Community bank to open in Post Falls
Coeur d’Alene is home to three community banks. Sandpoint has one, and Post Falls could be next.
Longtime local banker David Bobbitt is heading up efforts to open Community 1st Bank in Post Falls. A group of investors has purchased an old post office building at 707 N. Post, across the street from branches of U.S. Bank and Bank of America. Pending regulatory approval, Community 1st Bank could open for business in April or May.
Bobbitt, who retired last summer as president of Sterling Savings in Spokane, said he sees a niche for a hometown bank in fast-growing Post Falls.
A recent survey indicated that deposits at Post Falls’ financial institutions total $224 million, according to Bobbitt. Eighty-five percent of those deposits are with large banks, he said.
Community banks, meanwhile, are flourishing in North Idaho. Most have new branches under construction, as well as growing earnings and assets. They’ve established a reputation for responsive customer service that will help Community 1st enter the market, Bobbitt said.
“You know your customers on a first-name basis, as opposed to an account number,” he said.
Bobbitt spent six years during the 1980s as a branch manager in Post Falls for West One/Idaho First National. He expects Community 1st to compete for market share primarily with larger banks, as opposed to other community-based banks.
It would be Post Falls’ first new start-up bank in more than 100 years, according to the state Department of Finance.
Banking regulators will visit Community 1st later this month. They must give preliminary approval to the operation before Community 1st can start selling stock. Bank officials want to raise $5.5 million to $10.5 million though a stock offering, Bobbitt said.
Bobbitt is chairman and chief executive officer of the proposed bank. Jerry Lyon is the president and chief operating officer.
Other organizers are William Basom, Douglas Chadderdon, Robert Coles, David Holloway, Thomas Johnson, Gary Schneidmiller and Jack Tibesar.