Bank of Fairfield, which is based 30 miles south of Spokane, plans to open a lending office on the edge of downtown Spokane.


The office will be located in about 2,700 square feet of office space on the third floor of the WCH Building, at 201 W. North River Drive, and is scheduled to open in mid-March, says Geoff Forshag, Bank of Fairfields chief operating officer. It will be the banks first office in Spokane.


Three people initially will staff the office, but Forshag says the bank expects to add two more people at the new office by year-end.


The office primarily will handle commercial loans for new and current customers, but also will do some construction and residential lending. In addition, one of the offices three employees will be a licensed insurance agent who will offer the lines of insurance that Bank of Fairfield currently sells at its four branches.


Based in the town of Fairfield, the bank has its home office there and branches in three other small Eastern Washington towns: Rockford, Rosalia, and Spangle.


In addition to opening the new Spokane lending office, the bank currently is expanding its Fairfield office and is remodeling its Rockford branch. Both projects are scheduled to be completed this spring, Forshag says. The combined cost of the two projects is about $300,000, he says.


Incorporated in 1905, Bank of Fairchild had more than $100 million in assets as of Dec. 31.