James C. Holly (Jim) is the founding President and C.E.O. of Bank of the Sierra. Serving the bank and its communities for more than 28 years, Jim has grown Bank of the Sierra from a one branch site in Porterville, to an 18 branch multi-community bank serving the vast needs of the Tulare, Kern, Fresno and Kings Counties. Jim�s revered for his commitment to building the bank one customer at a time.
Jim has lived and worked in the South Valley for over 35 years. He is a native of Wisconsin and a graduate of University of Wisconsin where he earned a BBA and an MBA degree in business. He is also a graduate of the SWU Banking School. Following graduation from college, Jim served as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army.
Jim�s first banking job was in Whittier, CA with United California Bank. There he realized he wanted to be a banker in a family community. To accomplish this, in 1967 Jim and his family migrated first to Fresno, then Visalia and finally to Porterville, CA. Jim opened a former United California Bank branch successfully managing that branch for 10 years during which time the climate of bank relationships changed from customer and community service-focused towards operations. Jim didn�t care for that kind of banking. Jim believed the community needed a �country bank� a bank focused on customer service and family values. |