Jeffrey K. Ball has banking in his blood. Now the 20-year banker is starting a business bank from scratch just over the county line in Whittier.
The startup, Friendly Hills Bank, has its sights on North County, along with Whittier and Santa Fe Springs. The hope is to lure businesses from Brea, Buena Park, La Habra and Fullerton and other border cities, Ball said.
Ball’s banking roots run deep. His grandfather, Kenneth Ball, was one of the founders of National Bank of Whittier in 1964. He’s the great-grandson of M.C. Lautrup, who owned Whittier Sanitary Dairy in the early 1900s.
Kenneth Ball and John L. Ball,Jeffery Ball’s dad,were directors for SC Bancorp’s Southern California Bank in Anaheim. SC Bancorp came about with the combination of Bank of Downey and National Bank of Whittier.
By late 1997, Anaheim-based SC Bancorp was sold to Western Bancorp of Laguna Niguel.
Jeffery Ball said his aim is to build Friendly Hills Bank and keep it independent.
“We are not looking for a sellout,” he said. “We intend to be part of the community and have a longtime, sustainable value.”
For more on this story, see the Feb. 27 edition of the Business Journal.
