Exhibit 99.1

NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Pacific Continental Corporation Reports Third Quarter 2012 Results

Loan Growth and Continued Credit Quality Improvement Drive Quarterly Results.

EUGENE, Ore., October 17, 2012 — Pacific Continental Corporation (Nasdaq: PCBK), the holding company of Pacific Continental Bank, today reported financial results for the third quarter 2012.

Recent highlights:

Net Income

Net income for third quarter 2012 was $3.4 million, up 32.8% over third quarter 2011. Earnings per diluted share for the current quarter were $0.19 compared to $0.14 for the same quarter last year. Return on average assets and return on average tangible equity for third quarter 2012 were 1.03% and 8.56%, up from the 0.83% and 6.56% reported for third quarter 2011. The efficiency ratio for third quarter 2012 was 62.70%, relatively unchanged from third quarter 2011.

“Current quarter results reflect the success we have had in executing our strategic initiatives,” said Hal Brown, chief executive officer. “Accelerating loan growth, continued credit quality improvement and the incremental leveraging of our shareholder equity suggests strengthening performance and supports the board’s decision to increase the cash dividend,” added Brown.

Year-to-date September 30, 2012, net income was $9.3 million, up $3.1 million or 49.7% over the same period last year. Year-to-date earnings per diluted share were $0.51 for the current year compared to $0.34 for the same period last year, an increase of 50.0%.

Loan growth accelerates

Outstanding gross loans at September 30, 2012, were $837.0 million, up $10.2 million during the third quarter. Excluding the $13.2 million in loans transferred to other real estate during the quarter, gross loans increased $23.4 million or 3.2% during the third quarter. Growth in construction, owner-occupied commercial real estate and commercial loans during the third quarter more than offset contraction in multifamily and residential real estate loans. Growth in commercial loans was especially strong, increasing 4.6% during the quarter and 19.0% from third quarter 2011. The bank continued to enjoy success in lending to health care professionals. Dental practice loans, in particular, represented 29.3% of the total loan portfolio at September 30, 2012 and grew 5.4% during the third quarter and 25.2% since September 30, 2011.

“Our strong capital position and focused niche strategy have proven to be successful in an increasingly competitive market and still challenging economic environment,” said Roger Busse, president and chief operating officer. “Our loan and deposit pipelines continue to improve and we are optimistic for growth in future quarters,” added Busse.

Capital management

In February 2012, the Company’s board of directors authorized the repurchase of up to five percent of the Company’s shares issued and outstanding or approximately 922,000 shares, with the purchases to take place over 12 months. During the third quarter 2012, the Company repurchased 166,612 shares at a weighted average price of $9.00 per share. Since the inception of the repurchase plan, the Company repurchased 576,537 shares at a weighted average price of $8.82 per share. Share repurchases and cash dividends during the first three quarters of the year combined to keep capital levels relatively unchanged from prior year-end, a strategy that is expected to continue throughout the remainder of 2012.

The Company’s capital ratios continue to be well above the minimum FDIC “well-capitalized” designated levels. At September 30, 2012, the Company’s Tier 1 leverage ratio, Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio, and Total risk-based capital ratio were 12.53%, 17.37%, and 18.62% as compared to 13.09%, 17.97%, and 19.22% at December 31, 2011. The FDIC’s current minimum “well-capitalized” designation ratios are 5.00%, 6.00%, and 10.00%, respectively.

Classified assets, provisioning and loan statistics

Classified assets continued a two-year trend of decline and at September 30, 2012, totaled $58.0 million, a decrease of $2.3 million from the end of the prior quarter and down $10.5 million and $23.0 million from December 31, 2011, and September 30, 2011, respectively. Nonperforming assets, a subcategory of classified assets, totaled $28.9 million at September 30, 2012, or 2.14% of total assets, a decrease from December 31, 2011, and September 30, 2011, ratios of 2.92% and 3.56%, respectively.

Loans past-due 30-89 days were 0.47% of total loans at September 30, 2012, compared to 0.41% of total loans at December 31, 2011. This is the thirteenth consecutive quarter in which this ratio was near or below one percent.

“We are pleased with the continued reduction in our classified and nonperforming assets,” said Casey Hogan, chief credit officer. “Based on our pending resolutions and on-going collection activities, we remain optimistic this trend will continue throughout the remainder of 2012,” added Hogan.

The Company recorded no provision for loan losses in the third quarter 2012, compared to $600 thousand and $1.3 million recorded in first and second quarters of 2012, respectively. The lower provision for loan losses reflects improved credit quality and recoveries recorded during the quarter. During the third quarter 2012, the Company had net loan recoveries of $108 thousand compared to net loan charge offs of $412 thousand and $254 thousand in the first quarter and second quarter of 2012, respectively. For the first nine months of 2012, the Company recorded net loan charge offs of $558 thousand or annualized 0.09% of average loans.

The allowance for loan losses as a percentage of outstanding loans at September 30, 2012, was 1.95% compared to 1.85% and 1.82% at December 31, 2011, and September 30, 2011, respectively.

Core deposit activity

Period-end Company-defined core deposits at September 30, 2012, increased by $30.8 million from the end of second quarter 2012 and were relatively unchanged from December 31, 2011. The Company experienced a more typical seasonal core deposit pattern where outflows historically occurred during the first half of the year followed by growth during the second half of the year. At September 30, 2012, noninterest-bearing demand deposits totaled $304 million, an 8.7% increase from that of a year ago, and now represent 34.4% of core deposits. Average core deposits, a measure that eliminates daily volatility, for the third quarter 2012 were $879.6 million, up $20.8 million over second quarter 2012.

