COLFAX, Wash.Sixty miles south of Spokane, a small bank is hatching some big ideas.


Bank of Whitman, based in this small farm town but with 18 branches in its system, is preparing to raise its profile in the Spokane market by opening a downtown branch there and moving some operations into the first floor of a three-story building its developing for the new branch.


President and CEO James Tribbett says the banks downtown Spokane office is an important step toward the banks ultimate goal.


Our long-term strategic plan is to be the dominant bank in Eastern Washington, he says.


It might sound like a lofty goal for a bank thats currently ranked 25th in total assets for Washington state-based banks, but Tribbett says privately held Bank of Whitman has established a presence in all of the markets its targeting in Eastern Washington and is growing quickly.


Over the past five years, the banks total assets have jumped an average of 22 percent a year, and its total loans have shot up an average of 25 percent a year, while total deposits have grown 20 percent a year.


As of Dec. 31, the bank had $425 million in total assets, $345 million in total loans, and $320 million in total deposits. It posted 2005 net income of $7.1 million, up from $5.5 million the previous year.


Tribbett says that if Bank of Whitman kept growing at that clip, it would have $1 billion in assets within five years, though he doesnt expect it will maintain that pace. For 2006, the bank is projecting a conservative 5 percent growth in assets. Still, he projects the bank to have $1 billion in assets within 10 years.


Bank of Whitman opened two new branches last year, one in Walla Walla and one in Kennewick, giving it 18 branches in Eastern Washington. The Walla Walla branch is the banks first in that market, and the Kennewick branch is its second in the Tri-Cities, Tribbett says.


The only Bank of Whitman branch slated to open in 2006 is the one planned in downtown Spokane, which will be on the 20,000-square-foot ground floor of a structure that the bank is renovating along the north side of Riverside Avenue, between Howard and Wall streets.


Last year, the bank started the $12 million project, which involves converting two long-vacant retail buildings formerly occupied by J.J. Newberry Co. and Lamonts Apparel Inc. into a single, three-story office structure. That structure is scheduled to be completed late this spring.


Tribbett says the bank might take additional space on the second floor in the future, but for now is marketing the top two floors for lease and is in negotiations with potential tenants for that space.


Bank of Whitman will close its North Side branch, located at 605 E. Holland, when the downtown office opens, moving the employees from that operation to the new one.


Tribbett says the bank also plans to move its senior lending, loan review, credit management, audit, information technology, and compliance functions to the new downtown office. Some of those operations are located in Bank of Whitmans other Spokane-area branch, on the West Plains, and some will move from its Colfax headquarters.


All of the banks top executives will have offices in the downtown Spokane location, but they also will maintain their offices in Colfax, where the bank will remain headquartered.


The bank will have about 30 full-time equivalent employees in Spokane when the new office opens, a net increase of about 20 workers, Tribbett says. He says the bank already has ramped up its staffing here somewhat, but will be hiring about 10 more people in the coming months.


In all, Bank of Whitman has 146 full-time equivalent employees, he says.


Beyond the downtown Spokane office, the bank doesnt envision building any new branches in the near future. Tribbett says he plans to grow the company through the existing locations.


He says the bank is focused on garnering more lending activity, rather than seeking retail banking business, so an extensive branch network isnt necessary.


Currently, about 40 percent of the banks lending activity involves real estate loans, Tribbett says. Commercial loans and agricultural loans each account for 25 percent of the banks loan activity, and the remaining 10 percent involves consumer loans, he says.


Tribbett says that with a stronger presence in Spokane, the bank hopes to increase its lending activity considerably.


It is the biggest market in the area we serve, and we have the smallest piece of it, he says.


The downtown Spokane project will be a homecoming of sorts for Tribbett. Before taking over as head of Bank of Whitman in 1979, he worked at American Commercial Bank, which was located along Post Street, less than a block from the new Bank of Whitman site. Tribbett says one of his mentors at American Commercial Bank, Al Kelly, had envisioned constructing a building for that bank at the Lamonts-Newberry site, but First Interstate Bank bought American Commercial shortly after Tribbett left.


Tribbett had worked at banks in San Francisco and Seattle before taking the job at Bank of Whitman, and one of his goals through the years has been to manage a closely held bank that isnt likely to be acquired.


Currently, he says, Bank of Whitmans employees own a 40 percent interest in it through an employee stock-ownership plan. Nine bank executives own another 25 percent of the stock, and a couple dozen other shareholders hold the remaining 35 percent.


We internally own 65 percent of the bank, Tribbett says. We will be here when others are gone.