Mountain West buys Zion First branch
Coeur d’Alene Mountain West Bank is buying a Zions First National Bank branch in Bonners Ferry for an undisclosed sum.
Zions will transfer assets and deposits to Mountain West in April. Mountain West expects to retain the employees currently working at the Bonners Ferry branch.
Mountain West CEO Jon Hippler said the branch is a good fit for the bank, which also has branches in Sandpoint, Coeur d’Alene and Pend Oreille County in Washington.
Mountain West has a total of 16 branches in Idaho, Washington and Utah. The bank is a wholly owned subsidiary of Glacier Bancorp in Kalispell, Mont.
Center Partners gets new client
Coeur d’Alene Center Partners has signed on a new client: a company that allows whistleblowers to anonymously report ethical or safety problems.
Business Solutions Inc. creates a confidential environment for employees, customers, students and others to report fraud, embezzlement, harassment, discrimination, theft and substance abuse.
Littleton, Colo.-based Center Partners currently handles the workload for that client in its call center in Fort Collins, Colo. If the contract grows as expected, however, some of the work will eventually be channeled through Center Partners’ call centers in Coeur d’Alene and Post Falls, said Martha Lanaghen, a vice president at Center Partners.
Business Controls allows complaints to be reported over the Internet or phone. The company works with universities and corporations. All publicly traded companies are required to have an anonymous reporting system under federal legislation passed in 2002.
Center Partners operates call centers in Colorado, Idaho and Calgary, Alberta.
NIC offers free tax preparation service
Coeur d’Alene Free tax preparation service is available at North Idaho College.
The services will be available from 10 a.m. to noon, and from 3 to 5 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays through April 8 in Molstead Library, Room 209, on NIC’s main campus.
Students in NIC’s accounting assistant program and community volunteers will prepare the tax returns. Some limitations on preparations of returns for the self-employed exist.
New this year is a drop-off service. Individuals can drop off their tax information, fill out a short form and pick up their return later that day. Electronic filing is available for both state and federal income tax returns.
Friday time slots are available for the pick-up/drop-off service. Some Thursday evenings and Saturdays are available by appointment only. Call (208) 769-3334 for more information.
Last year, more than 450 people received tax preparation assistance through the NIC program.
Idaho Independent Bank reports earnings
Idaho Independent Bank reported after-tax income of $5 million in 2004, compared with after-tax income of $4.6 million in 2003.
Earnings per share were $1.85 in 2004, compared with $1.70 in 2003. The bank also reported fourth-quarter earnings of $1.4 million in 2004, compared with fourth-quarter earnings of $900,000 in 2003.
Idaho Independent Bank was established in 1993 as a state-chartered bank. The bank has nine branches and 175 employees.