Employees Glad of Sale Though Jobs Not Certain

Employees at Butterfield Savings & Loan are relieved that the thrift will survive, even though some of them know they’ll soon be looking for jobs.

Butterfield’s 140-member staff has been on an emotional roller-coaster ride for the past year as it became evident that the Santa Ana thrift was headed for either the auction block or liquidation, said Nancy Gardner, a senior vice president of the thrift.

With the announcement Thursday that Butterfield will be acquired by healthy Downey Savings & Loan in Newport Beach, Butterfield employees were excited.

“I’m glad the sale went through, and I’m glad the people here have jobs with Downey,” said Gardner, who expects to leave in a week as her own job as head of marketing and savings is eliminated.

Federal regulators, who seized insolvent Butterfield three years ago and hired a management team from Downey to run it, took over direct control of the S & L on Thursday to facilitate the sale. Downey will operate the S & L as a subsidiary, retaining Butterfield’s name.

It is unclear, though, how long Downey will keep Butterfield’s Santa Ana office in operation. The Hutton Centre facility is only a few miles from Downey’s Costa Mesa branch across from South Coast Plaza and a few minutes from Downey headquarters.

Jeanette Morgan, the branch manager, said she expects that Downey will find places for employees if it decides to shut down the Santa Ana branch.

Morale at the Santa Ana and Bakersfield branches has remained high over the past year, partly because so many employees are new, Morgan said.

“Most of us are very positive about the sale. We’re looking forward to it,” said Maureen Gisbertz, operations manager at the Bakersfield branch, where six employees work. The branch is the former Kern Savings & Loan, which Butterfield bought in 1982.

The women also credited Anne Bacon, Butterfield’s president, with fostering high morale and good working relationships among employees. Bacon came to Butterfield as part of the Downey management team after the 1985 takeover.

When Downey relinquished its management role at Butterfield at the end of 1986, Bacon left Downey to take over the management contract as Butterfield’s top officer.

“I’ve really enjoyed working here, especially working with women in top management,” Gardner said. “Three of the six executives in top management are women.”

Though she liked the excitement and the new kinds of things that were done by the S & L’s former managers, the Endresen brothers, she said she has had better opportunities for promotion since the 1985 takeover.