Agenda - Council - 11/13/2012 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Commitment to community is at the heart of our approach to banking. We understand that meeting the needs of our customers and communities is based on mutual trust. Trust begins by offering responsible financial products and services; it is deepened through a commitment to exceptional customer service and enhanced by our culture of giving back to the communities in which we live and work. Commitment to community at Bank of the West means employees and executives volunteering; it means donations to nonprofit groups in every county it our 19-state footprint; it means celebrating community involvement with our annual Bank of the West Philanthropy Awards; it means sponsoring concerts and events; and it means lending and investing in under -served neighborhoods. Investing in neighborhoods We know reinvestment in our neighborhoods benefits all of us. That is why we established a $75 billion community support goal in 2002. Since then, we have reached 95 percent of that goal, including $7.2 billion in community development loans. Last year alone we made $1.3 billion in community development loans, $51.3 million in community development investments, and the Bank, along with our Charitable Foundation and employees, donated $7 million to 2,400 nonprofit organizations. Responding to increased needs in our communities for economic development, we invested in affordable housing and homeownership, small business development and free income tax preparation services. Bank of the West employees are passionate about their community involvement: they serve in board positions and volunteer in our communities. Our employees lend their financial expertise to schools and community organizations to teach financial education to individuals of all ages. In 2011, our financial education efforts reached 11,000 students, providing them with the tools to promote self-sufficiency. Our employees volunteered 10,000 hours of their time toward making our communities better and more sustainable places to live. Sponsoring community events Civic and cultural events are important to the vitality of every community. Last year, Bank of the West was once again the official bank of the Pac-12. We hosted the Bank of the West Classic, the longest running women's tennis tournament in the world, and we sponsored numerous public events and concerts — such as Cheyenne Frontier Days, and one of the country's largest free outdoor concerts, Bank of the West Celebrates America in Omaha. Through sponsorships, grants, donations of time, and loans to promote community development, Bank of the West is determined to promote the well-being of the neighborhoods and communities where we work and live. We understand that communities are the product of our interconnections and that reinvestment in our neighborhoods makes us all stronger. 19