Bank of the Cascades is a big presence in Central Oregon’s community events and charities, and it could be even bigger after a merger with Montana’s First Interstate Bank.

First Interstate is a much larger bank than Bank of the Cascades, so one would expect its annual giving to be higher. First Interstate has about three times as much in assets as Bank of the Cascades, and the Montana bank’s annual giving is more than three times that of Bank of the Cascades. While the Bend-based bank gives about $750,000 per year to charities and event organizers, First Interstate gave $2.8 million last year.

Bank of the Cascades President Chip Reeves said that’s because First Interstate’s policy is to put at least 2 percent of pre-tax profits toward community giving. “So it is a far larger number than what Bank of the Cascades is able to do today,” Reeves said. “We think it may be even more as we go through the merger.”

First Interstate, based in Billings, Montana, is proposing to acquire Bank of the Cascades for $589 million. If regulators approve, the deal could close next summer.

Bank of the Cascades’ giving includes grants from the Bank of the Cascades Foundation, as well donations and sponsorships paid directly from the corporation, Reeves said.

First Interstate’s total giving in 2015 was $2.8 million, according to the company website. Total giving includes grants from a related charitable foundation, matches of employees’ cash gifts and volunteer hours and donations from bank branches.

Beyond the raw dollars available, local event organizers and grant seekers might wonder whether First Interstate supports the same causes as Bank of the Cascades. Reeves said First Interstate’s priorities are very similar: basic needs, education and health.

Bank of the Cascades fields a lot of requests for donations, Reeves said, and it usually fulfills those that are important to local employees. First Interstate has a similar policy. Grant applications to the First Interstate BancSystem Foundation must come with a referral from a local branch, according to materials filed with the foundation’s 2015 tax return.

Last year First Interstate donated $1.6 million to the foundation, which distributed $1.5 million in grants to organizations in Montana, Wyoming and South Dakota, according to the tax return.

Bank of the Cascades Foundation Inc. distributed $163,335 in the tax year that ended Oct. 1, 2015, according to its most recent tax return. United Way of Deschutes County received the largest grant, $54,943.

For more than 20 years, Bank of the Cascades has been the title sponsor of the Bend Summer Festival, a free downtown event, said Cameron Clark, owner of C3 Events. After managing the event for several years, C3 acquired the rights to Summer Fest, and the company created the sister event Bend Fall Festival, for which Bank of the Cascades is also the title sponsor.

Clark declined to disclose the value of the sponsorships, but he said they are critical to keeping the events admission-free. There are a few more years on Bank of the Cascades’ multiyear sponsor agreements, he said.

Clark thinks First Interstate will stay involved as a sponsor. “I expect us to sit down at some point and hammer out a continued long-term agreement that ensures these heritage events take place,” he said.

Bank of the Cascades is in the third year of a five-year sponsorship of the large indoor arena at the Deschutes County Fair and Expo Center in Redmond, Manager Dan Despotopulos said. Bank of the Cascades pays $40,000 a year for naming rights on the Bank of the Cascades Center, which formerly was the Hooker Creek Events Center, he said.

When the time comes to renegotiate agreements, Reeves said event managers can expect to deal with familiar faces. “I’ll be overseeing what we’ll call the Cascades network. Those decisions will be made by myself and other local leadership,” Reeves said.

First Interstate has not decided whether it will change the name of the BOTC branches in Oregon and Washington.

— Reporter: 541-617-7860, kmclaughlin@bendbulletin.com