Mechanics Bank is a community banking financial institution headquartered in Richmond, California

Richmond, California

Richmond is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city was incorporated on August 7, 1905. It is located in the East Bay, part of the San Francisco Bay Area. It is a residential inner suburb of San Francisco, as well as the site of heavy industry, which has been...

. It was founded in 1905 and currently serves markets in Northern California. It operates in the San Francisco Bay

San Francisco Bay Area

The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...

 and Sacramento

Sacramento metropolitan area

The Greater Sacramento area, or officially Sacramento–Arden Arcade–Yuba City, CA-NV Combined Statistical Area, is a combined statistical area consisting of several metropolitan statistical areas and seven counties in Northern California and one in Western Nevada. These are Sacramento, Yolo, El...

 areas. The bank has over 2.7 billion dollars in assets and over 700 associates at 33 retail branches.

Background

E.M. Downer (1889–1938) was a prominent official in the town of Pinole

Pinole, California

Pinole is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States. The population was 18,390 at the 2010 census. It is one of many small “bedroom communities” along the I-80 corridor in Western Contra Costa County. It is located about northeast of San Francisco, and approximately a half-hour...

 who created the "Bank of Pinole", the precursor to Mechanics Bank. In 1909 at the age of 20 E.M. Downer was appointed as Transfer Agent and Telegrapher for Southern Pacific Railroad's Pinole Depot railroad station. The depot became the town hub and he subsequently opened a laundromat and started the The Pinole Weekly Times newspaper. Later the depot was selected as the location for the infant city's first post office and Downer became the first postmaster. After the community incorporated in 1903 he became the first city clerk and afterwards mayor.

The beginnings of the bank were in 1905 when E.M. Downer began offering financial services to his acquaintances from a floor safe in his office. This was a great convenience to the residents because the closest bank at the time was at the Contra Costa County seat at Martinez

Martinez, California

Martinez is a city and the county seat of Contra Costa County, California, United States. The population was 35,824 at the 2010 census. The downtown is notable for its large number of preserved old buildings...

, 13 miles (20.9 km) away. In 1915 he became second vice president and later, in 1919 after purchasing a controlling interest, he became president until his death in 1938. He was succeed by his son E.M. Downer, Jr. in 1939 who served as president until 1978.

Early years

The bank was founded in 1905 as the "Bank of Pinole". The Downers family has led the company for most of its history starting with E. M. Downer who ran the Bank through the 1920s boom years when Richmond was a major West Coast industrial center. Mechanics Bank served Standard Oil

Standard Oil

Standard Oil was a predominant American integrated oil producing, transporting, refining, and marketing company. Established in 1870 as a corporation in Ohio, it was the largest oil refiner in the world and operated as a major company trust and was one of the world's first and largest multinational...

, Santa Fe Railroad, the Ford Motor Company

Ford Motor Company

Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...

 and their employees during this period. Downer also successfully led the bank through the Great Depression

Great Depression

The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

 while many other banks succumbed.

In 1939, E.M. Downer, Jr. became president. During World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 Richmond became a major hub of industrial and shipping activities and the bank experienced explosive growth as did Richmond. Over 70,000 new residents were attracted to the city largely to the Richmond

Richmond Shipyards

The four Richmond Shipyards, located in the city of Richmond, California, United States, were run by Permanente Metals and part of the Kaiser Shipyards, and were responsible for constructing more ships during World War II than any other shipyard in the country. The shipyards are part of the Rosie...

 Kaiser Shipyards

Kaiser Shipyards

The Kaiser Shipyards were seven major shipbuilding yards located mostly on the U.S. west coast during World War II. They were owned by the Kaiser Shipbuilding Company, a creation of American industrialist Henry J...

 and other World War II home front industries (see Rosie the Riveter National Park

Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park

Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park is located in Richmond, California, near San Francisco. The park encompasses an array of historic properties in the city which were constructed during the 1940s to support America's entry into World War II.The park is a "partnership...

).

Mechanics Bank created the first personal, automobile and appliance loans in Northern California in addition to the first drive-in banking operation. From 1941 to 1945, the bank more than quadrupled in size.

Expansion

E.M. Downer III became president in 1971. In 1980, the Bank moved its headquarters to the Hilltop neighborhood

Hilltop, Richmond, California

Fairmede-Hilltop, more commonly known simply as Hilltop, is a neighborhood located in the northeastern area of Richmond, California.-Overview:...

 of Richmond, California

Richmond, California

Richmond is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city was incorporated on August 7, 1905. It is located in the East Bay, part of the San Francisco Bay Area. It is a residential inner suburb of San Francisco, as well as the site of heavy industry, which has been...

. In 1990 the bank began expanding outside of Western Contra Costa County, adding offices in Walnut Creek

Walnut Creek, California

Walnut Creek is an incorporated city located east of the city of Oakland. It lies in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. While not as large as neighboring Concord, Walnut Creek serves as the business and entertainment hub for the neighboring cities within central Contra Costa...

, Pleasant Hill

Pleasant Hill, California

Pleasant Hill is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States, in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. The population was 33,152 at the 2010 census. It was incorporated in 1961...

, Concord

Concord, California

Concord is the largest city in Contra Costa County, California, USA. At the 2010 census, the city had a population of 122,067. Originally founded in 1869 as the community of Todos Santos by Salvio Pacheco, the name was changed to Concord within months...

, Oakland

Oakland, California

Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...

, Marin County, and Napa Valley. This was followed by later additions of Mechanics Bank offices in San Francisco

San Francisco, California

San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...

, El Dorado Hills

El Dorado Hills, California

El Dorado Hills is an unincorporated census-designated place located in El Dorado County, California, east of the state capital of Sacramento. The population was 42,108 at the 2010 census, up from 18,016 at the 2000 census...

, Elk Grove

Elk Grove, California

Elk Grove is a city in Sacramento County, California, located just south of the state capital of Sacramento. It is part of the Sacramento–Arden-Arcade–Roseville Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2010 census, the population of the city is 153,015...

, Roseville

Roseville, California

-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Roseville had a population of 118,788. The population density was 3,279.4 people per square mile...

, and Lafayette

Lafayette, California

Lafayette is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 23,893. It was named after the Marquis de Lafayette, a French military hero of the American Revolutionary War...

. In 1995 the bank reached 1 billion dollars in assets. In 2009 during the global financial crisis the bank refused 60 million dollars in bailout money. The bank is currently remodeling all of its retail locations to be LEED

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design consists of a suite of rating systems for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings, homes and neighborhoods....

 certified and having the entire company go green. The company is committed to helping those in need. Furthermore Mechanics Bank is an affirmative action

Affirmative action

Affirmative action refers to policies that take factors including "race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation or national origin" into consideration in order to benefit an underrepresented group, usually as a means to counter the effects of a history of discrimination.-Origins:The term...

employer. In 2010, Dianne Daiss Felton (D.D.), the great granddaughter of E.M. Downer was named Chairman of the Board. At the same time, E.M Downer's greatgrandson, E. Michael Downer, was named Vice Chairman of the Board and E.M. Downer III (Eddie) was named Chairman Emeritus.