Chairman Steven Bales and CEO Candace Wiest announced today that West Valley National Bank, headquartered in the Greater Phoenix area, has received regulatory approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to open a new full-service branch in Las Vegas.
“According to the University of California, Riverside, the three highest growth regions in the country are Southern Nevada, the Inland Empire in Southern California, and Phoenix,” said Chairman Bales. “With the addition of the branch in Nevad,a we are well positioned to grow significantly over the next few years.”
In conjunction with the branch application, the Board and management successfully raised $4.5 million in new capital. Ms. Wiest noted that “while the bank has always been well capitalized, the new capital provides us with an increased lending limit that will allow us to be competitive in the high growth markets we have targeted. It was extremely gratifying to see the encouragement and support of local investors as we raised the capital.”
West Valley National Bank is a wholly owned subsidiary of West Valley Bancorp, Inc. The Las Vegas branch is in addition to Arizona branches currently operating in Goodyear, Phoenix and Gila Bend. The Bank also has a business development office in Riverside, California.
