IMCB unveils localized stimulus plan

SANDPOINT — Panhandle State Bank is taking the idea of an economic stimulus package and localizing it with the introduction of its Powered by Community program.

Operating statewide in communities with a PSB, Intermountain Community Bank or Magic Valley Bank branch, the program will initiate funding, leadership and coordination for economic development programs within each area.

As part of the program, the bank will make funds available for new and renewed small businesses, consumer mortgage, agriculture, commercial real estate and municipal loans. The bank will also contribute seed funding or matching funds for programs in the fields of education, job creation, low-income housing and health care, said Rick Youngblood, the bank’s president of community development.

“We really just want to continue to reach out to our communities, which our bank has always done,” Youngblood said. “(IMCB CEO) Curt Hecker likes to say, ‘Do the things we’ve always done, but on steroids.’”

Beginning with town hall meetings, the bank will seek out the needs in each community and, with the help of local volunteers and community leaders, find the best opportunities to stimulate the economy.

“When the economy is on a negative trend, it’s tempting to step back, restrict investment, wait and see. We’re not going to do that,” Hecker said in a press release introducing the program. “IMCB is well capitalized, liquid and has money to lend. We want to use our safe, secure base to help our communities directly, right now.”

While IMCB is taking the lead with the program and asking all of its employees to volunteer, Youngblood said the stimulus plan will not succeed without the help of volunteers from each community. The bank hopes to attract more than 1,000 new volunteers willing to contribute to the program.

The town hall meetings are currently being scheduled and will likely take place in each community at the end of February or beginning of March.