New bank has deep roots in community

For retirees, the golden years beyond the daily grind are often filled with hobbies, travel or just taking some well-deserved time off. But for businessman Dave Bobbitt, retirement lasted all of five days, as the lure of a new Post Falls’ venture, Community 1st Bank, began to take shape last summer.

“I retired July first,” he said. “By July fifth, I found out I flunked retirement big-time.”

As the first local bank in town in more than a century, the business, at 707 N. Post St. on the corner of Seltice Way, officially opened to the public June 11, with a grand opening to follow next Thursday. The idea was born from several longtime North Idaho businessmen, some of whom came out of retirement to make it happen.

“This is our world bank headquarters,” said Bobbitt, chairmen of the board and chief executive officer of the newly refinished bank near downtown Post Falls, as he sat at his desk overlooking the busy street beyond. As a North Idaho business built from the ground up by locals with roots in the community, the bank aims “to take care of the community’s financial service needs better than anybody else and always do the right thing for the customer,” Bobbitt said. “If you do that, you’ll do pretty well.”

However, despite the bank’s initial success, including raising $10.5 million in just over two weeks last year for the required $6.5 million-to-$10.5 million starter capital and with 90 percent of it coming from Kootenai County investors, the bank suffered a major loss of one of its founders.

Tom Johnson, a Coeur d’Alene developer, was killed in a motorcycle accident in April while on vacation in Mexico.

“He’s going to be missed,” Bobbitt said.

In his honor, local Post Falls artist Kathy Pierce created a stained glass window for the door leading to the boardroom featuring the town’s landmark falls. “I think it’s important to give back to the community, and that’s what these gentlemen have done,” Pierce said about the bank’s local founders. For that reason, she said, the window was satisfying to create. “It goes from heart to the family of Tom and the people he’s helped. He was a pillar.”

The 12 folks who work at Community 1st Bank bring a lot of banking experience into the building. Bobbitt, Jerry Lyon, president and chief operating officer, and a third board member have amassed more than 105 years in the banking business. The bank founders include, among others, Bobbitt, Lyon, Gary Schneidmiller, Dave Holinka, who had been retired since 2004 from U.S. Bank but opted to join as Community 1st Bank’s senior vice president, William Basom, Robert Coles and Douglas Chadderdon.

And as longtime bankers and businessmen in the area, the founders knew exactly what they’d want in a new business. When their doors open, they will feature state-of-the-art technology, including the Check 21 system that does away with much paper waste by scanning checks electronically on the premise and disposing of them immediately, and a surveillance system linked live to the Post Falls Police Department.

“Because we are brand new, we can take the technology to another level,” Bobbitt explained.

As the building’s construction nears an end, Bobbitt and Lyon, together with the other members of the bank’s seven-member board, have spent the last nine months finalizing plans, obtaining the bank’s charter and overseeing construction of the 5,000 square foot former post office. Over the past few weeks, Lyon said, they’ve worn many different hats.

Now though, he said: “We are ready to be bankers again. What I think we are best at is working with people.”