When Paul Cook arrived at CoastHills Credit Union as its Chief Information Officer in 2015, the board was talking about building a new headquarters.What it would look like was still up for debate, but Cook had an idea: add an extra floor.
Now the credit union is moving in to its new centrally located building in Santa Maria, and with that added space, they’ll have a tenant to chip in revenue.
“I had just joined the leadership team here at CoastHills,” he said. “I think I had a critical role in suggesting we should add an extra floor.”
He’d worked in county leadership in Utah and learned during construction of a jail that, relative to the total cost of the building, an extra floor was relatively cheap. Cook used the same idea and pushed for an extra floor the credit union could lease.
CoastHills enters a new chapter of its existence by moving from Lompoc to a more central part of its territory, located just off Highway 101 on Betteravia, in the Enos Ranch Business Center.
The credit union has about $1.2 billion in assets, but Cook, who became CEO in 2018, said it’s been keeping its eye on the global economy and current trade war, adding liquidity to more than 9 percent of its portfolio.
The new $30 million CoastHills three-story corporate building is 92,000 square feet, more than double the size of its former headquarters in Vandenberg Village.
“It’s a great boon to the city of Santa Maria,” Cook said.
Employees have already begun moving in and will use the first and third floors, while CoastHills is leasing out the second to Missouri-based medical school A.T. Still University. Once construction is complete, the school plans to have its physician’s assistant program up and running by the summer.
The bottom floor of the new building houses a banking branch—which is scheduled to open in January—and the rest of the headquarters includes office space for more than 150 employees and room to grow. The credit union currently employs 250 people at the headquarters and its 11 locations on the Central Coast, and it’s projecting to add up to 150 new jobs within the next decade, according to CoastHills.
The move to Santa Maria allows the headquarters to be roughly in the middle of its five county territory, serving residents of Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, Ventura, and Santa Cruz counties.
Chris Thornberg, founder of San Luis Obispo-based Beacon Economics, said it’s about time a city of Santa Maria’s size attracted this kind of business.
“They’re kind of the stepchild of the coastal economy,” he said. “I think it’s indicative of a community that’s been overlooked for far too long getting a due amount of attention.”
He said it’s a good time for credit unions, coming out of the recession better than most.
“Credit unions stuck to basic underwriting standards; they didn’t get caught up in all the subprime nonsense,” he said.
Now with continued stability and recent technological advancements, including online and mobile banking, CoastHills and other credit unions are in a position to continue taking members away from traditional banks, Thornberg said.
CoastHills also has agreements with other credit unions, allowing its 68,000 members to use ATMs of other credit unions.
Highlight
Get those twinkle lights ready—the Santa Maria Recreation and Parks Department is holding its 23rd annual Lights, Sights, and Holiday Nights decorations contest for homes and business. Awards are given in five categories—including “Clark Griswold” for spectacular use of lights and “Norman Rockwell” for nostalgic, classic elegance. Plus, there’s a Neighborhood Spirit Award for the best decorated neighborhood. The nomination window is from Nov. 16 through Dec. 10 with final judging scheduled for Dec. 12. For more information on contest rules and how to nominate a home or business, call (805) 925-0951, Ext. 2260, or visit cityofsantamaria.org/recreation. m
Staff Writer William D’Urso wrote this week’s Spotlight. Send tips to spotlight@santamariasun.com.
Correction: In the Nov. 21 Sun, the Spotlight “Change of Scenery,” incorrectly reported the assets of CoastHills Credit Union and when CEO Paul Cook suggested a third floor for the new building. Its assets are worth $1.2 billion and Cook made the suggestion in 2015, when he joined CoastHills as the Chief Information Officer. Cook became CEO in 2018.
This article appears in Nov 21-28, 2019.