seniors may be trusting and readily believe the sales “pitches” they hear.
- The population of seniors is increasing, providing a continuous source of wealth for financial abusers.
Education and awareness are two key strategies to preventing and responding to elder financial abuse.
Additional Helpful Resources
National Center on Elder Abuse
National Center for Victims of Crime
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force
The Securities and Exchange Commission
Liberty Bank Supports Kitsap Community Foundation
Liberty Bank is a proud supporter of The Kitsap Community Foundation, a philanthropy services organization that connects people to the causes they care about. The 2017 Kitsap Celebration of Philanthropy event, held on May 12th at Kitsap Conference Center, featured Seattle Seahawk 
Michael Bennett as the keynote speaker. Liberty Bank CEO & President Rick Darrow presented the Spirit of Philanthropy award that recognizes an individual, couple, or family’s commitment to philanthropy in Kitsap County. This year there were two award recipients, Beverly Kincaid and David Wetter, both of whom were recognized for their generosity and involvement in the community.
Liberty Bank Secures $240,000 Grant for Morrow Manor
Poulsbo and Greater Puget Sound Region, WA –Liberty Bank, a local community bank committed to building relationships that strengthen the communities it serves, recently secured a $240,000 grant toward the construction of affordable long-term housing for domestic violence survivors in Kitsap County. “We are honored to have contributed to this housing grant,” reports Liberty Bank CEO Rick Darrow, “this is for a much needed project in our community.”
Liberty Bank and Poulsbo-North Kitsap Rotary Foundation were recipients of a Competitive Affordable Housing Program (AHP) grant awarded by the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines (FHLB Des Moines). The funds will be used to help finance the construction of Morrow Manor housing being built in Poulsbo. These homes will provide much-needed, longer term transitional housing for families who are domestic violence survivors and are in the process of rebuilding their lives.
The $240,000 grant is a major contribution to the $2.1 million Morrow Manor capital campaign – The Campaign for Brighter Tomorrows – a project spearheaded by the Poulsbo-North Kitsap Rotary Foundation in partnership with the YWCA of Kitsap County. Families will indeed be seeing brighter tomorrows very soon, to learn more about Morrow Manor please visit www.supportmorrowmanor.org
About FHLB: FHLB Des Moines awarded nearly $4 million in AHP grants for housing projects in the state of Washington in 2016. These efforts are made possible through AHP by partnerships between FHLB Des Moines member financial institutions – such as Liberty Bank – and local non-profit organizations.
The Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines is a member-owned cooperative that provides funding solutions and liquidity to over 1,400 financial institutions to support mortgage lending, economic development and affordable housing in their communities. Serving 13 states and three U.S. Pacific territories, FHLB Des Moines is one of 11 regional Banks that make up the Federal Home Loan Bank System. Members include community and commercial banks, credit unions, insurance companies, thrifts and community development financial institutions. The Des Moines is wholly owned by its members and receives no taxpayer funding. For additional information about FHLB Des Moines, please visit www.fhlbdm.com