Published March 2004

Banking & Lending Briefs

Cascade Financial acquires
Issaquah Bancshares
Cascade Financial Corp. is buying the parent company of Issaquah Bank.

The Everett-based company will pay about $32 million in cash and stock for Issaquah Bancshares. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter. Issaquah Bank will continue to operate under its own name as a division of Cascade Financial Corp., but will be able to offer larger loans after the merger, Cascade officials said.

Issaquah Bank founder Robert Ittes will continue as the bank’s president under Cascade’s ownership.

The combination of Issaquah Bank’s two branches in Issaquah and North Bend, plus Cascade Bank’s branches in the Issaquah area, will create the largest independent bank in that fast-growing market, Cascade chief executive Carol Nelson said.

The deal will give Cascade Financial more than 20 percent of the market share in Issaquah and the surrounding area, and “really contribute to our transformation,” she said.

Issaquah is an attractive market because of its fast population growth, plus Microsoft’s plans for a future 15-building campus that could accommodate up to 15,000 employees, Cascade officials said.

Adding Issaquah Bank to Cascade will push the Everett-based company to more than $1 billion in assets and give it 17 branches. Cascade had $885 million in assets as of Dec. 31. Issaquah had $128 million on that date.

It is the first time Cascade has grown through an acquisition since it purchased American First National Bank of Everett in 1997.

Nelson said Cascade plans to move carefully before pursuing any other mergers. “We’re going to make sure we do this very well.”

Cascade plans to open its 18th branch, in Snohomish, in May.

Wells Fargo, AquaSox team up
for reading program
Wells Fargo has partnered with the Everett AquaSox to present the sixth season of “Hit a Home Run in School” reading program.

Last year, more than 1,800 classrooms and 30,000 students in the Puget Sound area participated in the program designed to encourage independent reading as a foundation for lifelong learning, the AquaSox said. Along with local sponsors, the AquaSox and Wells Fargo rewarded children on a weekly basis for reaching their academic goals.

So far this year, more than 50 local schools — public, private and home-based — are set to participate in the program, which begins in April and lasts four weeks. Students who successfully achieve all four reading goals during that time will receive a complimentary ticket to an AquaSox game at the end of the program, courtesy of the AquaSox and Wells Fargo.

Banner Bank creates
lending group for income property
Banner Bank, hoping to double its income property lending activity in the Puget Sound region this year, has created a metro income property lending group, bank officials said.

Based in Bellevue, the new group will be headed by Steve West, who has been appointed vice president and income property manager. Prior to joining Banner, West worked in Bellevue for Pacific Northwest Bank as vice president and real estate loan officer.

The group also will include Linda Boettcher, a vice president and income property loan officer, and Todd Hull, an assistant vice president and income property loan officer. Boettcher most recently a loan officer with EverTrust Bank, and Hull formerly was with Pacific Northwest Capital.

“These individuals are important additions to Banner’s relationship-oriented Northwest commercial banking franchise. They each have excellent reputations, and we are delighted to have professionals of their caliber join our team,” said Doug Bennett, executive vice president and real estate lending manager for the Walla Walla-based bank.

The new group will concentrate on the greater Puget Sound area but, based on borrower relationships, may occasionally consider lending opportunities throughout the Pacific Northwest, bank officials said.

Seattle SBA office honored
The Seattle office of the U.S. Small Business Administration has received the Region X District Office of the Year Award for its demonstrated accomplishment and achievement of goals in fiscal year 2003, according to the SBA.

The Seattle office led other SBA offices in the region in number of loans made by participating banks, and in small-business clients serviced, the agency said. SBA offices in the region are located in Anchorage, Portland, Boise, Spokane and Seattle.

SBA Director Bob Meredith said that last year the office exceeded all goals that were assigned and assisted over 26,000 small-business owners with technical assistance programs, workshops and free counseling throughout Western Washington. The office also helped 1,435 small businesses with SBA-guaranteed financing through participating lenders totaling $308 million.

The agency works with a variety of resource partners to provide counseling and training assistance through organizations like the Service Corps of Retired Executives, or SCORE; the Washington State University Small Business Development Center program; and through two Women’s Business Centers in Everett and Seattle.

Meredith said the local Seattle office recently merged with the SBA’s office in Spokane in order to provide expanded service to small businesses throughout Washington state and Northern Idaho.

New Web site offers information
on Call Report initiative
A Web site has been launched to provide financial institutions with information on the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council’s Call Report Modernization initiative.

The FFIEC Call Report agencies — the Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency — are building a central data repository (CDR) to modernize and streamline how the agencies collect, process, and distribute bank financial data.

The Web site, www.FFIEC.gov/find, features a timeline, progress reports, frequently asked questions and answers, and highlights of future process changes. It provides details about project participants and how financial institutions and software vendors can participate in the initiative.

The site also contains information outlining the technology supporting the new reporting process.

Implementation of the CDR is slated for this fall, and banks will first use the CDR to submit their Sept. 30 Call Report data to the agencies.

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