On Aug. 3, Kitsap County’s newest bank will be officially open for public business. Liberty Bank of Washington, located in Poulsbo, had a soft opening in June for its founders/investors to help work out the bugs, and was getting ready to welcome new customers. It is the only bank to open this year so far in Washington state.

In fact, the trend of a dwindling number of new banks is nationwide — so far only 22 opened around the country, compared to almost 100 last year. But these statistics are not discouraging for the founders of Liberty Bank. On the contrary, Bill Fogarty, president and CEO, said industry consolidation will continue to shrink the number of financial institutions, which for Liberty Bank means new opportunities.

“The public perception is that there’s a lot of problems in banking, and that’s the advantage we have: We can open up without any baggage,” he said.

The bank is the result of the work by a group of local business leaders from various industries. In October 2006, they got together to discuss the idea of a bank that would cater to certain industries such as doctors and other professionals as well as small businesses.

Just four months later, they rolled out the process of creating a new bank, and in July 2007 filed an application.

Three hundred investors were on board as of mid-June, and the offer of initial investment was still open (the minimum requirement is 2,000 shares at $10 each). The economic slowdown extended the original timeline to open the bank due to a slower pace of raising capital. “The nice thing about the extended process is that we were able to escape the downturn. It was difficult to raise capital but we’re opening with a clean slate and a little bit of pent-up demand,” Fogarty said.

The unique aspect that the bank plans to offer is more personal attention to customers. “Liberty Bank of Washington was founded on the belief that each and every business owner is unique and deserves a customized solution for their specific banking needs,” according to marketing materials about Liberty Bank’s products.

To give that personalized service, the bank is not using tellers but rather “bankers” — individuals with at least five years of banking experience who can do everything from opening a new account including an IRA, to taking a loan application or making a deposit. Even their workspace is different, with both the banker and the customer sitting at a desk rather than standing.
Fogarty said the bank is taking more of a consultative approach. “We want to understand the needs of our customers rather than fill orders,” he said.
The bank will offer annual reviews for clients to make sure their needs continue to be met. “What we really want to do is know our client and that takes a little bit more time,” he said. “We want to be a full-service bank and provide an extremely high level of service for our clients, the kind they can’t get at big banks.”

Some of the bank’s products are specifically tailored to a business. For example, “Workplace Perks” will provide a company’s employees with a checking account complete with direct deposit or a payroll debit card. A “Lockbox” would allow a client’s customers to send payments and other accounts receivable directly to the bank, which would then send an e-alert about the deposit to the account holder.

Customers will also be able to make a “remote deposit” — instead of driving their checks to the bank, they could scan them in from their own computer. To add more convenience, bankers equipped with electronic signature pads will be able to travel over to a client’s place of business to open an account or process a loan.

Fogarty said that while the bank will target professionals such as physicians or physician groups, a full range of personal banking products will be available, and individual customers welcome.

Liberty Bank will offer loans ranging from SBA and commercial real estate to marine mortgages and consumer products. “We’re not going to be high risk,” Fogarty said. “We hope to structure the loans properly so it doesn’t negatively impact our clients.”

Fogarty was hired in February 2007 to help build up the organization from the ground up, and the rest of the officers were hired shortly after. With 22 years of banking experience, he had worked at bigger banks and previously led the Arizona region for U.S. Bank. He has worked in the Kitsap banking industry since 2004.

He said the organizers appreciate the community support they’ve received and said the organization plans to give back to the community. He pointed out the officers of the bank belong to more than a dozen community organizations already. The bank will also make available a meeting room for any civic group to use at no cost (the room will have Internet access, kitchen access, and a projector screen).

Liberty Bank employs nine people including the officers, with that number to be increased as the bank grows. Fogarty declined to give growth projections, but said the bank needed to raise $11.5 million of minimum capital, and that number was surpassed, with $2 million raised just from the directors and officers. He said the accomplishments to date are a testament to the board of directors and the management team’s commitment and experience as well as the local response.

“We are very appreciative of the community support and are really looking forward to being a good community steward,” he said.