Spokane Teachers Credit Union says it posted net income of $16.2 million in 2010, up nearly double from $9.1 million in 2009, and also had decent gains in loans and deposits, despite the continuing economic slump.

The credit union—Spokane's largest, now serving more than 93,000 members—had "really a pretty good year," says Bill Before, its chief financial officer.

STCU's loans grew 7 percent last year to $1.22 billion, up from $1.14 billion in 2009, and deposits grew 6 percent to $1.19 billion, up from $1.13 billion a year earlier, Before says.

"We're about 103 percent loaned out," which contrasts with a lot of lenders that are eager to loan money but finding few takers, he says.

"The growth was really in the real estate area. We had a lot of members refinancing (home loans) with us in this low-rate environment," Before says.

The strongest deposit growth was in regular share accounts, he says, adding that a stronger member trend toward "just trying to put money away" in savings appeared to be the main impetus for that gain.

STCU ended last year with total assets of $1.45 billion, up 8 percent from $1.35 billion a year earlier, and with total capital of $144.4 million, up 13 percent from $128.1 million at the end of 2009, he says.

Its net worth ratio, one measure of a credit union's health, was 9.84 percent at the end of last year, up from 9.4 percent a year earlier, and it had a return on average assets of 1.11 percent, up from 0.67 percent, Before says.

It's projecting a return on average assets of 0.93 percent for this year, which equates to anticipated net income of about $14.6 million, he says.

STCU wasn't totally immune from the effects of the still lagging economy last year. It had 13 percent growth in Visa credit card accounts and 5 percent growth in auto loans, but those figures were down from 22 percent and 27 percent, respectively, in 2009, Before says.

The credit union ended last year with 93,347 members, up 8 percent from a year earlier, and on average added more than 1,000 new accounts a month in 2010, he says.

STCU is in the midst of its biggest computer software upgrade in 26 years, with improvements to its online services due to become effective at the end of this month, he says. The credit union will be closed Friday, April 1—"No joke," it says on its website—to complete that switchover.

"The goal is to give members a better view of all of their accounts" so they can monitor their finances more seamlessly online, Before says. "We've been working on this for two and a half years with our vendor, so it's a big undertaking for us."

Also, the credit union, which operates 14 branches, has begun a multimillion-dollar remodel project at its 115,000-square-foot, two-building headquarters complex at 1620 N. Signal Drive at Liberty Lake. The project, which includes a number of upgrades and is expected to take about two years to complete, will enable the credit union to expand into space in one of its two buildings that formerly had been occupied by other tenants, Before says.

STCU bought the complex, located on 11.3 acres in the MeadowWood Business Park, from Egghead.com Inc. for $7.5 million in 1998. About 190 of the credit union's more than 440 employees work there.

EHS Design Inc., of Seattle, designed the renovation project, and Contractors Northwest Inc., of Coeur d'Alene, is the general contractor on the project.