Heppner banker gains entrance into Oregon Bankers Hall of Fame
Published 8:00 am Friday, December 24, 2021
- Jeff Bailey of Heppner holds his award for being inducted into the Oregon Bankers Hall of Fame on Dec. 6.
The president and CEO of the Bank of Eastern Oregon in Heppner now is a Hall of Famer.
The Oregon Bankers Association on Dec. 6 inducted Jeff Bailey into the Oregon Bankers Hall of Fame during the Oregon Bank Leadership Symposium.
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Bailey in a phone interview said his induction puts his name on a list of other excellent bankers. Three other bankers in his bank’s history have achieved this recognition, he said, and he reported feeling good about the association.
He said the honor is humbling. Fellow inductees include people who have devoted themselves to their communities and have done well by their customers, he said. He stated he strives for the same excellence.
Bankers Association President and CEO Linda Navarro during Bailey’s induction shared comments she received from his colleagues about his contributions and service, according to a Dec. 16 press release from the association.
Gabrielle Homer, a member of the bank’s board, said she appreciated Bailey’s open door — both as a customer of many years and when joining the board last year — and described him as helpful, friendly, incredibly knowledgeable and dedicated and loyal. Other peers credited Bailey with having a “strong moral compass,” the press release stated, for being a strong leader who cares about employees and customers and for having “a holistic view of situations and is committed to making the greater good succeed.”
Good saver early on
Looking back, Bailey said his history in banking goes back to his early childhood. Born in Enterprise, he had family members who were bankers. Also, he started his first bank account when he was very young, after selling night crawlers and mowing lawns to earn money. Even in his youth, he said, he was a good saver.
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“It was instilled in us at an early age that you have to save for a rainy day to provide for yourself and your family,” he said, adding he carried that ethic into adulthood.
Bailey earned a degree in agriculture business from Eastern Oregon University and began his career as a grain buyer in Portland, according to the press release, and 25 years ago he began his career with the Bank of Eastern Oregon as a commercial loan officer in Gilliam County. He served as the bank’s chief credit officer 2003-09, then moved up president and CEO.
His service is not just inside the bank, though, as Bailey has worked as a past chair of the bankers association and has recently started a two-year term as the chair of the Community Banks of Oregon, a sister entity of the Oregon Bankers Association “that serves as a unique voice dedicated to banks headquartered in Oregon,” according to the press release. Bailey also is active in the Willow Creek Valley Economic Development Group, the Heppner Chamber of Commerce and other civic and nonprofit groups.
The Oregon Bankers Hall of Fame was founded in 1987, has 81 inductees and is the “the highest honor bestowed peer-to-peer within the Oregon banking industry,” according to the Oregon Bankers Association, recognizing “outstanding contributions inductees have made to the Oregon banking industry, to the OBA and to the communities in which they live and work.”