Business: Sierra Bancorp was formed in November 2000 and operates primarily through Bank of the Sierra, which they acquired in August 2001. The Bank is a California state-chartered bank headquartered in Porterville, California. They opened for business in January 1978, and has since grown to be the largest independent bank head-quartered in the South San Joaquin Valley. Their growth has primarily been organic, but includes the acquisitions of Sierra National Bank in 2000 and Santa Clara Valley Bank in 2014. The Bank is a multi-community financial institution that offers a full range of retail and commercial banking services, primarily in the central and southern sections of the San Joaquin Valley. On the southern end, their footprint extends into Santa Clarita and Santa Paula. At the present time, the Company’s only other direct subsidiaries are Sierra Statutory Trust II and Sierra Capital Trust III, which were formed in March 2004 and June 2006, respectively, solely to facilitate the issuance of capital trust pass-through securities (TRUPS).