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Sierra Bancorp (the “Company”) is a California corporation headquartered in Porterville, California, and is a registered bank
holding company under federal banking laws. Sierra Bancorp’s common stock trades on the NASDAQ Global Select Market
under the symbol BSRR. The Company was formed to serve as the holding company for Bank of the Sierra (the “Bank”), and
has been the Bank’s sole shareholder since August 2001. References herein to the “Company” include Sierra Bancorp and its
only consolidated subsidiary, the Bank, unless the context indicates otherwise. The Company’s unconsolidated subsidiaries are
Sierra Capital Trust III, which was formed in June 2006 solely to facilitate the issuance capital trust pass-through securities, and
Sierra Statutory Trust II, formed in March 2004 for the same purpose.
SIERRA BANCORP
BANK OF THE SIERRA
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Bank of the Sierra is a California state-chartered bank head-
quartered in Porterville, California. We offer a full range of re-
tail and commercial banking services primarily in Tulare, Kern,
Fresno, and Kings Counties in Central California, and in select
markets in Southern California including Ventura County and
the Santa Clarita Valley. The Bank was incorporated in Sep-
tember 1977, and opened for business in January 1978 as a
one-branch bank with $1.5 million in capital and eleven em-
ployees. We have since grown to be the largest bank head-
quartered in the South San Joaquin Valley, with more than 400
employees, 28 full-service branch offices, a loan production
office, and $1.8 billion in assets at December 31, 2015. The
Bank’s growth has primarily been organic, but includes two ac-
quisitions: Sierra National Bank in the year 2000, and Santa
Clara Valley Bank (“SCVB”) in 2014. We have plans to expand
even further in 2016 with the acquisition of Coast Bancorp, the
holding company for Coast National Bank, and the purchase
of certain deposits and loans currently held in the Porterville
branch of a larger regional bank. The Bank has also received
regulatory approvals for a de novo branch in Sanger, Califor-
nia and another branch in Bakersfield, California. We continue
to explore branch expansion possibilities in underserved areas
within our current footprint, and remain alert for whole-bank
acquisition opportunities both within and outside of our cur-
rent market areas.
In addition to the branch offices noted above, the Bank has a
real estate industries group, an agricultural credit division, and
an SBA lending unit. We also have ATMs at most branch loca-
tions and offsite ATMs at six different non-branch locations.
Furthermore, the Bank is a member of the Allpoint network,
which provides our customers with surcharge-free access to
over 43,000 ATMs across the nation and another 12,000 ATMs
in foreign countries, and our customers have access to elec-
tronic point-of-sale payment alternatives nationwide via the
Pulse EFT network. To ensure that account access preferences
are addressed for all customers, we offer the following options:
an internet branch which provides the ability to open depos-
it accounts online; an online banking option with bill-pay and
mobile banking capabilities, including mobile check deposit;
a customer service center that is accessible by toll-free tele-
phone during business hours; and an automated telephone
banking system that is usually accessible 24 hours a day, seven
days a week.
We strive to maintain a broad array of loan and deposit prod-
ucts and services that appeal to a wide variety of consumers
and businesses, and we offer a multitude of other banking
products and services to complement and support our lending
and deposit products, including remote deposit capture and
automated payroll services for business customers. The Bank’s
lending activities include real estate, commercial (including
small business), mortgage warehousing, agricultural, and con-
sumer loans. The bulk of our real estate loans are secured by
commercial or professional office properties, which are pre-
dominantly owner-occupied, and agricultural properties. At
December 31, 2015, gross loans totaled $1.133 billion.
Our deposit products include checking accounts, savings ac-
counts, money market demand accounts, time deposits, re-
tirement accounts, and business sweep accounts. The Bank’s
deposit accounts are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation (“FDIC”) up to maximum insurable amounts. We
attract deposits throughout our market area with direct-mail
campaigns, a customer-oriented product mix, competitive pric-
ing, convenient locations, drive-through banking, and a multi-
tude of alternative delivery channels, and we strive to retain
our deposit customers by providing a consistently high level of
service. At December 31, 2015, we had 101,200 deposit ac-
counts with balances totaling $1.465 billion. Based on June 30,
2015 FDIC market share data for the 20 cities within which the
Company maintains branches, Bank of the Sierra ranks sixth
with 5.6% of total deposits. In Tulare County, where the Bank
was originally formed, we have the largest number of branches
of any individual financial institution (12, including our online
branch), and rank first for deposit market share with 19.6% of
total deposits.
In summary, over the years we have successfully transitioned
from a small, single-unit bank into a multi-branch, multi-com-
munity operation. Our conservative yet flexible approach to
business has allowed us to adapt plans to accommodate situ-
ational changes, take advantage of growth opportunities, and
build a reputation as a stable, top-performing bank. We feel
that our rich history, incorporating a strong commitment to
support our communities and a focus on shareholder returns,
provides a solid foundation for continued expansion. Looking
forward, our depth of experience, healthy capital position, and
access to abundant liquidity resources continue to provide in-
vestors, customers and staff with confidence in the prospect of
a bright future for the Company.