Morrison Gederos Construction and OPB build community

Keith Morrison and Stephen Gederos take a lot of pride in their work. For 12 years, their company, Morrison Gederos Construction in Coos Bay, has carried out new construction projects and remodels on both residential and commercial buildings along the southern Oregon Coast.

“We drive along and I’m like, ‘We worked on this building, and we worked on that building,'” Stephen says.

They couldn’t help but worry when the coronavirus pandemic began to impact the economy. How would they continue to pay their employees if they weren’t working, they wondered? That’s when they decided to contact their bank at the time.

“You try to call them on the phone, and they put you on an automated line, and you sit there for hours and not get anywhere,” Keith recalls. “So, that’s when we reached out to Oregon Pacific Bank.” What they found at OPB was completely different, right from the start, Keith says. “They answer the phone and they were right on it.”

Deena Gisholt, Commercial Relationship Manager at our Coos Bay branch, says she and her team made it a priority to get Keith and Stephen the help they needed through the federal Paycheck Protection Program.

“I think for them is was about three hours from the time we got the application to the time we got approval,” Deena says. “Every client is important to us. It’s all about knowing who our clients are. When you build a relationship with the client, you get to know the ins and outs of their business, trying to foresee what their needs would be and help them through the whole process.”

Stephen says they’re glad they’ve found Oregon Pacific Bank and appreciate that OPB looks out for the needs of their company, as well as the broader community. “It’s nice to have a local bank care about the local community, just like we do,” he says.

In all, Oregon Pacific Bank has loaned more than $125.2 million to 752 businesses and nonprofits in Lane, Coos, Douglas and Jackson counties, as part of the U.S. Paycheck Protection Program, retaining more than 15,000 local jobs. Part of the CARES Act, these forgivable loans provide a direct incentive for businesses and nonprofits to keep workers employed during the crisis.