July 13, 2005

Local Branch of Federal Reserve Bank Appoints Two New Directors

PORTLAND, Ore. July 13, 2005—The Portland Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco has appointed Alan Johnson, Regional President of Wells Fargo in Oregon and Southwest Washington and George Puentes, President and CEO of Don Pancho Mexican Foods Inc. as new members of its Board of Directors, effective July 1, 2005.

Founded in 1852, Wells Fargo is a diversified financial services company with $436 billion in assets, providing banking, insurance, investments, mortgage and consumer finance. Mr. Johnson is Regional President responsible for all of Wells Fargo's retail and business banking operations in Oregon and Southwest Washington. This includes 137 banking stores and approximately 1,500 team members. Mr. Johnson is a current member of the following boards: Portland Business Alliance, Oregon Business Council, Portland Art Museum, Oregon Health Sciences University Foundation, and Bethel University located in St. Paul, MN.

Founded in 1979, Don Pancho has 209 employees with manufacturing plants located in Salem, Oregon and Yakima, Washington. Don Pancho's products are available at restaurants and retail outlets throughout Northern California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah, Wyoming, and Washington. Mr. Puentes is very active within the business community, currently serving on the following boards: Salem Catholic Schools Foundation, Scholarships for Oregon Latinos, Homestead Capital, and U.S. Bank. He is the Past President of the Salem Chamber of Commerce and the recipient of numerous awards, most recently named "Salem's First Citizen" in 2004.

The Board of Directors provides the region's economic perspective to the Federal Reserve Bank's District Board of Directors in San Francisco and its Board of Governors in Washington, D.C. The Board of Governors uses this information when determining national economic policies and banking regulations.

Other members of the Portland Branch Board of Directors are: Chairman James H. Rudd, Ferguson Wellman Capital Management, Inc.; Dr. Peter O. Kohler, Oregon Health & Sciences University; Robert D. Sznewajs, West Coast Bancorp and William D. Thorndike, Medford Fabrications.

The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco provides wholesale banking services to financial institutions in the nine western states through its head office in San Francisco, branch offices in Los Angeles, Portland, Salt Lake City, and Seattle, and a cash processing office in Phoenix. As the nation's central bank, the Federal Reserve System formulates monetary policy, serves as a bank regulator, administers consumer protection laws, and is fiscal agent for the U.S. government.

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