VIB TO BECOME RABOBANK, DISPLAY NEW LOGO

Julian branch Vice President Paul Tullius.

By Bobbi Zane

Rabobank is the new name for Julian’s Valley Independent Bank.

The name change, effective April 4, reflects a change in ownership of VIB, which consists of 25 branches in rural communities stretching from the Mexican border to Fresno. VIB was acquired by Rabobank International in 2002.

All VIB signs soon will be re-designed to bear the Rabobank name and blue-and-orange logo with an individual standing on a sundial, signifying Rabobank’s focus on individual service and commitment to customers.

“Rabobank is sensitive to the needs of the community,” said Julian branch vice president Paul Tullius. “They have a long history...going back more than 100 years...of helping small businesses and individuals.”

VIB opened in Julian in the mid-1990s, occupying a prominent brick building on Main Street. Previously, the Bank of America and Wells Fargo signs were over the door. Since it opened, the bank has focused on serving the local community, small businesses and individuals.

After a long period when no money was available for house construction in Julian, VIB granted its first residential construction loan in 1996 to Gregg Sallee and Bobbi Zane on Cape Horn Ave.

Founded in 1981 by a group of farmers and civic leaders in El Centro, VIB provides retail and commercial banking services to rural communities throughout Southern and Central California. From the first modular trailer with $2 million in assets and a handful of employees, to now more than two dozen locations and a team of nearly 500 employees, VIB has grown into a $2.7 billion regional financial institution.

Since being acquired by Rabobank, the bank has steadily added products and services, including home mortgages, non-FDIC-insured investment products through its Valley Independent Financial Services division, commercial leasing and other services.

The parent company, Rabobank, is a global financial services leader providing corporate and retail banking and agricultural finance services in key markets around the world.

Headquartered in the Netherlands, Rabobank has more than $500 billion in total assets, 9 million customers, operations in 35 countries, and ranks among the 25 largest banks worldwide, according to The Banker/ Financial Times . Rabobank is the only nongovernment institution to have a AAA credit rating and is ranked among the top 10 “world’s safest banks” by Global Finance magazine.

In the United States, Rabobank is a lead financier to the food and agribusiness industries and a specialist provider of customized solutions in the global financial markets, telecommunications and media, and corporate finance areas. Through its U.S. businesses, Rabobank also provides banking services to corporate food and agribusiness clients; real estate lending, operating loans and input financing to agricultural producers; and retail and commercial banking services in the rural valleys of California.

Most important, VIB officials assure customers that, under its new banner, the bank will not make changes to its friendly staff nor its commitment to superior customer service and community involvement.