The locally-owned, neighborhood bank’s mission is to build relationships with people and businesses who care about Portland communities. That’s why Albina Bank was one of the first companies to join the Save More, Matter More™ campaign.

“We see ourselves as a partner in the communities where we do business,” says bank President Cheryl L. Cebula. “Saving energy is part of our mission to do whatever we can to serve those communities and the people and businesses in them.”

The bank is pledging to conduct energy-efficiency assessments at all of its five locations, and then do what it can to address the projects that the assessments identify.

Albina Bank treats its customers, many of whom are from areas underserved by traditional banks, as individuals with unique circumstances and strengths. Though it offers all the same products and services as any larger bank, Cebula says, it prides itself on creative solutions to its customers’ banking needs that “big box” banks don’t typically offer.

The company is planning on taking a similarly creative and holistic approach to its energy-efficiency pledge. “We’re not sure which project we’ll do at first,” Cebula says, “but we’re going to look at every idea that comes up.” One first step may be a future lighting retrofit at its St. Johns or Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. branches.

Cebula says that while Albina Bank certainly hopes to see cost savings from its efforts, what’s most exciting is the potential for spreading the energy-efficiency word among its business and individual customers. “We have the opportunity to provide valuable information to customers that can help them run their companies and homes more efficiently and potentially save them money,” Cebula says. “That’s the kind of opportunity we like to cash in on.”