Banking & Finance

Fulcrum Financial Group driven by clients' goals

Carlson says more women needed as financial planners

March 16, 2017

Sarah Carlson, a certified financial planner based in Spokane, says she's highly motivated to provide long-term financial security, along with outstanding customer service, to her clients as the owner and operator of Fulcrum Financial Group. 'Our cli

Spokane CPA firm merges into Eide Bailly

Langenhorst & Self-Merritt was founded here in 1997

March 16, 2017

LeAnn Bjerken

Langenhorst & Self-Merritt, CPAs, PS, has merged its operations into the Spokane office of Fargo, N.D.-based Eide Bailly LLP, a regional certified public accounting and business advisory firm. Founding partner Hubert Langenhorst says following the merger

Northwest Farm Credit's earnings drop

Co-op says some markets affected by oversupply

March 2, 2017

LeAnn Bjerken

Northwest Farm Credit Services has reported 2016 earnings of $247.2 million, a decrease of $8.4 million, or 3 percent, compared with $255.6 million in 2015. The Spokane-based agricultural lending cooperative says higher earnings in 2015 were a result of

Home equity loan demand expected to rise here

HELOC volumes surpass peaks during recession era

March 2, 2017

Spokane-area lenders say they've recently been approving more applications for home equity lines of credit, commonly referred to as HELOC loans, reminiscent of around the time of the Great Recession. 'We're seeing home equity lines of credit reach

Spokane-area credit unions looks to expand commercial lending

Several cooperatives expand business lending services here

March 2, 2017

LeAnn Bjerken

Following several years of increased demand for commercial lending services here, several credit unions say they're looking to put greater emphasis on building up that portion of their loan portfolios. Lynn Heider, vice president of public relations a

SBA-backed lending starting strong in the Inland Northwest this year

Loan volume decreased by 5.2 percent last year

March 2, 2017

Mike McLean

U.S. Small Business Administration-backed lending has started strong in 2017, and demand for the guaranteed loans looks to remain steady, some top SBA lenders here say. Ted Schinzel, SBA's Spokane branch manager, says, however, that although 2017 has s

Spokane investors launch Kick-Start III venture-capital round

$4.25 million fund far larger than previous two combined

March 2, 2017

Tom Simpson, a Spokane entrepreneur and angel-investing fund adviser and organizer, says he's formed another startup fund, which already has begun investing in emerging companies in the Inland Northwest. Named after its predecessors, Kick-Start III has

Gesa Credit Union opens in mortgage center in core

Commercial lending office also planned downtown

February 16, 2017

Mike McLean

Richland-based Gesa Credit Union has opened a home-loan center and is planning a commercial lending office in the former Bank of Whitman building downtown, says Randy Wacker, Gesa's vice president of mortgage lending. The credit union has leased 6,600

Advice from financial advisers on living on a post-work budget

Year-long trial run before retirement can help those nearing big transition

February 16, 2017

Spokane-based financial adviser Paul Viren says one of the strategies he employs with clients approaching retirement is to have them do a 'mock retirementâ€ starting six months to a year before their planned retirement date. 'Living every month unti

World affairs said to bode well for Patriot Portfolio

Young fund established by Vorpahl Wing grows quickly

February 2, 2017

Chris Street

National and international trends bode well for the young Patriot Portfolio formed by Spokane-based Vorpahl Wing Securities, says portfolio manager Eli Petropoulos. The Spokane-based stock brokerage, which Petropoulos says manages close to $100 million