AmericanWest Bank, the main operating subsidiary of Spokane-based AmericanWest Bancorp, says it plans to expand into Utah by opening a loan production office near Salt Lake City by June and a full-service financial center there later this year.


AmericanWest has submitted applications to the Utah state Department of Financial Institutions and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to open a loan production office in Murray, Utah, just south of Salt Lake City, says bank spokeswoman Kelly McPhee. The office will handle commercial loans for customers in that market, but the bank is waiting for approval before it decides on an exact location or how many employees it will hire at the new office, McPhee says.


AmericanWests board approved the expansion after evaluating the Salt Lake City areas rapidly growing economy, she says. Robert M. Daugherty, who is president and CEO of both the parent company and the bank, and other board members have worked in Utah, so they have knowledge of and contacts within the financial services industry there, she says.


This is a growth opportunity for us, McPhee says. We feel we have an advantage in that market.


Along with its expansion plans for Utah, AmericanWest also will grow its operations in Central Washington and North Idaho, she says. The bank recently completed its acquisition of Pasco-based Columbia Trust Bancorp, which had about $210 million in assets. AmericanWest, following through on a project that Columbia Trust was planning, says it will lease space in a building in Yakima to open a new branch there by September.


In addition, AmericanWest hopes to start construction in July on a 3,500-square-foot financial center at the northeast corner of U.S. Route 95 and Ironwood Drive, in Coeur dAlene, and expects that project to be completed by November, she says. Last month, it opened a temporary branch in Sandpoint, and plans to start construction there soon on a new 5,000-square-foot financial center that it will open by January, she says.


Baker Construction & Development Inc., of Spokane, is the contractor for both the Coeur dAlene and Sandpoint projects, and Bernardo-Wills Architects PC, of Spokane, designed them, she says. The bank doesnt have an estimated cost for those projects yet, she says.


AmericanWest also is building a two-story, nearly 8,000-square-foot branch in Hayden, Idaho that will cost about $1.3 million. It expects that project to be completed by August, she says.


Finally, the bank also is renovating branches in Walla Walla and Sunnyside , Wash., that it acquired through Columbia Trust, and is installing ATM services in 11 of its branches, she says.


AmericanWest has 41 branches and had $1.3 billion in assets in mid-March.


Contact Emily Brandler at (509) 344-1265 or via e-mail at emilyb@spokanejournal.com.