Western Savings and Loan
| Holdings, loans | |
| Industry | Banking |
| Founded | 1929 |
| Headquarters |
Phoenix, Arizona, United States |
Key people |
Junius Driggs, CEO Douglas Driggs |
| Revenue | $6 billion USD |
Western Savings and Loan was an American financial institution founded by the Driggs family.
The Driggs family came to Arizona in 1921 after trading everything they owned—a bank, drugstore, hotel, and wheat farm in Driggs, Idaho—for a section of cotton land in Maricopa County. Their timing was unfortunate as cotton prices plummeted just as their crop came in and they were forced to take jobs selling building and loan certificates. In 1929, the Driggs family pooled $5,000 to found the Western Building and Loan Association, which became Western Savings.
Success and eventual failure
Western Savings and Loans eventually became a $6 billion savings and loan institution. Western shared a position on the list of the nation's 100 largest savings and loans with other Arizona-based institutions — MeraBank was number 27 on the list, Western came in at 37th, Great American was 67th, and Pima was 82nd. But in 1989, Western Savings moved into second place — not for its size, but for the amount of its losses, with a $1.06 billion net deficit, following a substantial but smaller loss the previous year. Western Savings was taken over by the Resolution Trust Corporation, the federal depositor for the savings and loan crisis bailout. Western Savings' branches and good assets were acquired by Bank of America in 1990.[1]
Accomplishments and recognition
American Newcomen honored Western Savings and Loan Association in the year of the company's 40th anniversary. Since it was formed by the Driggs family in the Spring of 1929, six months before the historic stock crash, Western Savings had at that time grown to become the largest savings and loan association in Arizona and among the 100 largest in the United States. The major objectives of the association were the encouragement of thrift and the promotion of home ownership. Over the years up to that point, more than 30,000 first mortgage loans had been made, totaling more than 390 million dollars, thus providing an important factor in the growth and development of Arizona.[2]
References
- ↑ FURLONG, TOM. “BankAmerica Buys Arizona’s 2nd-Largest S&L : Thrifts: It Outbids Wells Fargo and Security Pacific in a Federal Auction. Other Banks Have Suffered Huge Losses in the State in Recent Years.” Los Angeles Times, June 2, 1990. http://articles.latimes.com/1990-06-02/business/fi-210_1_phoenix-based-real-estate.
- ↑ American Newcomen, Official Site of The Newcomen Society of the United States. Retrieved on September 20, 2007.
