Umpqua Bank Donates Building to Winlock School District

Umpqua Bank and Winlock School District announced today a partnership that will expand educational space options for local administration, faculty and students. Umpqua has donated its building located at 401 NE First St. to the Winlock School District, while continuing to serve local customers through a combination of digital banking tools, ATM services and in-person banking consultations. The deal to transfer building ownership officially closed today.

The Winlock School District encompasses four schools serving 700 local students. District schools include Winlock Miller Elementary School, Winlock Middle School, Winlock Senior High School and Winolequa Learning Academy. The current district administrative building is located in a small building directly behind the elementary school. Dr. Richard Serns, Winlock School District Superintendent, said the district will immediately begin the transition of its district administrative offices to the new location. Serns indicated that by the start of next school year the current district office will begin being utilized for a much-needed expansion of the district’s elementary school programs. In the past three years the elementary school has grown by roughly 40 students.

“The school district is extremely grateful for Umpqua’s generous donation of its building, which comes at a key moment as we’ve been evaluating how to meet the growing needs of our students and staff,” Dr. Serns said. “The addition of Umpqua’s facility addresses a significant need for the district, giving us the additional space we need to expand our capacity to serve students and families in our community while saving us valuable education dollars for other important programs.”

According to Brian Read, Head of Retail Banking at Umpqua, the bank’s building donation reflects Umpqua’s commitment to remain a presence in the community and to continue serving local customers.

“Although technology is changing how people bank, it’s not changing Umpqua’s commitment to the communities we serve, which runs deep. As customers choose to use our physical locations differently, Umpqua is proactively working with local leaders to find uses for Umpqua-owned locations that can create lasting benefit for our communities. We’re thrilled to have found a use for our building in Winlock to create much-needed space for school district operations and look forward to continuing to provide convenient banking services to our local customers.”

To continue serving its Winlock customers, Umpqua is providing banking services through several unique channels. In addition to an ATM located onsite, Umpqua has recently made Umpqua Go-To available to all customers. Umpqua Go-To gives every Winlock customer the opportunity to choose a personal banker devoted to their financial needs and engage with them in a real-time, secure chat environment. Umpqua has also assigned former Winlock Store Manager, Janet Berry, to continue serving the Winlock community as a Go-To banker and who is available by appointment to advise customers, handle non-transactional banking needs, and provide assistance on the use of Umpqua’s online and digital banking tools.