Winner: Riverview
Pat Shaeffer, CEO
www.riverviewbank.com
Net income increase between 2006 and 2007: 19 percent
Revenue increase between 2006 and 2007: 11 percent
Riverview Bancorp has assets of $820 million and is the parent company of the 83 year-old Riverview Community Bank, as well as Riverview Mortgage and Riverview Asset Management Corp. Riverview has 18 branches, including 10 in Clark County and three in the Portland metropolitan area.
Riverview Bancorp recently reported its end-of-fiscal-year results, which showed that net income in 2007 increased 19 percent to $11.6 million, compared to $9.7 million in fiscal year 2006. Total assets in the year increased by 7 percent.
The company’s fiscal year ended March 31.
Revenues increased 11 percent to $45.6 million, and net interest income went up 13 percent to $36.5 million. In fiscal 2006, Riverview Bancorp opened a full service branch in Portland.
"Our fiscal 2007 record profits are a direct result of the sustained growth in our balance sheet," said Pat Sheaffer, chairman and CEO, pictured at right. "Loan and deposit growth has improved our revenue generating capacity and contributed to a sustainable margin despite a challenging interest rate environment. In addition, our loan portfolio continues to be well diversified and high quality."
Riverview Bancorp President and COO Ron Wysaske said the company’s growth in revenues has been due primarily to loan growth, which has been helped by the expansion into Oregon. Commercial and construction loans account for 89 percent of the total loan portfolio.
"The economy in Southwest Washington and Portland continues to generate strong demand for business loans, although we are seeing indications that the pace of growth may be moderating," Wysaske said.
– Sam Bennett Finalist: Planning Solutions Inc. Daniel George, Paddi George and Christopher Baumann, Owners www.planningsolutionsinc.com
Upped employees by 40 percent in 2006
Planning Solutions Inc. experienced a year of great expansion in 2006.
The multi-discipline design firm of planners, landscape architects and architects increased its employees 40 percent to 12 workers and upped its profits, which were invested into physical growth.
Owners Daniel George and Paddi George, company president and chief financial officer respectively, purchased a 7,000-square-foot building at 16th and Broadway streets (formerly Tymer’s Camera and Reprographics), moving its headquarters from a 2,800-square-foot space. Chief Operating Officer Christopher Baumann was made a partner at the beginning of 2007.
The company is looking to expand its employee base further and has plans to complete the building remodel and lease out some of the space.
A significantly improving market and the diversity and hard work of PSI’s employees helped spur growth within the company, said CFO Paddi George.
"We’re positioned to grow with the market," she said.
The company doesn’t focus on one sector of development.
The full-service land planning firm provides services in architecture, land-use planning, environmental planning, development consulting, landscape architecture, horticulture and presentation graphics for clients with industrial, commercial, public and private needs.
Typically, PSI acts as the lead development consultant responsible for communication and coordination on project permits.
The company has seen steady growth since it was founded in the 1990s – the most significant of which came last year – and as the redevelopment of downtown Vancouver continues with several mixed-use developments, Paddi George said the company is well-positioned to keep growing.
– Megan Patrick
Finalist: Columbia Machine
Rick Goode, president and CEO
Added 49 full-time staff in 2006
Columbia Machine is a worldwide manufacturer of concrete products equipment and serves customers in more than 100 countries. Worth more than $100 million, the company has seen tremendous growth.
Profit has increased 106.3 percent since 1996 and from 2005 to 2006, its profits grew 16 percent. At the end of 2005, the company employed 556 full-time workers and by the end of 2006, it employed 605 – an almost 9 percent increase.
The company was founded in 1937 by 23-year-old Fred Neth Sr., who opened shop on Main Street in Vancouver. In the early days, the company dealt with a variety of jobs, including repairing the block machines of the time. Neth knew Columbia could design and build a better machine.
In 1945, the company pioneered a hydraulic machine that semi-automatically produced two 8-inch by 4-inch by 12-inch blocks at a time – and industry first. Not long after, Columbia built the first hydraulic machine to make two larger, standard-sized blocks.
As the needs of the market have changed, so has the company.
"The market has shifted so that the biggest growth is no longer concrete block but retaining walls and pavers," said President and CEO Rick Goode, pictured on the right.
"As markets like India, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Australia have grown, we’ve made sure we have the right sales channels and offerings for those markets," Goode said.
The company has a new campaign – "Everything we do…always from the eyes of our customers."
"We’re trying to get all of our employees to really step into the shoes of our customers and see things through their eyes," Goode said. "They’ll tell you what you need to do in order to be successful."
– Megan Patrick
