BANR Banner Corporation

Banner Corporation (Nasdaq:BANR), the parent company of Banner Bank and Islanders Bank, today announced that D. Michael Jones, President and CEO, is scheduled to participate in a Pacific Northwest Banking Panel at the Sandler O'Neill & Partners West Coast Financial Services Conference on Tuesday, March 2, at 2:30 p.m. PST.

The conference is scheduled for March 1-3 in Marina del Rey, California. The panel discussion will be available in its entirety, both live and via 30-day replay, at www.sandleroneill.com.

About Banner Corporation

Banner Corporation is a $4.7 billion bank holding company operating two commercial banks in Washington, Oregon and Idaho. Banner serves the Pacific Northwest region with a full range of deposit services and business, commercial real estate, construction, residential, agricultural and consumer loans. Visit Banner Bank on the Web at www.bannerbank.com. 

About Sandler O'Neill & Partners, L.P.

Founded in 1988, Sandler O'Neill & Partners is a full-service investment banking firm dedicated to providing comprehensive, innovative advisory and transaction execution services to the financial industry. The firm specializes in strategic business planning, mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, mutual-to-stock conversions, investment portfolio and interest rate risk management, fixed income securities transactions and mortgage finance restructurings. Sandler O'Neill also is a market maker in hundreds of financial stocks and publishes equity and fixed income research focused on selected banks, thrifts and insurance companies, credit card companies, investment banks, asset managers, specialty finance companies, e-finance companies and transaction execution companies. Additional information about Sandler O'Neill can be found on the firm's Web site at www.sandleroneill.com.

CONTACT:  Banner Corporation

          D. Michael Jones, President and CEO

          Lloyd W. Baker, CFO

          (509) 527-3636