Intermountain plans local bank

Intermountain Community Bank of Washington is building its first local branch in front of Costco, on East Sprague.

The bank arrived in Washington about one year ago and is temporarily operating at 200 N. Mullan Road, Suite 124.

Melody Balmes, president of retail banking, said the one-story, 8,000-square-foot building with two drive-through lanes and a drive-up ATM is being designed by Bernardo-Wills Architects. Balmes did not know when the project would break ground or when the bank would open.

The land is located on the northeast corner of the Costco block on property owned by Arthur Landauer. Intermountain Community Bank recently signed a 30-year lease with options to extend.

Architectural plans are going through extensive revisions, Balmes said. The elements will covey a northwest flavor and create a unique look and identity that will become a prototype for future Washington branches, she said.

The bank recently opened a private banking center at 801 W. Riverside, she said, and plans to open branches in north and south Spokane.

Intermountain Community Bancorp is the holding company for four divisions, including the Washington banks, and is headquartered in Sandpoint, Idaho. It has 18 branches in Washington, Oregon and Idaho.

Rochester, N.Y.

Fed study backs Bausch & Lomb

A federal health analysis released Friday echoed assertions by Bausch & Lomb Inc. that an outbreak of severe fungal eye infections appears to be linked solely to its new-formula contact lens cleaner. The company’s shares rose 3.6 percent.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the results of its case-control study indicate that some of the unique components in ReNu with MoistureLoc make the solution more susceptible to contamination by fusarium, a fungus known to cause blindness.

Use of other solutions in the ReNu product line, including the older and more widely used MultiPlus brand, did not show “a significantly increased risk for disease,” the Atlanta-based agency said.

Bausch & Lomb’s chief executive, Ronald Zarrella, said the study “should put to rest any further speculation that other products may also be implicated.”

Washington

Professor will run Fannie Mae audits

Mortgage giant Fannie Mae said Friday it was replacing the chairman of its board’s audit committee, a key position as the company struggles to emerge from an $11 billion accounting scandal.

The announcement by Fannie Mae that the board had named accounting professor Dennis Beresford to replace audit committee chairman Thomas Gerrity came a few days before federal regulators are scheduled to release a major report on their extensive examination of the government-sponsored company. The report due out Tuesday is widely expected to be sharply critical of Washington-based Fannie Mae, and the role of its board of directors in the accounting debacle is expected to be touched on.