Net interest margin

The third quarter 2012 net interest margin was 4.16%, a decline of 15 and 40 basis points from the net interest margins reported for second quarter 2012 and third quarter 2011, respectively. The contraction in the net interest margin was due to lower yields on the Company’s loan and securities portfolio. Loan yields continued to contract during the third quarter 2012 when compared to the prior quarter and prior year as new loan production in this historically low interest rate environment was booked at yields lower than the average yield on the existing portfolio. The yield on the securities portfolio was negatively impacted by low long-term interest rates that accelerated prepayments on the agency mortgage-backed segment of the portfolio, thus increasing the amortization of premiums and reinvestment of cash flow from the portfolio at lower rates than the average yield on the portfolio.

Noninterest income and expense

Third quarter noninterest income was $1.4 million, relatively unchanged from the prior quarter and was down $316 thousand from the third quarter last year. The decline from last year was primarily due to $359 thousand of gains on the sale of securities that occurred during the third quarter 2011. Excluding the third quarter 2011 gain on the sale of securities, second quarter 2012 noninterest income was up slightly over the same quarter last year. Year-to-date noninterest income was $4.4 million, down $189 thousand or 4.27% over last year. The decline was the result of $825 thousand in gains on the sale of securities during the first nine months of last year. Excluding the 2011 gain on sale of securities, noninterest income for the first nine months of 2012 was up $636 thousand or 17.1% over the same period last year.

Noninterest expense in third quarter 2012 was relatively unchanged from the prior quarter and declined by $209 thousand or 2.3% from third quarter 2011. Year-to-date noninterest expense of $26.2 million was down $1.1 million or 4.0% from the same period last year. The decrease in noninterest expense compared to the prior year was due to reductions in FDIC insurance assessments, other real estate expense, and costs, such as legal fees related to collection of problem assets. A portion of the decline in these three categories was offset by an increase in personnel expense.

Conference call and audio webcast:

Management will conduct a live conference call and audio webcast for interested parties relating to the Company’s results for the third quarter 2012 on Thursday, October 18, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time / 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time. To listen to the conference call, interested parties should call (866) 292-1418. Following the formal remarks, a question and answer session will be open to all interested parties. The webcast will be available via Pacific Continental’s website (http://www.therightbank.com/). To listen to the live audio webcast, click on the webcast presentation link on the Company’s home page a few minutes before the presentation is scheduled to begin. An audio webcast replay is typically available within twenty-four hours following the live webcast and will be archived for one year on the Pacific Continental website. Any questions regarding the conference call presentation or webcast should be directed to Maecey Castle, vice president and director of corporate communications, at (541) 686-8685.

About Pacific Continental Bank

Pacific Continental Bank, the operating subsidiary of Pacific Continental Corporation, delivers highly personalized services through fourteen banking offices in Oregon and Washington. The Bank also operates a loan production office in Tacoma, Washington. Pacific Continental, with $1.3 billion in assets, has established one of the most unique and attractive metropolitan branch networks in the Pacific Northwest with offices in three of the region’s largest markets including Seattle, Portland and Eugene. Pacific Continental targets the banking needs of community-based businesses, health care professionals, professional service providers and nonprofit organizations.

Since its founding in 1972, Pacific Continental Bank has been honored with numerous awards and recognitions from highly regarded third-party organizations including The Seattle Times, the Portland Business Journal, the Seattle Business magazine and Oregon Business magazine. A complete list of the company’s awards and recognitions – as well as supplementary information about Pacific Continental Bank – can be found online at www.therightbank.com. Pacific Continental Corporation’s shares are listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “PCBK” and are a component of the Russell 2000 Index.

Forward-Looking Statement Safe Harbor

This release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (“PSLRA”). These statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. Forward-looking statements often use words such as “anticipates,” “targets,” “expects,” “estimates,” “intends,” “plans,” “goals,” “believes” and other similar expressions or future or conditional verbs such as “will,” “should,” “would” and “could.” The forward-looking statements made represent Pacific Continental’s current estimates, projections, expectations, plans or forecasts of its future results and revenues, including but not limited to statements about performance, loan and deposit growth, capital strategy and future suggested problem loan migration. These statements are not guarantees of future results or performance and involve certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict and are often beyond Pacific Continental’s control. Actual

outcomes and results may differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, any of these forward-looking statements. You should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statement and should consider all of the following uncertainties and risks, as well as those more fully discussed under “Risk Factors”, “Business”, and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in Pacific Continental’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, and in any of Pacific Continental’s subsequent SEC filings: the high concentration of loans of the Company’s banking subsidiary in commercial and residential real estate lending; adverse economic trends in the United States and the markets we serve affecting the Bank’s borrower base; a continued decline in the housing and real estate market; a continued increase in unemployment or sustained high levels of unemployment; continued erosion or sustained low levels of consumer confidence; changes in the regulatory environment and increases in associated costs, particularly ongoing compliance expenses and resource allocation needs; vendor quality and efficiency; the Company’s ability to control risks associated with rapidly changing technology both from an internal perspective as well as for external providers; increased competition among financial institutions; fluctuating interest rate environments; and a tightening of available credit. Pacific Continental Corporation undertakes no obligation to publicly revise or update any forward-looking statement to reflect the impact of events or circumstances that arise after the date of this release. This statement is included for the express purpose of invoking PSLRA’s safe harbor provisions.

PACIFIC CONTINENTAL CORPORATION

Consolidated Income Statements

(In thousands, except share and per share amounts)

(Unaudited)

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Consolidated Balance Sheets

(In thousands, except share amounts)

(Unaudited)

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Loans by Type and Allowance for Loan Losses

(In thousands)

(Unaudited)

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Selected Other Financial Information and Ratios

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(Unaudited)

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Nonperforming Assets and Asset Quality Ratios

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(Unaudited)