Winery Owners To Learn From Marketing Greats; SVB Silicon Valley Bank Hosts Series for Clients

Company news  |  February 6, 2008

ST. HELENA, Calif. - February 6, 2008 - SVB Silicon Valley Bank, a leading provider of commercial banking services to the premium wine industry, announced a series of invitation-only events to help its wine clients address their marketing and branding concerns. The series of events entitled, "A Conversation With...," will allow select SVB clients to discuss best practices with legendary business owners and executives from household-name companies outside the wine industry. The series will take place throughout 2008 in St. Helena, Sonoma and the Central Coast of California as well as the Willamette Valley in Oregon.

Richard Marcus, former CEO of luxury goods retailer Neiman Marcus, will be the first speaker to address SVB's clients in St. Helena in March.

The series of five seminars is set to introduce SVB's clients to the founders, executive leadership and heads of marketing and branding from organizations including Design Within Reach, Anheuser-Busch and Regis McKenna Inc.

"We do whatever we can to help our clients succeed," said Bill Stevens, Wine Division manager for SVB Silicon Valley Bank. "We created this seminar series to give our clients access to some of the world's best marketing advice that they can then apply to their own labels."

SVB has been working with wineries and vineyards for more than 15 years. Today, the SVB Wine Division employs more than 30 people dedicated to the fine wine markets in California, Oregon and Washington.

SVB is also widely recognized in the wine industry for its community involvement and active engagement through philanthropic support and sponsorship of industry events and organizations. These activities complement the company's unique industry analysis reports and its comprehensive banking services for the wine industry.

SVB's 2008 wine series is by invitation only. To inquire, please contact Sarah Ferreira at sferreira@svb.com.

Learn more information about SVB Silicon Valley Bank's Wine Division.

About SVB Silicon Valley Bank's Wine Division SVB Silicon Valley Bank's Wine Division specializes in commercial banking for premium wineries and vineyards as well as the industries that support them. SVB has the largest team of commercial bankers exclusively dedicated to the wine industry of any bank nationwide. Founded in 1994, the SVB Wine Division has offices in Napa and Sonoma counties and serves clients in Napa, Sonoma, the Central Coast of California, Oregon and Washington. By virtue of its dedication to the wine industry, SVB Silicon Valley Bank is able to consistently support its clients through economic and growth cycles and offer counsel on many aspects of its clients' business, beyond traditional banking services. SVB Silicon Valley Bank is a member of SVB Financial Group (Nasdaq: SIVB). More information can be found at www.svb.com.

SVB Silicon Valley Bank refers to Silicon Valley Bank, the California bank subsidiary and the commercial banking operation of SVB Financial Group. Banking services are provided by Silicon Valley Bank, a member of the FDIC and the Federal Reserve. SVB Financial Group is also a member of the Federal Reserve.