Umpqua Bank Outlines How to Create a Successful Volunteer Program

Bank Recognizes National Volunteer Week with Five Tips to Develop
and Sustain a Corporate Volunteer Program
PORTLAND, Ore.--(Business Wire)--
Umpqua Bank, a subsidiary of Umpqua Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ:
UMPQ), recognizes National Volunteer Week, April 27 through May 3, by
sharing five tips for building a successful volunteer program. The
tips are based on the company's Connect Volunteer Network, an industry
leading, employer-paid volunteer program with a commitment to youth
activities and community development in Oregon, Washington and
Northern California.

"One of the most valuable benefits Umpqua Bank offers its
associates and communities is paid time off to volunteer. It inspires
active citizenship among our associates and introduces them to local
organizations and schools, which in turn helps build strong
communities," said Nicole Stein, vice president of community relations
for Umpqua Bank.

Stein led Umpqua Bank's community giving and volunteer programs
for the past six years; helping to launch the Connect program in 2004.
Since the program's inception, the bank has contributed more than
60,000 tracked volunteer hours to the communities it serves.

"Connect benefits more than the community and our associates; it
also benefits Umpqua Bank as a company," said Stein. "Connect has had
a positive impact on the morale and productivity of our existing
associates, increased company visibility, given us an edge when
attracting new associates, and increased our access to community
members."

Umpqua's Connect program is consistently ranked as a top
employment benefit by the company's associates. The company recently
appeared on the 2008 "Companies That Care" Honor Roll as well as
FORTUNE magazine's list of the "100 Best Places to Work." Both awards
cited Umpqua's associate volunteer program as a key differentiator.

Five Tips for Creating a Volunteer Program

1. Start at the top. Begin by identifying business objectives that
will benefit from active community interaction and seek support from
senior management. Ensure that the senior management team is
well-versed in the program and prepared to applaud and defend it both
internally and externally.

2. Focus. Find out what employees are interested in and where your
company is already donating time or money. Build a program around
those areas of interests. Create a select list of appropriate
organizations to make it easy for employees to choose.

3. Celebrate. Recognizing employee participation and highlighting
success stories raises awareness of the program. Keep enthusiasm high
for future projects by recognizing outstanding volunteers and
projects.

4. Keep the lines of communication open. Seek feedback from
employees about what works and what doesn't and be willing to make
adjustments.

5. Get involved. Join an existing, or start your own, local
corporate social responsibility group to learn from other companies
who have implemented successful volunteer programs. Local Corporate
Volunteer Councils (CVC) can help facilitate this exchange of
information and assist in getting the process going.

About the Connect Volunteer Network

The Connect Volunteer Network provides full-time Umpqua Bank
associates with 40 hours of paid time off per year to volunteer at
youth focused organizations, schools and community development
programs, which often have a hard time filling their daytime volunteer
positions.

Through the Connect Volunteer Network, Umpqua associates are given
the opportunity to choose the organization they would like to be
involved with. Associates engage in a variety of activities such as
spending time in schools, engaging in mentoring projects or dedicating
their time to local food banks -- all during their regular working
hours.

Umpqua Bank has established a strong support system for the
volunteer program including full board and executive backing, and
extensive participation at every level of the organization. Umpqua's
volunteer initiatives are in addition to its community giving programs
which donated more than $1 million in financial contributions in 2007
alone.

About Umpqua Bank

Umpqua Bank, headquartered in Roseburg, Ore., is a subsidiary of
Umpqua Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: UMPQ) and has 147 locations
between Napa, Calif. and Bellevue, Wash., along the Oregon and
Northern California Coast and in both Central California and Central
Oregon. Umpqua Bank has been recognized for its innovative customer
experience and banking strategy by national publications including the
Wall Street Journal, New York Times, BusinessWeek, Fast Company and
CNBC. The company, recognized for the second year in a row, ranked
13th on Fortune Magazine's 2008 list of the country's "100 Best
Companies To Work For." Umpqua Holdings also owns retail brokerage
subsidiary Strand, Atkinson, Williams & York Inc., which has locations
in Umpqua Bank stores and in dedicated offices throughout Oregon and
Southwest Washington. Umpqua Bank's Private Client Services Division
provides tailored financial services and products to individual
customers. Umpqua Holdings Corporation is headquartered in Portland,
Ore. For more information, visit http://www.umpquabank.com/.

Umpqua Bank
Nicole Stein, 503-727-4130
NicoleStein@UmpquaBank.com
or
LANE PR
Eve Callahan, 503-546-7867
Eve@lanepr.com

Copyright Business Wire 2008