A bank that started in Coupeville has come a long way, baby.

Heritage Bank, which also does business as Whidbey Island Bank, is acquiring the Kitsap Bank company, the two banks announced Thursday. On a combined basis following the transaction, Heritage will have total assets of about $8.8 billion.

Whidbey Island Bank started in Coupeville in the early 1960s. Clark Sherman was a founding board member, and other members of the Sherman family also served on the board for decades. The small-town bank was successful and later moved its headquarters to Oak Harbor, according to Whidbey News-Times stories.

Then in 2013, the Washington Banking Company, the holding company for Whidbey Island Bank, merged with Olympia-based Heritage Financial Corporation. Under the merger agreement, the six bran

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