RiverBank, which opened here in 2006, posted an $80,000 second-quarter loss, after factoring in a $266,000 added provision for loan losses and a $65,000 Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. special assessment.

Still, the bank had net earnings of $58,000 through the first half of the year, federal regulatory documents show.

Duane Brandenburg, the bank's president and CEO, says, "We had a good July—we exceeded our budget in July—and we think we're going to have a good August," when those figures are reported, equating to about $156,000 in net income for the first two months of the third quarter.

Overall, despite the tough economy, Brandenburg says the bank continues to be positioned well for the future.

"We've reached a size now where if we just maintain, we should be on the plus side of $100,000 a month in earnings," excluding additional loan loss provisions or FDIC special assessments, he says. "We've been able to leverage our equity to where we have more income than we have expense."

Brandenburg had said in February that he expected the bank to be profitable throughout 2009. He also predicted that RiverBank would show smaller gains in loans and deposits this year, due to the soft economic climate, and that forecast also appears to be proving true so far, though it's showing strong year-to-year gains.

The privately held institution ended the second quarter with total loans of $121.2 million, up 13 percent from $107 million a year earlier, according to FDIC data. Its deposits at the end of the latest quarter were $128.6 million, up 17 percent from a year earlier, the data show.

RiverBank's total assets at the end of the latest quarter were $142.1 million, up 6 percent for the first half of this year. In the first half of last year, they grew by 22 percent.

In the February interview, Brandenburg had said that, along with economic considerations, the bank was beginning to mature, meaning that, "It's going to be a challenge just to replace the amount of credit that's going to be paid off." He said earlier this week that still appears to be the case, and he expects the bank to remain at around $140 million in assets for awhile.

"From the standpoint of business, it's relatively quiet out there. I think things are going to slowly pick up," he says. "I don't think in 2010 you're going to see significant and dramatic change, but it will be better, hopefully."

The bank recorded its first profitable month in July 2007, 14 months after opening its doors, which Brandenburg had said was faster than projected and probably four or five months ahead of the industry norm for a new bank. The changing interest-rate climate, though, combined with last year's steep economic decline, made it tough for the bank to sustain and build on that profitability, he said.

RiverBank is a niche bank that offers highly personalized services, mostly to small-business and commercial clients in the Spokane area. Its services include concierge courier vehicles, treated and insured as mobile "branches." It occupies part of a five-story building at 203 E. Spokane Falls Boulevard and has its courier and some computer operations in a 3,800-square-foot building just west of there, at 34 E. Spokane Falls Boulevard.