In an interview with the Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal in 2001, Kitsap Bank Chairwoman Helen Langer Smith credited President and CEO Jim Carmichael with the organization’s success. She told the Journal: “Jim Carmichael is very forward-thinking and intelligent. He’s done a great job of planning our growth for the long term and recruiting good people.”

Carmichael, a former FDIC head bank examiner who was born and raised in Seattle, said he joined Kitsap Bank after he saw the growth opportunity. Seven years after being hired in 1977, originally as a senior credit officer, he became company president and has been at the helm ever since.

Back in 1976, the bank had five branches in Kitsap and about 70 employees. Today, Kitsap Bank has 280 employees serving 30 offices in six counties, and continues to grow. Under Carmichael’s leadership, Kitsap Bank grew from having $120 million in assets to more than $727 million.

Carmichael says the success of the company is based on its people. “One person doesn’t drive the bank. We have a great team,” he said. The growth, he said, has been planned, and continues to be part of the plan.

“If you’re standing still, you’re probably going backwards,” he said. “…As we’re more successful, yes, the bar gets raised, no doubt about that… We expect to continue (growing)… but it doesn’t get any easier.”

As technology evolves and banking institutions are able to offer similar products and services while more investment firms are created at the same time, competition is growing within the financial industry. But growing competition hasn’t stopped Kitsap Bank from expanding its footprint. Since its first expansion in 1993 beyond Kitsap County — to Gig Harbor — the bank has continued to tap new markets. Carmichael said the expansion is driven by the need to diversify as well as the desire to better serve a growing community.

“If one market is not performing well, hopefully you have one market that is,” he said. “We also wanted to grow as the Peninsula grew.” He pointed out the acquisition of Mariner Bank in Jefferson County last year as the best indicator of Kitsap Bank’s financial strength and growth. The merger was approved in 17 days, which he called, “unheard of.”

“You have to have the (right) people. All financial institutions are close to offering the same products… You’re driven by your people,” he said. One of the bank’s strategies in opening new branches is to first recruit the best people in the potential new areas. Once successful people are hired, they can make good decisions — and the company delegates as much responsibility as possible to individual offices. Another strength is in the fact that employees live in the communities they serve, which helps build stronger ties, along with the many financial contributions the bank makes in those individual communities.

“We think we are part of the community and feel we have an obligation as a community bank to give back,” Carmichael said. In fact, he believes the success of the community is what drives the bank’s success.

Last year alone, Kitsap Bank made $400 million in loans, which helps create jobs and infuse the economy. “If businesses are successful, we are successful,” he said.

In his second term on the board of the Kitsap Economic Development Alliance (formerly Kitsap Economic Development Council), Carmichael has been involved with the local economic development beyond his job. The population has more than doubled since he moved to Kitsap County, and he said that as the area continues to grow, its challenges will not go away. But, he said, it’s better to have those problems than not to have them, because they are a sign of growth and a moving economy.

Recently, the KEDA had led the effort to built a race track in Bremerton. Asked about his thoughts on the NASCAR track no longer being an option for Kitsap, he said his feelings reflect those of Bremerton Mayor Cary Boseman, who said: “Let’s move on.”

“The NASCAR discussion is now over. We need to move on,” Carmichael said. “It is my philosophy in life to move ahead.”

Carmichael has illustrated that philosophy throughout his career at Kitsap Bank. A banker who has a competitive nature, he enjoys the independence he has been allowed by the board of directors, and finds the experience of putting together mergers the most rewarding.

“When I came in ’76, this was a small bank in Port Orchard, and we built it (to where it is today),” he said. “(Growth) has allowed us to do a lot of things other banks haven’t been able to do.”.