Published March 2002

North County Bank’s Marysville branch
under way

By Kimberly Hilden
Herald Business Journal Assistant Editor

Not yet 3 years old, North County Bank has found success in offering a place where small-business owners can go to get the help they need — “quickly and locally.”

“I think a lot of small-business customers really need someone to talk to, and community banks, that’s what we do,” said Jack Myles, President and CEO. “We have loan officers to talk to, and the small-business owners can get loan decisions quickly and locally. ... They can look people in the eye that are decision-makers; people like that.”

That personal touch seems to be paying off for the bank, which opened in spring of 1999 with $5 million in capital. At the end of 2000, the bank reported $19 million in assets and about $27 million in assets near the end of 2001. As of January, North County’s assets were just over $32 million, Myles said.

“We’re just sort of hitting our stride now. We have the people in place to do more,” he said, noting that the bank, which employs 10, will have another outlet to do business beginning this summer with the opening of its Marysville branch.

“I’m shooting, with fingers crossed, for a June opening,” he said of the North County Bank Plaza, to be located at 1031 State Ave., just south of Skipper’s Seafood ’n Chowder House.

In late January, ground was broken on the project, which will include two two-story buildings, with the first floor of each building for commercial use and the second floor for apartments.

North County Bank will lease 2,600 square feet of one building, with 4,000 square feet of office/professional space behind it, said Harvey Jubie, President of Jubie Construction. Another 6,000 square feet of commercial space will be available in the second building.

Jubie is developing the $2.2 million project in partnership with Larry Jubie.

Although the new branch will be minutes away from North County’s headquarters at 16419 Smokey Point Blvd. in Arlington, those minutes can add up for small-business owners making daily deposits. And Myles said he received a number of inquiries from customers, directors and stockholders who wanted a branch closer to them.

“We’ve had quite a bit of initial interest,” he said, adding that when the bank opens, he expects it will have a full-time staff of at least three.

As for North County’s future, Myles said there are no firm plans at this point to open a third branch, but he and bank officials are “still looking,” noting that Snohomish County is growing and “doing well.”

And so is North County.

“Despite the unemployment numbers, most of our customers are doing really well,” Myles said. “We do a lot of builder development loans, and the real estate market is really hanging in there.”

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