With the planned acquisition of Inland Northwest Bank parent Northwest Bancorp. by Billings, Mont.-based First Interstate BancSystem Inc., another Spokane-born company no longer will be headquartered here.

Combined with Toronto-based Hydro One’s earlier announced planned acquisition of Spokane’s Avista Corp., which also is on track to be completed before year-end, the number of public traded companies based in the Inland Northwest will drop to seven--down from 17 publicly traded companies based here in 2012.

Economic analysts have told the Journal that medium-sized publicly traded companies and banks have become attractive targets for larger counterparts since the Great Recession, while it also has become costlier for companies to go public, meaning new initial public offerings have been slow to come.

Craig Hart, of Spokane-based Hart Capital Management, says the shrinkage in number of publicly traded companies isn’t unique to Spokane, and we can have some consolation that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is looking for the means to make it more attractive for companies to go public. We would encourage any movement in that direction. 

To help counter such shrinkage, Grant Forsyth, Avista Corp. regional economist, says economic development advocates should focus on supporting policies that make capital available to local companies positioned for growth. Many such funding vehicles are in place, and a continued emphasis on growing our own is essential. 

Businesses here can and do grow without going public to raise capital, but the decline in publicly traded companies here is some cause for concern, because such companies tend to concentrate executives and highly paid staff near their headquarters.

Regarding the INB acquisition, First Interstate CEO Kevin Riley has said that the merger will have as little impact on rank-and-file employees as possible, with the expectation that the majority of INB employees will have the opportunity to continue as part of the new First Interstate Bank team. Also, all 20 of INB’s banking offices are expected to remain open.

INB has about 200 employees, nearly 90 of whom work at downtown headquarters in three floors of the Paulsen Center, at 421 W. Riverside, where INB opened its first branch in 1989.

The bright side to these acquisitions and losses is that most of them have occurred while Spokane’s economy is on the upswing, with employment, retail sales, and home values, among other economic indicators, trending upwards.

With strong recent job growth in the health, education, and professional sectors expected to continue through the foreseeable future, and ongoing robust economic development recruitment efforts here, there’s hope that growing companies will be positioned for initial public offerings or that existing publicly traded companies will move here.

Meantime, business leaders should be ever vigilant in supporting policies and practices that encourage more companies that call Spokane home to grow here and stay here.