Spokane Valley-based State Bank Northwest has appointed Tim Cassels, a 30-year veteran of the financial industry, as the community bank’s chief financial officer. 

Cassels, 54, joins State Bank Northwest after eight years with Global Credit Union, for which he served as the chief financial officer and later the vice president of financial risk and capital planning. Cassels also has held similar leadership roles with other Spokane-based financial institutions, including Northwest Farm Credit Services, now known as AgWest; Bank of Fairfield; and Sterling Savings Bank. 

Originally from western Washington, Cassels moved to the Spokane area to attend Whitworth University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in business management. He also holds an MBA from Washington State University.

Cassels is involved in various community organizations including as a board member of Joya, Tri-County Little League, Western Independent Bankers, and the Deer Park Airport Advisory Board. 

The Journal recently caught up with Cassels at State Bank Northwest to discuss his new role, challenges the industry is facing, and what he hopes to accomplish.

 What sets State Bank Northwest apart from other financial institutions? 

We’re one of the few remaining small local banks. There are not many on that list anymore.

The ads that we do where we say we know your name, that’s what sets us apart. Our strength is, that we know our customers. We know their names, and we know their stories. We know what they need, and we try to help them the best we can for their success.

If someone is looking to apply for a loan at a big bank, it would be an automated process in which they put all their information on the computer and get a response on the computer without ever having to see anybody. If it’s not successful, a lot of times they don’t know why, and they don’t have anybody to talk to about it. A community bank provides that support to the community.

Agricultural lending is one focus of State Bank Northwest. How is that landscape? 

Challenging. For example, you see how gas prices have gone up over the past couple of years. Well, most of the agricultural expenses have also gone up substantially, but the prices paid for the products they are producing has not. There are pressures there.

We have great farmers, and we have great agricultural lenders, so we are surviving. But it is not necessarily the robust part of the economy right now. There are different programs out there that help support agriculture across the board, but it is certainly not risk free by any stretch of the imagination. 

What types of farming does State Bank support? 

We are mostly in the Palouse, so a lot of dryland farming. If you draw a line between Ritzville and the Idaho-Washington border, that wedge is most of our focus. 

What are some of the overall challenges in the industry? 

Regulations. There is a continual push by regulatory agencies and consumer groups to increase the amount of regulation on lending banks, deposits, and everything from overdraft to small business lending reporting. In my time in banking, the amount of regulatory reporting has grown exponentially. Then there’s the economic environment. 

There has been a lot of back-and-forth discussion about the strength of the economy. How do you see it from your position? 

If you look at the vacancy rates that are downtown here in Spokane and the number of new constructions for commercial real estate in town, they’re not great numbers. And it’s not great numbers for houses being built. It’s been great for apartments, there are a lot of new apartments being built everywhere.

There’s some level of lack of economic activity. If somebody wants to buy a house, not only are interest rates high, but prices are high. It’s a double-edged sword that isn’t good. Unemployment is still low, and that’s good and a little bit of a surprise. We will see what happens. I’ll say it’s mixed at best. 

What would indicate a better economy?

Five years ago, most people who were selling a home were moving into a bigger house or a different house. You don’t see that today. Most of the house sales are related to people moving into town or leaving town, whereas before, the number of houses being built and sold was substantially more than today. 

Now some of that has been transitioned to apartments, which is indicative of an overall lack of supply in Spokane, but that’s why I say it’s a mixed bag. The economy has changed over the last 15 years. It’s a lot more global, a lot more complex. 

What do you hope to accomplish in your role at State Bank Northwest? 

First, stay the course. State Bank Northwest has been around for 120 years and is successful, has great customers and great employees. I’m not looking to rock that boat. I’d like to maybe make things a bit more efficient and effective, perhaps uncover some new growth opportunities that we haven’t had in the past.

A combination of those two is what I’m hoping to accomplish.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.