Glide and Drain losing PremierWest Bank

By KPIC.com Staff Published: Jan 13, 2012 at 9:41 AM PDT Last Updated: Jan 13, 2012 at 3:20 PM PDT

DOUGLAS COUNTY, Ore. -- PremierWest Bank said Friday morning that it is consolidating 11 branches with nearby branches by the end of April, effectively closing the banks in Oregon and California.

In Douglas County, the Glide and Drain branches will be closed, in what the company says is an effort to reduce expenses and improve efficiency.

People who use the Drain branch will now have to travel to the Sutherlin branch, and Glide residents will have to visit a branch in Roseburg.

There isn't another bank in Glide, and the only other bank in Drain is a US Bank. "That's 15 miles one way, 15 miles back," said Glide PremierWest customer Robert Johnson. "A lot of the people in Glide are kind of an older community, so I don't see them looking forward to going into town to do that."

Johnson's business is in Glide, and he says having to go into Roseburg to do his banking will make a big impact. "It's been a big help for us, for myself especially, so I can come in and make my deposits, I don't have to stop in town, it's real close to work," said Johnson. "It's been quite, actually it's been one of the reasons I picked PremierWest, was because of it's branch out here, to make it easier on the deposits."

The bank is closing three other branches in southern Oregon and six in California.

Jim Ford, the President and CEO of the bank, said that it wasn't an easy decision. "This is an extremely difficult decision, because it affects our employees and in some cases communities already hard hit by the extended period of economic weakness. We certainly will continue, as we always have, to put people first and act with compassion toward our employees and the affected communities."

Ford says that the three biggest factors in the decline of "branch banking" are the rapid increase in people banking online, weakness in the economy and increased government regulations.

He also points out that the move will save the company a fair amount of money. The consolidation is projected to save the company $1.9-million annually.

Here is a list of the branches that will be closed:

In Oregon