Mark Duffy: Building a hometown bank; giving kids an opportunity

EVERETT — Growing up, Mark Duffy spent his afternoons playing sports at the Boys & Girls Club in North Everett.

The club offered Duffy, a self-described “fierce competitor,” a place to hang out, and play football, basketball and Little League baseball.

Duffy began his banking career as a teller in 1979. Today, he is president and CEO of Mountain Pacific Bank, a community bank he founded in 2006.

But the Everett High School graduate, class of 1978, never forgot his roots.

Duffy geared his community service toward health care and children, in the hopes of giving “kids an opportunity,” he said.

He’s served on the Dawson Place Child Advocacy Center board for 10 years. He’s been a member of the Providence General Foundation board for nearly 25 years. He is a past board member of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Snohomish County, Everett Public Schools Foundation and North Everett Little League.

Duffy is this year’s recipient of the John M. Fluke Sr. Award, named for the founder of the Fluke Corp, the Everett-based electronic test tool developer.

The annual award recognizes a person who has demonstrated entrepreneurial spirit, business and community leadership along with significant community contribution and commitment.

“Through the years, he has been committed to running a local community bank and giving back to the community through his involvement with local nonprofits,” a nominator wrote of Duffy. “He always goes above and beyond to take care of his customers and his staff. He truly cares about his community and it shows in everything he supports and does.”

Mountain Pacific Bank currently has locations in Everett, Lynnwood, Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood and Burlington. This year it expects to open a fifth branch in Bellingham. It’s primary focus is small business and commercial banking, Duffy said.

The bank started with seven employees, now there are more than 80.

“I’m proud of my staff,” Duffy said. “They get compliments all the time on their service.”

Duffy founded Mountain Pacific in 2006, after receiving state and federal approval and raising $16.5 million, 90% of it local, he said.

Word of his new venture spread quickly.

“I’d been a local lender since 1996, so a lot of people knew of me,” he said.

But it wasn’t always smooth sailing.

The bank’s prospects looked so bleak during the Great Recession that regulators expected Mountain Pacific to close, he told The Daily Herald in 2015.

“I questioned whether I should have started the bank,” Duffy said.

Duffy helped engineer a turnaround. The bank went from financing real estate projects to constructing them.

“We built houses on lots we owned,” he said.

For one project, the bank built 24 homes on a lot in south Everett known as the Noble Ridge development.

“We almost failed, but we survived,” Duffy said. “We did some creative things. I’m proud of what we’ve done since then.”

Community banks foster economic vitality, he said.

“You’re going to meet with someone local. The decisions are local,” Duffy said, adding that a big bank might refer you to someone out of state.

A community bank is a resource for small businesses, Duffy said, “not just through loans, but by being an adviser. I’ve banked a lot of people for a lot of years. To this day they still bank here.”

As a Providence General Foundation board member, Duffy helped raise $28 million for new medical equipment and program, including the Providence Boyden Family Autism Center.

On a LinkedIn post, Tina Gilson, chief philanthropy officer for the foundation, called Duffy “a tireless, hard worker who leads with transparency and compassion.” In short, “Mark gets things done!” she wrote.

Duffy’s wife, Kathy, who was born and raised in Everett, has been a volunteer at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett’s gift shop for more than 20 years, he said proudly.

He is grateful for her support.

“She knows I’m a workaholic. Work late, work weekends,” he said with a laugh.

Duffy has two grown children, age 34 and 37 and one grandchild, one-year-old Hank, “the light of my life,” he said.

“I’m extremely honored to receive this award,” Duffy said. “I always want to be a resource in the community. I don’t do it for recognition. I am just happy to help.”

Janice Podsada: 425-339-3097; jpodsada@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @JanicePods.