Small Town News

Paperwork filed for closing Westwood bank

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Paperwork was filed with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and California Department of Financial Institutions Tuesday, Sept. 8, to close the Westwood branch of Plumas Bank. The process takes 90 days.

Customers will receive plenty of notification about the timeline for the closure and the banking services still available locally through Plumas Bank, said BJ North, executive vice president of retail banking. She said the bank is required to notify customers 30 days prior to closing and will post signs, submit information to the newspaper and send letters in advance.

Once the building is closed accounts for Westwood customers will be transferred to Chester, however people will still be able to use the local ATM and make night drops. A courier service will be available to businesses that need change on hand for their services. One day a week customers will be able to physically go to the Westwood Branch to open new accounts, apply for a loan and make a direct deposit.

In addition, the Westwood branch of Plumas Bank will offer classes this fall to teach customers all aspects of online banking from paying bills to monitoring deposits. The bank will place two computers at the Westwood One Stop Center so customers who don't have a computer will be able to do online banking. They will be given passwords for their online accounts, said North.

People who have a safety deposit box in Westwood will be given a new box in Chester, which will be free for one year.

The biggest difference is that there will not be five-day a week, face-to-face access with bank employees at the Westwood branch. Therefore businesses will need to plan a little more for cash flow and other needs, added North. However all Westwood employees will be transferred to Chester. Situations occurred that allowed Plumas Bank to move them all into various positions in Chester.

"We want to keep the continuity and continue to be a part of the community," said North.

This means Plumas Bank will still do sponsorships and make charitable contributions in Westwood as well as participate in social events such as the Cinco de Mayo mixer held in May. North said executives are reviewing the budget and will determine what to support based on what is important to the community.

North said they tried to address the concerns Westwood citizens voiced at the meeting Aug. 5 when she and Doug Biddle, president of Plumas Bank, announced the closure of the local branch.

At that meeting North explained that Plumas Bank is a business that has to be in a community with potential to grow. A profitable bank must bring in $20 million and the Westwood branch averages $9 million to $10 million. There was potential for growth when developers were planning to build the Dyer Mountain Resort but the project failed.

Should the economy turn around in Westwood and the community begin to grow it is possible that Plumas' Bank will reopen the branch, said North. If the bank were turning its back on West-wood, it would not be putting forth an effort to provide as many services as possible locally, she added.



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© 2009 Westwood PinePress Westwood, California. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

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