Spokane-based Washington Trust Bank says it plans to open new branches in Moscow and Lewiston by the middle of October.

The branches will be the bank's first in the two North Idaho cities.

Jim Branson, the bank's director of retail banking, says it has secured leases in retail centers and expects renovations of the spaces to start soon. He says the branches each will occupy roughly 1,200 square feet to 1,500 square feet of floor space.

The Moscow branch is to be located at 948 Pullman, and the Lewiston office will be at 102 Thain.

Associated Construction, of Spokane, will be the general contractor on both remodels. Design Source Inc., of Spokane, did the interior design work.

Branson says the bank has hired eight employees for the new branches who are now working out of the bank's Pullman branch, which opened in October of 2012.

Branson says the bank plans to hire two to four additional employees for the new branches prior to opening them. That will enable the bank to assign five to six workers to each branch.

While both branches will have account and deposit services, he says a main function of the two sites will be commercial lending.

"We opened a Pullman branch last year, a full-service free-standing branch that we built from the ground up," Branson says. "We've had such success and welcome after our Pullman entry."

He adds, "We feel there's a strong growth potential in that area for loans and deposits and new households. This rounds out our service for customer convenience to serve everybody in the Palouse region. That's a strong-performing local economy that we're excited to be a part of."

Once the new branches open, Wash-ington Trust Bank will employ about 860 people overall and operate 43 branches. Of the 43 branches, 24 will be in the Inland Northwest, Branson says.

The other 19 locations are in Oregon, western Washington, central Washington, and Boise.

Carl Guenzel, of Spokane-based Kiemle & Hagood Co., handled the leases, he says.