History

Building on a Solid Foundation: The Great Oak Story

For many years Salem has held the distinction of being one of the nation's "tree cities." From Portland to southern Oregon, this is an area of magnificent trees. How fitting then, that in 1995 Jim Sawyer and Ross Collingwood established Great Oak Financial Group, with its branches reaching out from Salem to Portland and to the greater Willamette area.

With a vision for providing a thoughtful and whole-person approach to financial services, Jim and Ross moved away from an out-of-state corporation and developed a service center based right here in Oregon. While the nature of their work and focus did not change, there were great advantages to being able to provide for growing client numbers through a local organization.

Both Jim and Ross entered the financial service field after extensive experience in education. Although their journeys have taken a somewhat different course, they both enjoy an educational approach to helping families and individuals better manage their savings and investments.

With an agricultural degree from California State Polytechnic University, Jim taught animal science, animal husbandry and horticulture in San Marcos, California, before relocating to the Dayton, Oregon, area. Jim's teaching expertise remained a part of his focus as he began providing financial services in 1984. As the regional manager for a California based company, he had the opportunity to extend his educational philosophy and knowledge to others.

Agriculture is part of Ross' past also. He graduated from Lincoln University in Canterbury, New Zealand, then worked in rural appraisal and as a farm management and budgeting consultant before coming to the United States to pursue further education. Ross' life path took a different turn as he completed a master's degree in theology and pastoral counseling. For many years he was involved in teaching and administration in higher education. In 1991 Ross decided to combine his desire to work with people with the opportunity to provide concrete and caring assistance in the area of personal finance.

As founders of Great Oak Financial Group, Ross and Jim have brought into the team others (see Associates) who share their vision and commitment for open, honest, and consistently understandable help as the basis to a planned approach to financial security.