Heritage Financial in Olympia, Wash., has hired 25 bankers in a number of key markets.
The $7.5 billion-asset company said in a press release Wednesday that it added personnel in Vancouver, Wash.; Portland, Ore.; and Eugene, Ore. The bankers’ focus will be commercial, small business and nonprofit clients.
“We are excited to have this talented group of bankers join the bank,” Bryan McDonald Heritage Bank’s president and chief operating officer, said in the release.
“We think they will contribute significantly to our continuing success, and we will benefit from the experience, integrity, skill and community focus of these high-performing teams,” McDonald added.
Timothy Coffey, an analyst at Janney Montgomery Scott, wrote in a note to clients that the hires include 14 loan originators and deposit gatherers. He said the teams were hired from a local competitor that is going through an acquisition.
Coffey estimated that the teams could “conservatively add more than $100 million in loans” in 2023. While the move should increase near-term noninterest expenses, he said the effort “could improve the mix of low-cost deposits and improve net interest income” above prior estimates.