Jennifer Nino, `73

Chief Financial Officer, Commencement Bank

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If you were a car, what model and make would you be and why?

My dream car is a '67 convertible Corvette. I like that it'sa classic car, it's fast, and it's unusual for someone my age to drive one.

Jennifer Nino was always thrifty. She earned her first dollar when she was in elementary school, weeding between corn rows for her father for 50 cents a row. Her first official job was at Security Pacifi c Bank, which later was sold to WestOne Bank and then to U.S. Bank. She worked as a teller when she was 16.

"At first it felt awkward to be so young and handling the finances of others. However, it was a great experience," she said. "As I filled in for the branches that had employees on vacation, I met a lot of people and still run into some of them who are still in banking, but no longer work for U.S. Bank."

Upon graduation from college, she worked at the accounting firm Knight, Vale & Gregory (currently McGladrey & Pullen) in Tacoma. She performed financial statement audits and also found herself traveling to clients around Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Arizona. The job took her away from her children too often, so she took a position with Rainier Pacific Bank. The Commencement opportunity to help start a bank came along and she couldn't resist.

"There were many challenges opening the bank, including obtaining regulatory approval from the FDIC and State of Washington, fi nding the right location, coordinating the (space) improvements, and selecting and implementing a banking software which would meet all of the transactional needs of the bank's potential customers," she said. "As I was the first employee hired, I was able to be part of almost every aspect of the organization and opening of the bank."