Banking on local business
Don Gordon of Business Bank of Skagit County recognized as Skagit Business Person of the Year

Don Gordon, chairman of Business Bank of Skagit County, has a long history in Skagit County business.

By Christopher Huber

Don Gordon is a busy man. But you wouldn’t notice it upon first acquaintance with this recently-turned-70-year-old chairman of Business Bank of Skagit County. Like many of the business leaders in Skagit County, he likes to tell stories, get to know the people around him and credit his co-workers and employees where it is due.

He is the kind of chairman that, while sitting at the head of the table in board meetings, wants his co-workers to be comfortable and casual. He leans back a little in the high-back chair, his elbows planted on the armrests with hands folded near his chest.
Gordon, who is also chairman of Guardian Northwest Title and Escrow, board director for Skagit Valley Medical Center and business manager of Villaorba Group, was recently named NWBM 2007 Business Person of the Year for Skagit County.
The fact that Business Bank, which Gordon helped found in 2005, was the first business bank formed in Skagit County in approximately 25 years and was profitable within a year of opening play a factor in his winning the award.
Not to mention that the bank has already earned back all of its original startup capital of nearly $1 million. An accomplishment that Gordon said is rare among young banks in the region.
He values the people he works with and the relationships he has kept throughout his 23 years as a Skagit County businessman.
“The only reason anybody ever even considered me was because of the tremendous group of people that I am associated with,” Gordon said. “That (group) has made Business Bank such a successful young bank. It’s kind of fun to be the lightening rod, but in fact, I am standing on the backs of a bunch of people.”
In addition to the immense progress Business Bank has made in three years, Gordon is also extremely pleased with the bank’s stock price growth. Although it is not publicly traded, shares – mainly sold around the county – are currently going for $14 each. That is a 40 percent increase from the original 2005 stock price of $10 per share.

Building Business Bank
As the Business Bank team celebrates three years in business this month, Gordon said getting here was a long, tough road.
The process to open Business Bank began 10 years ago, when Gordon was still managing the local Nissan dealership. From the time he began talking to people about starting a bank, it took about 18 months to get all of the FDIC charters. It was not until early 2005 that everything was in place to open.
The founders had sold $11 million in stock to investors and hit the ground running. By the end of 2005 the bank was turning a profit and was in stride to hit an initial goal of gaining $100 million in assets. By the end of 2007, they had realized the goal, and then some, with $110 million in assets.
Much of this success seems to stem from Gordon’s tried and true business philosophy.
“You gotta plan. It has to be conservative. You have to have some luck and you’ve got to work it hard.”
He said this mindset is what drives so much of American success. It is also about good people.
“Business is so much about people that you have got to seek out good people to run your business,” he said.
Although he spends most of his time managing Villaorba Group, Gordon still spends time at the main branch in Burlington, working with President and Chief Executive Officer Don Zimmerman and others.
But sometimes Gordon is the only guy who shows up to work wearing a tie. Like the bank staff, he usually likes to be less formal because people should feel comfortable at work. Dressing casually creates an atmosphere of comfort, he said.
“Our customers are used to it, they tease me,” he said. “We are a down-to- earth bunch of people.”
He said the advantage of being a small bank is that they can know their customers. The bank does not just serve business owners, but is open to anyone.
As the business continues to grow and profit, it continues to seek out ways to affect the community where it finds it client base.
Gordon said that community banks must reinvest in the community. They have to make sure lending extends to the under privileged in the community. The bank commits funds each year to the Boys and Girls Club, Kiwanis and Rotary clubs and various other organizations countywide.

Gordon’s History
Born in Kansas City, Mo., in 1938, Gordon got his first job on a cattle ranch. His family moved to Washington where he graduated from Spokane’s North Central High School in 1956, a year ahead of his to-be wife, Kay, who graduated from Lewis and Clark High School.
Four years later, married and with his and Kay’s first daughter, LuAnne, he graduated from Washington State University with a degree in political science and business. Gordon immediately found work with General Motors Acceptance Corp. in Spokane.
Eventually, in 1969, he got a job in sales and executive management with Nissan Corporation, which led him and his family to Portland, Ore. By 1976, while still at Nissan, Gordon moved the family to Chicago but only stayed for two years. They moved back to Portland because he said Chicago wasn’t the best place to raise children.
1985 was a special year for the Gordon family. That is when Don bought the Burlington Nissan dealership from Jack Gubrud and moved to Skagit County. It became Gordon Nissan Suzuki of Burlington.

A Family Affair
In 2002, after approximately 18 years as the owner and manager of the dealership, he hung up the car keys and suit-and-tie uniform to embark on a new endeavor with his children and business partners: real estate investment.
As his children, LuAnne Burkhart, Joni Gordon, Don Gordon, Jr. and Cyndi Collins, had partnered with him in the car business, the team decided to keep their assets together and start Villaorba Group, a partnership that buys, re-develops and operates property.
“Instead of going our own way, we decided to continue (together),” Gordon said.
The family members make up the core management of Villaorba: eldest daughter Burkhart is the chief financial officer, Joni Gordon is property manager, Don Jr. is construction manager and Collins is operations manager.
“(It) just makes a great family arrangement for us,” he said. “I am able to work on a daily basis with my grown children.”
Gordon said he cherishes working with his children because, aside from being their father, he gets to treat them professionally and see their strengths and weaknesses in the workplace.
“We like each other,” he said. “It’s a pretty unique thing that I don’t think many fathers get to do.”
Gordon attributes much of his career success – in the car business as well as at Villaorba – to his wife and original partner Kay. He said she has always worked in the office and helped out if they were short-staffed or needed extra help. Since he has worked for himself, she has kind of been his business partner.
“I married a woman that has just given me wings all of my married life,” he said.

A Bright Future
Currently employing 32 people, Gordon said Business Bank is always growing. Since opening its first branch in Burlington in the spring of 2005, the bank has planted branches or loan offices in Mount Vernon, Bellingham and Lynden.
The Mount Vernon branch opens this month and will have a permanent building by the end of this year. The loan office in Lynden has gained so much business that the bank will open a full-size branch on April 18.
From the onset, the directors made a conscious decision to grow the company, and continue to invest, Gordon said. And to make money while investing during a national mortgage and lending downturn is a feat, especially for a young bank. He added that most Skagit County banks seem to be averting such problems experienced nationally.
“We don’t want to be WaMu or U.S. Bank, but regionally there are a lot of opportunities,” he said.
In the end, perhaps his business partners and co-workers have prospered with him through the years because of his humble but confident outlook on life.
“You either get out and live in it and make a difference, or you have just not existed,” he said.




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