Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — A panel of bankers told a roomful of community members last week that despite the tough economy, local banks have lending available to qualified, prepared applicants.

Five members of the local banking community spoke Tuesday at The Steamboat Grand during a meeting of the Steamboat Springs Rotary Club. The wide-ranging conversation included tips for loan applicants, thoughts on the stricter regulatory environment after bank bailouts and whether bankers get angry looks while walking through local grocery stores.

Yampa Valley Bank Business Development Officer John Kerst said despite public perception in the wake of the federal bailouts followed by huge employee bonuses at some Wall Street institutions, bankers are sharing the pain of the economic recession.

“Banks and bankers mirror what’s going on in the community,” Kerst said. “We are feeling what everybody is feeling.”

That mirror is reflected in bank deposits. In Routt County, total annual deposits from customers at offices of the county’s eight FDIC-insured banks dropped from an all-time high of $652 million as of June 2007 to $587 million as of June 2009, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The FDIC publishes total annual deposits as of June 30 every year.

Routt County’s drop in deposits coincides with declines in local real estate sales and the job market.

“We are blessed to have banks in this community that are still lending,” Kerst said.

He added that applicants seeking loans or considering loans in the future should maintain strong credit ratings and operate their business or personal finances conservatively.

Other bankers also stressed preparation and planning Tuesday.

“Borrowers that come in February or March with their tax returns already done are always a banker’s favorite customer,” said Bob Kuusinen, market president for Vectra Bank Colorado.

Those tax returns should include every income source possible to boost a loan application, a panel member said.

“If you don’t show it on your tax return, we can’t use it as viable income,” said Jill Leary, community bank president of Wells Fargo in Steamboat Springs.

Panel members also cited the importance of cash and collateral, along with financial statements and records that show a history of stability.

Kerst said tighter regulations haven’t changed his bank’s lending practices.

“We haven’t changed our lending policy since the economy got slower,” said Kerst, adding that Yampa Valley Bank saw a $17 million, or 19 percent, growth in its loan portfolio from 2008 to 2009. “We’re still in the lending business.”

Jeremy Behling, vice president at Alpine Bank, said the same.

“For Alpine Bank, we haven’t really changed our lending guidelines, we’re just following them closer,” he said, explaining that the bank now grants fewer exceptions to lending guidelines and is less likely to be flexible for applicants.

Kerst, whose bank has a branch in Craig, said deposits show a difference in the economy west of the Routt County line.

FDIC reports show that total annual deposits in Moffat County were about $136 million as of June 2007, $146 million as of June 2008, and $165 million as of June 2009 — in other words, showing steady growth while Routt County declined.

“The economy in Moffat County is a much more stable economy — it’s primarily mining and ranching and power plants, that kind of thing. It’s not affected as much by the tourism side,” Kerst said. “Craig has been very stable and growing.”

Kerst said he took it as a positive sign that Tuesday’s panel occurred at all.

“Even in an economy as challenging as the one we’re in right now, to have that many bankers willing to sit down and openly discuss what’s going on and the challenges … I think that spoke well of the banking group that they were willing to sit there and talk about it,” Kerst said.