Pub. 7 2019 Issue 1

10 The Community Banker www.mibonline.org VALLEY BANK OF KALISPELL Featured Member Bank N estled in the heart of Northwest Montana, on the shores of Flathead Lake, the State Bank of Somers was chartered in 1911. The history of Valley Bank of Kalispell is the stuff of dime novel westerns. The original bank with a staff of four served a sawmill that would float logs across the Flathead Lake and sell them in Somers. That sawmill eventually burned down in 1948. The bank experienced its first bank robbery in 1929 by a drunk man on horseback brandishing a cap gun. In true Montana fashion his granddaughter is still a customer to this day. In 1958, Jack Hensley began his tenure with the State Bank of Somers, and in 1962 Jack Hensley and Jack King established co- ownership of the State Bank of Somers. In 1964 they moved the bank charter to an old grocery store in downtown Kalispell and renamed it the Valley Bank of Kalispell. In 1967 once one of the Flathead’s smallest banks, Valley Bank of Kalispell was named the largest Independent Bank in Northwest Montana. Valley Bank of Kalispell was the first bank in the state to start using a brand new (launched in 1958) program, the “Bank Americard” program. This little program, you now know as Visa, has grown beyond its humble beginnings. Much like we have. Throughout the 1970’s Valley Bank of Kalispell became one of the fastest growing banks in the region specializing in timber, agriculture and small business lending. 1979 brought Valley Bank of Kalispell the opening of it’s very first motor bank. 1979 also saw that very same motor bank robbed. This time by a customer’s son living just two blocks away. His girlfriend later turned him in. She found it suspicious he all of a sudden had cash to burn. Fun fact, in a nod to the robbery, a statue was commissioned in 2014 and the side of the bank is now home to a robber and his trusty dog “Cash”. National Recognition was given to Valley Bank of Kalispell in 1988 and 1989 when “Money Magazine” named it one of the top 100 Safest Banks in America. Like so many Main Street USAs, Kalispell’s downtown is experiencing growth and revitalization. Valley Bank of Kalispell is happy to be a part of it by partnering with and supporting local small businesses, hosting community events and sponsoring local rodeo belt buckles. We are happy to be a community bank that is a foundational part of the community. With such a rich and vibrant history Valley Bank of Kalispell is now looking to the future. In 2018 Valley Bank of Kalispell launched a new loan production office in Eureka, Montana and is looking to develop that into a full-fledged branch in the near future. Online and Mobile banking have also been an integral part of planning for the future. Valley Bank of Kalispell has now been family owned and operated for three generations, and the bank still operates under the same principles that it was founded on. We believe that an independent, locally owned community bank can best serve the Flathead Valley’s citizens and economy. We strongly believe in the services that we provide and have maintained the goal to keep pace with technology while maintaining the personal service that has been the foundation on which the bank was built. Valley Bank of Kalispell is in touch with the past, and banking for the future.