Ellen Boyer and John Pedersen Join Banner Corporation Board of Directors

WALLA WALLA, Wash., Feb. 25, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Banner Corporation (NASDAQ GSM: BANR) (“Banner”), the parent company of Banner Bank, today announced that Ellen R.M. Boyer and John Pedersen have been appointed to the Board of Directors effective February 24, 2021. Boyer and Pedersen were also appointed to the Board of Directors of Banner Bank.

Boyer serves as Chief Financial Officer of Logic20/20, a business and technology consulting firm headquartered in Seattle, Washington. Prior to joining Logic20/20 in 2014, Boyer held CFO and/or COO roles at several companies in the Seattle area. She has more than 25 years of finance and operational experience in a variety of industries, including technology, financial services and healthcare. Prior to assuming CFO/COO roles beginning in 1994, she was an Audit Senior Manager at PriceWaterhouseCoopers, where she worked for 12 years. Boyer has extensive experience in strategic planning, mergers and acquisitions, governance matters, organizational effectiveness, and audit and financial matters.

Boyer earned bachelor’s degrees from Oregon State University. She maintains an active Certified Professional Accountant license and will sit on the Audit and Compensation and Human Capital Committees.

Pedersen was Executive Vice President and Chief Risk Officer of City National Bank from 2006 until 2019, having been promoted from the Senior Vice President role he had held since 2004. Prior to his retirement from City National, Pedersen accrued over three decades of progressive commercial banking credit and risk management responsibilities and significant expertise in establishing and managing risk management functions within a regional bank setting. Pedersen is skilled in strategic planning including turn-around and growth strategies. He has a thorough understanding of many aspects of banking, including retail, small business, commercial real estate, dealer banking, consumer lending, mortgage banking and middle market lending.

Pedersen began his career in government and held staff and leadership positions with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Office of Thrift Supervision. After government service, he managed a wide range of risk management activities for several financial institutions, including First Interstate Bancorp, KeyCorp, Wachovia and Bank of the West. Active in the community, Pedersen is involved with various philanthropic organizations that facilitate the micro-financing of small business entrepreneurs domestically and abroad. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Oklahoma. Mr. Pedersen will sit on the Risk and Credit Risk Committees.