Columbia Bank directors to discuss succession plans after Dressel
Columbia Banking System’s board of directors will meet this week to discuss Columbia Bank’s leadership succession after the unexpected death Sunday of president and CEO Melanie Dressel.
The board will make an announcement on the plan for succession in the coming days, according to a news release Tuesday from the company.
In the release, board president William Weyerhaeuser praised Dressel’s leadership and legacy of service with the company: “Another hallmark of her leadership was building a great and deep bench of senior management to ensure that our guiding principles will remain intact and that our vision to build an unparalleled banking franchise will continue.”
Company spokeswoman Jo Anne Coy said the board is holding a regularly scheduled meeting Wednesday, and could meet again this week.
“We absolutely have a robust succession plan, and the board is going to be discussing that,” Coy said Tuesday.
The Pierce County Medical Examiner’s office listed Dressel’s cause of death as dilated cardiomyopathy, a type of heart disease.
Kate Martin: 253-597-8542, @KateReports
This story was originally published February 21, 2017 at 4:54 PM with the headline "Columbia Bank directors to discuss succession plans after Dressel."