Two more U.S. Small Business Administration awards for Heritage Bank and Small Business Customer

OLYMPIA, Wash., May 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Heritage Bank ("Company" or "Heritage"), subsidiary of Heritage Financial Corporation (Nasdaq: HFWA), was named the 2017 Seattle District 504 1^st Mortgage Lender of the Year during the Small Business Administration (SBA) Annual Small Business Awards Gala on May 2, 2017. SBA also named another Heritage Bank small business customer, Rozanne Garman, as 2017 Washington Small Business Person of the Year.

The Lender of the Year award recognizes banks for the number of SBA 504 loans they close during the SBA fiscal year, most recently ending on Sept. 30, 2016. Last year, Heritage closed 21 SBA 1^st mortgage 504 loans for approximately $21 million.

Heritage specializes in meeting the unique borrowing needs of its small business customers by offering them a variety of loan programs through the SBA. Among them is the 504 loan program which helps small businesses expand through longer term financing and fixed rates. The loans can be used for real estate purchases and/or refinances, machinery or equipment, and expanding existing operations, which in turn help the local economy by creating jobs.

Bryan McDonald, Executive Vice President and Chief Lending Officer, commented, "Utilizing this program is a great way to help businesses acquire or expand their facilities with low down payments and attractive loan terms. Our success with the program is a reflection of Heritage Bank's significant business customer base and we look forward to using it to help even more businesses in future years!"

About Rozanne Garman and RHD Enterprises, Inc.
In 2005, Rozanne Garman started a small tile company, RHD Enterprises, Inc., out of her home. Today, the company is a successful design-build firm using 8(a), minority and woman-owned small business certifications to win just under $16 million in contracts. Some of the company's most notable customers include the Coast Guard, Navy, Environmental Protection Agency, and the Army Corps of Engineers.

The company operates throughout Washington, Oregon, California, Montana, Minnesota, and Arizona, and specializes in a broad range of construction projects primarily in the federal, commercial, and industrial sectors. RHD focuses on design, general construction, metal fabrication, and welding projects ranging from less than $100,000 to $10 million.

As part of SBA's National Small Business Week in May, the Small Business Person of the Year award recognizes small business owners who demonstrate staying power and substantiated history as an established business with at least three years of business operation. Winners must also show growth in net worth and business expansion, increase in jobs and sales, innovative products or services, response to adversity, and contributions to community-oriented projects.

"For me, being an entrepreneur is about creating liberty for myself and it truly has been that way. I have been able to go after some really big dreams of my own in creating RHD and doing things I never would have thought I would do," said Garman.

Garman has been a Heritage customer since 2009. "I'm so grateful to have the long-standing relationship with Heritage and appreciate all the support over the years," said Garman.

About Heritage Financial Corporation
Heritage Financial Corporation is an Olympia-based bank holding company with Heritage Bank, a Washington state-chartered full-service commercial bank, as its sole wholly-owned banking subsidiary. Heritage Bank has a network of 59 banking offices to serve customers in Washington and Oregon. Heritage Bank also does business under the Central Valley Bank name in the Yakima and Kittitas counties of Washington and under the Whidbey Island Bank name on Whidbey Island.  Heritage's stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol "HFWA".  More information about Heritage Financial Corporation can be found on its website at www.hf-wa.com and the Heritage Bank website at www.HeritageBankNW.com.

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SOURCE Heritage Financial Corporation