Wells Fargo Bank has added a number of business bankers and increased its retail branch staffing here substantially over the last year, says Don Young, who became its community bank president here in April 2003.


Young says Wells Fargo had three business bankers in the Spokane area when he became its top executive here, and that number now has climbed to seven. Its business bankers work mostly with companies that have annual revenues of $2 million to $20 million, he says.


Its in response to what we see as business opportunity in Spokane, he says, adding, Were continuing to look for good business bankers (interested in) working the small market.


Ken Plank, formerly with U.S. Bank in Spokane and Bellevue, Wash., was hired by Wells Fargo earlier this year to serve as its business banking manager here.


In conjunction with those hirings, the bank has stepped up its marketing to prospective business clients, including through media advertising, direct-mail campaigns, and a lot of one-on-one contact work, Young says.


On the retail side, Wells Fargo has added 11 positions at its seven Spokane-area branches over roughly the last year, representing about a 16 percent increase in the size of that work force, Young says.


Those additions, he says, were in response perhaps to an understaffed condition previously, and obviously we wanted to enhance our customer-service levels, but also meet financial needs in the neighborhoods where were located.


Young said shortly after arriving here that he was working to expand the San Francisco-based banks Spokane-area branch system, including possibly by adding branches on the North Side and in Spokane Valley.


We intend to grow significantly in both commercial and retail banking here, he said.


In an interview last week, though, he said the bank isnt prepared to make any announcements yet about plans for additional branches.