Mechanics Bank of Richmond (MCHB)

[Enterprising Investor]

Mechanics Bank hits the road, moving headquarters out of Richmond (10/09/14)

Mechanics Bank President and CEO Christa Steele said the bank's headquarters is moving from Richmond to Walnut Creek.

Asked when the relocation will become official, Steele said, "It's a paper transaction at this point. The official movement of people occurred over the last couple of years."

The headquarters move began with the 2010 purchase of the Walnut Creek office that will soon serve as the bank's headquarters, she said.

The bank began in 1905 as the Bank of Pinole to cash paychecks for Contra Costa County railroad workers. Mechanics Bank, named for the term used to describe railroad workers, later moved to Richmond, where it enjoyed a storied history.

"The 1940s were a remarkable time of growth in our history, as Henry Kaiser brought his shipbuilding company to Richmond," according to the bank's website. "As a service to the shipbuilders, bankers from Mechanics Bank would go down to the shipyards on Saturday mornings to cash workers' paychecks as they came off their shifts."

Steele made her comments on the headquarters relocation in a wide-ranging interview with the San Francisco Business Times. The interview also included Carl Webb, co-managing member of Ford Financial Fund. The Dallas private equity firm has made a tender offer to purchase control of Mechanics Bank.

The interview with Steele and Webb is the focus of the San Francisco Business Times cover story in the Oct. 10 print edition.

Webb discussed at length Ford's ambitions to use Mechanics Bank (OTC BB: MCHB) as the platform for additional acquisitions.

"We've always been acquisitive. It's served us well. As long as you're growing and creating exponential value, why stop?" he said.

But Webb was emphatic in saying there's no name change in store for Mechanics Bank.

"No, No. This is such a unique bank, if not the most unique bank, that we've been associated with in our 35 years," Webb said. "You have a 109-year-old bank that is well identified, enjoys a great reputation and good brand identity. The last thing you'd want to do is change the name.

"And there are some horrible names in banking, by the way," he added.

http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/blog/2014/10/mechanics-bank-headquarters-richmond-walnut-creek.html?page=all