Member Spotlight
Imagine growing up without your dad being a part of your life for 8months of every year. Then for 4 months, he’s not only back in the same country as you but he’s back in your home filling his role as your dad. Annually adjusting to both his presence and absence would be a major change for any child. This was the norm for Jorge Rios. As one of 10 children growing up in his home country of Mexico, Jorge missed his dad when he was gone to the US working for those long months. For 16 years this was the family routine. Then on his 16th birthday, Jorge was able to join his dad on his trek northward. That’s where his story begins here in Quincy.
Jorge has extensive experience in the restaurant industry, working in several capacities from dishwasher to server. Then about 10 years ago, he had an opportunity to switch gears and try his hand in the banking industry with Wheatland Bank. Due to his tenacious work ethic and service oriented heart, Jorge has risen to the top and now serves as Bank Manager for the Quincy Branch, as well as assisting with other branches as needed. Then seven years ago, his life changed for the better. He married his beautiful wife, Anilu and together they have a darling little 4-year-old daughter, Olivia. Family is Jorge’s utmost priority, and as Olivia grows so quickly, he is always placing family first and trying to maintain that critical balance of family, work and service to the community.
As bank manager, Jorge is never really off the clock. He represents Wheatland Bank after hours as he attends functions for organizations such as the Chamber of Commerce and Rotary Club. He has held positions such as President of the Quincy Chamber of Commerce. Anytime there is an opportunity to represent the bank, you’ll find Jorge there. During business hours, his typical day involves managing customer service needs, overseeing the operations of the bank and its employees, handling loan processing, and filling in on the floor.
As a businessman, husband, father and firefighter, finding “free time” for doing the things he loves is
difficult. Yet Jorge is a familiar face at the gym where he enjoys working out and playing racquetball. When it’s nice outside, he likes to work in his yard doing landscape work, and he carves out time to respond to fire calls. He’s been a member of Grant County Fire District 3 for 12 years. He began when GC3 was in the old station across town. He started working when old dogs such as Jim Stuckey and Brandon Burns were in our ranks. Freddy Hobbs was instrumental to Jorge’s success in his early years with the fire district. Freddy convinced him to join by saying it would “be a fun way to serve the community and help people at the same time.” With Jorge’s desire to serve others, volunteering for the Fire District was a natural fit. His experience at the live fire training burn at the state fire training center in North Bend is a weekend he will never forget. It wasn’t the heat or the experience of fighting all the fire that stuck with him, it was the opportunity to work with a diverse group of firefighters from other departments. Pulling together as a team, when hours earlier they were strangers, impacted him greatly. Jorge wants to help everyone and not being able to respond to each and every call is difficult.
Maintaining that balance of family, work and service is his biggest ongoing challenge. His words of wisdom that he would like to share is for firefighters to “have the commitment to be serious about the service you provide, take advantage of the training and use it to the best of your ability out in the field.” Sage wisdom for any field of service indeed.
Because of the fire service, Jorge has learned to be more empathic towards his customers, that has carried over to the banking industry, the fire service, and his service in the community. There are needs out there and Jorge has the heart of one who wants to serve and give of himself to help people and make his community a better place.
~Michele Talley