Published in the Jan. 8, 2014 issue of Morgan Hill Life
Employees volunteer for several local nonprofit organizations
By Marty Cheek
The people of Heritage Bank of Commerce’s Morgan Hill office believe that, as part of a community-focused enterprise, they have an obligation to help the local South Valley region beyond just financial needs. And because of this philosophy of civic engagement, members of the Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce surprised the staff Nov. 19 by presenting Heritage Bank with the honor of 2014 Business of the Year.
Jeff Perkins, kneeling in front, and his staff at Heritage Bank of Commerce display some of the toys they collected for the annual Toys for Tots drive this holiday season.
In announcing the award to the Morgan Hill branch’s Senior Vice President Jeff Perkins, Chamber CEO/President John Horner said, “You folks obviously are terrific pillars of this community and we’re just honored to make note of that with this award.” Heritage Bank will be highlighted with five other award recipients at the Chamber’s Celebrate gala Jan. 25 at the Morgan Hill Community and Cultural Center.
Surprised by receiving the honor, Perkins said he’s proud of the service Heritage Bank provides people in the South Valley. Morgan Hill staff members help a number of local nonprofit organizations including the Chamber of Commerce, Rebekah Children’s Services, Air for Paws, and Community Solutions, he said. Last year, the bank staff helped in the painting of the inside walls of the Learning and Loving Education Center in Morgan Hill. And during the holidays, the local branch sponsored a Toys for Tots drive in the bank’s lobby. Heritage Bank is headquartered in San Jose and has 12 office locations including Morgan Hill and Gilroy.
“From the time I’ve been here, Heritage Bank is truly a community bank,” Perkins said. “We realize that the things we do to impact the community in terms of contributions, time in the community, wherever we can help,either our customers or the nonprofit segment, it’s what differentiates us. We’re very relationship oriented, very community focused and we enjoy serving the communities we’re in not only with the financial support but with time.”
Myles Taketa, retired vice president deposit relations manager, said the reason the staff of Morgan Hill’s Heritage Bank get so involved is because they want to help the local community. “For nonprofits, for businesses, it’s something we do because we’re a community bank and we want to help the businesses of the community get exposure, help each other, and become a unit rather than act individually,” he said. “It helps everybody.”
Given the last five years when the global economy was lagging, Heritage Bank found many occasions to help local business people get through difficult financial situations, something that helps build customer loyalty and a stronger local community, Perkins said.
“There’s a lot of examples where, when you look at this from a community approach rather than a big bank approach, you give people the benefit of the doubt and work through some challenges. If you’re a larger institution and you have lots of customers, you might say, ‘Hey, we’re not going to do that any more,’” he said. “It really comes down to the relationship.”
Heritage Bank’s involvement with local nonprofit organizations has helped it build a community-minded reputation that led to its receiving the Chamber’s honor, Taketa said.
“We’re very excited and very pleased to get the award,” he said. “We do things for the community, we don’t want things in return, so this was just a plus for us to be named business of the year. We’re very appreciative to get the award.”
