Margot James Copeland and Paul

WALLA WALLA, Wash., March 04, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Banner Corporation (NASDAQ GSM:BANR) (“Banner”), the parent company of Banner Bank (“Bank”), today announced that Margot James Copeland and Paul J. Walsh was appointed to the Board of Directors effective March 1, 2022. Copeland and Walsh were also appointed to the Banner Bank Board of Directors.

Copeland specializes in developing strategies in the areas of workforce development and management, leadership, diversity and inclusion, philanthropy, and outreach and engagement. community. She has over 20 years of experience, her previous positions being with KeyBank and KeyBank Foundation, Cleveland, Ohio. At KeyBank, she served as Executive Vice President and Director of Corporate Philanthropy and Community Engagement from 2001 to 2019; during the same period, she served as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of the KeyBank Foundation. As a business executive and leader in corporate philanthropy and civic engagement, Copeland was a member of KeyBank’s Corporate Social Responsibility Council, which focused on philanthropic investments, corporate citizenship and regulatory and business strategy. She was also a member of the Diversity & Inclusion Council and served as KeyBank’s Chief Diversity Officer from 2001 to 2013. Prior to joining KeyBank, Copeland served on the advisory board of US Bank (formerly Firstar) from 1998 to 2001.

Copeland earned a master’s degree from Ohio State University, a bachelor of science degree in physics from Hampton University, Hampton, Virginia, and an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Cuyahoga Community College, Cleveland, Ohio. Copeland will serve on the Compensation and Human Capital Committee and the Credit Risk Committee.

Walsh is a technology leader with over 25 years of scale and reach experience with some of the most respected brands in the industry. He is currently senior vice president, head of digital, engineering and IT at Sony Interactive Entertainment, which he joined in January 2022. He was an executive-in-residence at Adobe from 2021 to 2022. Walsh has served as Senior Vice President and Global Chief Digital Officer at Lenovo from 2018 to 2020. Prior to Lenovo, Walsh served as Senior Vice President, Platform Strategy & Innovation for Visa Inc. from 2016 to 2018. He previously held the position as Global Chief Information Officer at Dell from 2013 to 2015. Walsh is also a senior advisory board member.

Walsh graduated with a Bachelor of Science, BSc Computer Science from Griffith College, Dublin, Ireland. Walsh will serve on the Audit and Risk Committees.

“We are very pleased to have Margot and Paul join our Boards of Directors,” said Mark J. Grescovich, President and CEO. “Margot and Paul are extremely well known and highly respected in our business circles. They bring different strengths and a great depth of knowledge that should help us move forward as we continue to position the organization for future success.

Additionally, Banner announced that Brent A. Orrico, a member of the Boards of Directors since 1999 and current Chairman of the Boards, will not be standing for re-election at the Company’s 2022 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, and Merline Saintil, a member of the Boards of Directors, will resign from the Boards effective the adjournment of the Corporation’s 2022 Annual Meeting.

About the company

Banner Corporation is a $16.80 billion bank holding company that operates a commercial bank in four western states through a branch network offering a full range of business deposit and lending services, to commercial real estate, construction, residential, agricultural and consumer. Visit Banner Bank on the web at www.bannerbank.com.

Forward-looking statements

When used in this press release and in other documents filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), in press releases or other public communications with stockholders, or in oral statements made with the approval of an authorized officer, the words or expressions “may”, “believe”, “will”, “will probably result”, “will”, “will continue”, “is expected”, “estimates” , “project”, “plans”, “potential” or similar expressions are intended to identify “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements , which speak only as of the date such statements are made and are based solely on information then actually known to Banner. Banner does not undertake and specifically disclaims any obligation to revise any forward-looking statements to reflect the occurrence of any anticipated or unanticipated events or circumstances after the date of such statements. These statements may relate to future financial performance, strategic plans or objectives, revenue or profit projections, or other financial information. By their nature, these statements are subject to numerous uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in the statements and could adversely affect Banner’s operating and stock market performance.

The COVID-19 pandemic is adversely affecting us, our customers, counterparties, employees and third-party service providers, and the ultimate extent of the impacts on our business, financial condition, results of operations, liquidity and our outlook is uncertain. Deterioration in general business and economic conditions, including increased unemployment rates, or turbulence in domestic or global financial markets could adversely affect our revenues and the value of our assets and liabilities, reduce the availability of financing , lead to a credit crunch and increase stock price volatility. In addition, changes to laws, regulations or regulatory policies or practices as a result of or in response to COVID-19 could affect us in substantial and unpredictable ways. Other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated or projected include, but are not limited to, the following: (1) credit risks of lending activities, including changes in the level and direction of defaults and write-ins of reductions and changes in estimates of the adequacy of the provision for credit losses, which could necessitate additional provisions for credit losses, resulting both from loans issued and loans acquired from other financial institutions; (2) the results of reviews by regulatory authorities, including the possibility that such regulatory authority may, among other things, require increases in the provision for credit losses or impairment of assets or impose restrictions or sanctions relating to Banner’s activities; (3) competitive pressures among depository institutions; (4) movements in interest rates and their impact on customer behavior and net interest margin; (5) uncertainty regarding the future of the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) and the potential transition of LIBOR to new benchmark interest rates; (6) the impact of repricing and competitor pricing initiatives on loan and deposit products; (7) fluctuations in real estate values; (8) the ability to successfully adapt to technological changes to meet customer needs and market developments; (9) the ability to access cost-effective financing; (10) disruptions, security breaches or other adverse events, failures or interruptions of computer systems or attacks on computer systems or third-party vendors that perform critical processing functions; (11) evolution of financial markets; (12) changes in economic conditions generally and in Washington, Idaho, Oregon and California in particular; (13) the costs, effects and results of litigation; (14) legislative or regulatory changes, including but not limited to changes in regulatory policies and principles, or interpretation of regulatory capital or other rules, other government initiatives affecting the financial services industry and changes in federal and/or state tax laws or interpretations by taxing authorities; (15) changes in accounting principles, policies or guidelines; (16) future acquisitions by Banner of other depository institutions or industries; (17) future impairment of goodwill due to changes in Banner’s business, changes in market conditions, including due to the COVID-19 pandemic or other factors; (18) costs associated with Banner Forward and (19) other economic, competitive, governmental, regulatory and technological factors affecting our operations, prices, products and services; and other risks detailed from time to time in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and our annual reports on Form 10-K.

Aired on Globe Newswire March 4, 2022 at 6:00 a.m. PST.