Colfax, Wash.-based Bank of Whitman is seeking regulatory approval to build a branch office next year in the Pacific Northwest Technology Park being developed on the West Plains by Granite Investments LLC, of Spokane.


The bank has applied to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Washington state Department of Financial Institutions division of banks for authority to open the branch at 8715 W. Sunset Highway, says Bill Knox, Bank of Whitmans chief financial officer and vice president. He says building plans and details on the number of employees at the branch wont be developed until approval is granted, probably early next year, to open the branch.


We saw an opportunity to become part of the technology park with a branch, Knox says. The chance to locate in a rapidly developing area was particularly attractive, he says.


According to park plans, the planned branch would face the Sunset Highway near the parks entrance. The developers preliminary plans show a bank branch with about 4,500 square feet of space.


Knox says design and construction of the branch will move forward as park plans progress. He hopes the branch can open by next fall.


The proposed full-service branch would be Bank of Whitmans 16th. Its branches are located across Eastern Washington, mostly in small towns, and it opened its first Spokane-area branch in October in an office building at 605 E. Holland. That building is owned by Northpointe Office Building LLC, a Spokane company headed by developer Dick Vandervert, who also heads Granite Investments.


Were very pleased with the growth of our North Spokane branch and hope for the same results (at the technology park branch), Knox says.


The Bank of Whitman is a full-service, independent, community bank with about $150 million in assets, he says.