Agriculture Brochure Design Comp
Agriculture Brochure Layout
(Brochure Cover Copy)
Development. Diversity. Growth.
Bank of America and California agriculture
Bank of America and California agriculture
(Brochure Inside Cover Copy)
A deeply rooted commitment to California agriculture
(Brochure Introductory Copy)
For more than one hundred years, Bank of America has played an indispensable role in the development, diversity and growth of California’s agricultural industries. California leads the nation in cash farm receipts and its agricultural abundance includes more than 400 commodities. In addition to supplying over a third of the country’s vegetables and two-thirds of its fruits and nuts, the state is home to 90% of the wines produced in the United States.
Born into agriculture (Copy)
A.P. Giannini (1870 – 1949) grew up on small family farm in San Jose, California. At 14, he joined his stepfather’s wholesale produce business, L. Scatena & Co, in San Francisco and at 19 became a full partner. A merchant, broker and dealer, Giannini developed an intimate knowledge of California’s regions, diverse growing conditions and requirements. In 1904, he founded Bank of Italy to serve San Francisco’s diverse ethnic and working classes. So successful, by the 1920s, the Bank of Italy was the only bank in California to offer statewide banking services. In 1928, Giannini donated $1.5 million to the University of California to establish the Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics, which remains dedicated to ensuring a prosperous future for California agriculture.
A.P. Giannini (1870 – 1949) grew up on small family farm in San Jose, California. At 14, he joined his stepfather’s wholesale produce business, L. Scatena & Co, in San Francisco and at 19 became a full partner. A merchant, broker and dealer, Giannini developed an intimate knowledge of California’s regions, diverse growing conditions and requirements. In 1904, he founded Bank of Italy to serve San Francisco’s diverse ethnic and working classes. So successful, by the 1920s, the Bank of Italy was the only bank in California to offer statewide banking services. In 1928, Giannini donated $1.5 million to the University of California to establish the Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics, which remains dedicated to ensuring a prosperous future for California agriculture.
Cultivating opportunity for all (Copy)
Branch banking enabled the Bank of Italy to amass reservoirs of capital from across the state and deploy it based on regional needs. Unlike other banks, it also extended loans to small merchants and farmers and charged far lower interest rates. To safeguard its investments, branch officers actively engaged with growers to educate them on budgeting and best practices, and invited local business leaders to serve on branch advisory boards. Renamed Bank of America, by 1930 its hundreds of branches supported agriculture statewide: from vineyards in Napa and raisin production in Fresno to sugar beet farms in Ventura and citrus groves in Southern California.
Support from farm to table (Copy)
From the beginning, Bank of America’s fortunes were inextricably tied to the prosperity of California’s vast agricultural output. To ensure success required being engaged in every stage of the process. Beyond the financing for irrigation and field preparation, planting, tending and harvesting, we invested in the infrastructure necessary for the vast distribution of crops, livestock, poultry and dairy products across the country. To solve challenges of overproduction, we played an integral role in the development of cooperatives and associations, and financed food preservation industries including canning and drying. Of equal importance, Bank of America invested heavily in marketing California’s abundant offerings across the country and around the world.
A bountiful future (Copy)
We are proud of our storied history and deep relationship with California’s agricultural communities and tremendously gratified by their achievements. We remain as engaged and committed to their success today as we were more than a century ago.