Grass Valley-based Hills Flat Lumber Co. had been banking with a national institution for 30 years when the Pardini family's third-generation managers went to that bank for a construction loan to build its Colfax store in 2000, CEO Jeff Pardini said.Pardini had been assured a loan would be "no problem," he said, but as his deadlines approached, "they had no sense of urgency." He faced the prospect of construction delays costing $25,000 a month."The (bank officer) said to me, 'How do we know you guys aren't going to skip town?'" Pardini recalled. "The people (at the local branch) who do …












