Bank of America is taking bold steps to strengthen its position as a leading financial institution, as shown by its recent $47 billion purchase of Boston, Mass.-based FleetBoston Financial Corp.


That aggressive national growth strategy, though, hasnt caused the Charlotte, N.C.-based bank to be blind to homegrown talent when filling far-flung subregional executive posts, at least not here.


Its recent appointment of Kurt L. Walsdorf as its Spokane-based market president for Eastern Washington puts its most visible leadership position here in the hands of someone who grew up locally and is familiar with the Inland Northwest. Wearing two hats, Walsdorf also is senior vice president and market executive in charge of commercial banking for all of Eastern Washington and Idaho.


Though just 43, he heads up a banking operation that includes 20 branches and close to 770 employees in Spokane County and North Idaho, not including a separately administered bank-card center here that employs several hundred people. The bank occupies seven floors of the 20-story downtown building that bears its name, the Bank of America Financial Center, at 601 W. Riverside.


The most recent available Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. data put Bank of Americas combined deposits in Spokane and Kootenai counties at $708.3 million, as of June 30. In a list published by the Journal earlier this year, Bank of America ranked fourth in local deposits among all banks and savings-and-loans doing business here, behind only Washington Trust Bank, Washington Mutual Bank, and U.S. Bank.


Our goal across the region is to increase our deposit base and grow our market share. Its brand awareness and brand image, Walsdorf says. Certainly I think our banking-center (branch) network is a key strength.


Walsdorf has 19 years of experience with the bank and its predecessor, Seattle First National Bank. He was born in Wisconsin, and his family moved to Spokane in 1967, when he was 7 years old. He graduated from Gonzaga Preparatory School, then earned a bachelors degree in business and finance from Carroll College, in Helena, Montana, and a masters in business administration from Gonzaga University.


His father was an insurance broker here, and he says, Thats where my interest in business probably started. For many years now, he says, his parents have put on the annual Spokane Western Art Show, which typically draws upwards of 30,000 people.


Walsdorf joined Seattle First in 1984, and took advantage of a one-year, management-training program in Seattle, opting to focus on commercial banking. He then spent three years in Moses Lake working in commercial-banking services, including doing a lot of agricultural lending, before returning to Spokane. In 1995, he was selected to manage a commercial banking team in Yakima, and he returned to Spokane again 18 months later to take on commercial-banking management responsibilities here.


Growing up in Spokane was a treat, so coming back was an easy decision, says Walsdorf, who is married with three sons. Spokane is home. Eastern Washington is where we want to be.


He was named to the banks top local post in October, succeeding John Wagner, 53, who retired and then was named president of Spokane Valley-based Farmers & Merchants Bank. Like Walsdorf, Wagner had risen up through the management ranksstarting his career here with Seattle First in 1977.


Walsdorf says his primarily responsibilities as market president are to integrate all of our lines of businessconsumer, private, and commercial banking, among othersthrough a partnering effort with the banks lead executives in those areas, and to promote the banks image, including through civic involvement.


In his other role, as market executive for commercial banking, he says his focus is on businesses and institutions of all sizes. Weve got everything from retailers to manufacturers to service businesses as customers, and many of them are smaller in size, he says.


Despite the recent soft economy, Bank of America has sought to keep expanding its presence in Eastern Washington, Walsdorf says, adding, I think weve done well.


Spokane has never been a real boom-and-bust market. Theres real resiliency in this economy from that standpoint, he says. I think weve got a lot of good momentum here, based on recent indicators.


Walsdorf says hes enthused about Bank of Americas recent acquisition of FleetBoston, which really does increase our overall footprint by allowing the bank to move strongly into the northeast part of the country and cement its image as a truly nationwide institution.


Bank of America claims its consumer and commercial banking operations now serve more than one in four households in the U.S., transacting with more than 150 customers a second. The bank operates more than 4,200 branches in 21 states and the District of Columbia, and says its customers include more than 2 million small businesses. It claims to be the nations top Small Business Administration lender.


Bank of America Corp., the banks parent company, reported record earnings of $2.92 billion, or $1.92 a share, for the third quarter.