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Seeking ways to expand their banking offerings, three of Spokane's biggest credit unions are stepping up their commercial lending efforts.
Spokane Teachers Credit Union expects this spring to launch a business services department and roll out a new line of commercial loan products. Last month, Numerica Credit Union, of Spokane, received approval from the U.S. Small Business Administration to provide SBA loans, and it expects to start offering such loans in late summer or early fall. Earlier, Global Credit Union, of Spokane, announced it had bought a downtown building and plans to open a commercial real estate lending center there later this year.
Spokane Teachers, Numerica, and Global are three of the four largest credit unions in Spokane, as ranked by local deposits.
"In 2003, our strategic focus is on business banking services," says Scott Adkins, director of lending at Spokane Teachers Credit Union. "There is strong demand among our members for the types of business products we plan to offer."
The trend here coincides with a national trend in which credit unions are trying to grow by adding banking services geared toward small to mediumsized businesses.
"In the last year or so, it's gotten a lot of emphasis in the trade journals as a way to grow business," says Gene Fitzpatrick, Numerica's vice president of lending.
Fitzpatrick says commercial lending has become a more...