
Northwest Bank & Trust Company, a longtime family-owned bank, is being acquired by what the Quad Cities company’s leaders describe as a like-minded community bank with the same strong Midwest values.
Today, July 24, Time Bank of Park Ridge, Illinois, and Northwest Investment Corp. – the parent company of Northwest Bank – jointly announced they have entered into a definitive agreement for Time Bank to acquire Northwest Bank.
Under the agreement, Time Bank will purchase the approximately $225 million in total assets and liabilities of the bank founded more than 80 years ago in what then was northwest Davenport.
Once the deal is finalized, Time Bank will operate out of Northwest Bank’s three branch locations in Davenport and Bettendorf.
But the sale does not include the iconic office towers at NorthPark Mall in Davenport and in Bettendorf. The twin office towers will be owned by River Cities Development, one of the subsidiary companies of Northwest Bank.
In an interview with the QCBJ, Northwest Bank President and CEO Joe Slavens said that over the past three years the bank’s leadership has met with 30 to 40 prospects to discuss potential alternatives for securing the bank’s future growth.
“We talked to a couple of candidates who were international financial institutions because it was an opportunity for them to come to the U.S. Ultimately, those deals didn’t come together,” he said.
Mr. Slavens said his team investigated a variety of options to better position the bank from acquisitions to mergers of equals, capital raising, and other alternatives.
But the decision to move forward with Time Bank, he said, came down to the fact that both banks come from a financial strength position and share similar workplace cultures.
‘A perfect fit’
“Financially it is just a perfect fit … because they’re strong and we’re strong,” he told the QCBJ. “That’s who you want. Nobody wants to have a weak partner.”
The announcement comes less than two years after Northwest Bank first publicly announced it was exploring growth options including a move to raise significant new capital and a partial sale of the bank.
“As a family-owned and family-led bank, our business has been built on a foundation of the trusted relationships with our customers and our team,” Mr. Slavens said in the release. “We are confident that Time Bank, under the ownership of the Carter family, shares our values and will be good stewards of what my family has built.”
Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. The deal, which is subject to standard regulatory and shareholders approval, is expected to be finalized in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Time Bank, which also is family-owned and has operated for more than 29 years, has approximately $470 million in assets. The third-generation family bank operates a single bank in Park Ridge, Illinois, located about 175 miles east of Davenport.
“Northwest Bank’s outstanding performance, customer service, and financial strength are impressive, and their family-led culture and deep community ties really stood out to us,” Tom Carter, Time Bank’s president, CEO and chairman, said in the joint announcement. “We look forward to welcoming the Northwest Bank team and working together on the opportunities ahead in the Quad Cities.”
NW leadership roles
As part of the agreement, Joe Slavens will continue his involvement as a strategic advisor to Time Bank as well as oversee Northwest Investment Corp., the holding company that currently owns Northwest Bank.
Adam Pelzer, Northwest Bank’s executive vice president, will join Time Bank as executive vice president and the Quad Cities market president, overseeing the future Time Bank branches in Davenport and Bettendorf.

At the multi-generational Northwest Bank, Mr. Slavens represents the third generation and Mr. Pelzer, his son-in-law, is among the fourth generation members in company leadership roles. Mr. Pelzer, who joined the bank in 2016, is the only Slavens family member set to join Time Bank’s team.
The bank traces its roots back to 1941 when a group of residents of German descent in northwest Davenport founded the bank. The Slavens made their first investment in the bank in 1964.
“We are excited about the opportunity to join Time Bank, a bank whose culture and ambitions will build upon our foundation of safety and soundness,” Mr. Pelzer said in the release. “This partnership will enhance our capabilities, allowing us to strengthen our customer relationships and enhance our service to the Quad Cities community.”
He told the QCBJ that through the exploratory process Northwest Bank attracted interest from around the world. “Time Bank came to the table and offered us everything we would want for all the constituencies,” he added. “We want to grow in this community. We believe in this community. We think it has wonderful prospects for the future for both our families and how we go from here onward, but also for our employees.”
As the transaction moves forward, Mr. Pelzer said it will be the “tried and true practice of bringing two brands together and introducing it to customers in this market. We feel ready.”
Staff transition
During staff meetings Monday, July 22, leaders with Northwest Bank shared the acquisition news with the bank’s 40-person staff, including many long tenured employees. By comparison, Time Bank employs about 30 people total.
Time Bank leaders were in the Quad Cities on Tuesday, July 23, to meet with the bank’s employees.
Mr. Slavens added that Northwest Bank’s leadership “has been very transparent with the organization that we were moving to a path of finding partnerships. We didn’t know what that meant in terms of how that would land.”
Although the news did not come as a surprise for his staff or its client base, he acknowledged that “change is hard on everybody. Even if it’s a change you decide to do. Change creates consternation and angst, etc. It’s become real to them. I hope, and believe, that Adam (Pelzer) remaining on will lend comfort (to employees).”
Mr. Pelzer said he expects the Time Bank name to be activated, likely in January 2025, after the deal is finalized in late 2024. “It’s great to bring them into the community,” he added.
Angkor Strategic Advisors served as financial advisor and Barack Ferrazzano Kirschbaum & Nagelberg LLP served as legal counsel to Time Bank. Dickinson, Bradshaw, Fowler & Hagen, P.C. served as legal counsel to Northwest Investment Corp.
Towers could rebrand
According to Mr. Slavens, Time Bank has purchased Northwest Bank’s Locust Street branch – located in the bank’s original neighborhood – and has signed long-term leases for the bank office spaces in the Davenport and Bettendorf towers. In addition, he said that as a major tenant in those buildings Time Bank also will gain naming rights for the towers.
“I have as much confidence that I can have that the vast, vast majority of the staff will be retained,” he added.
“This is someone that I feel like you turn the customer over to him, he’s going to take care of them because that’s what he’s done,” he said of Tom Carter. Drawing comparisons to his own family, Mr. Slavens said “Tom Carter has been in banking for 30 years. His dad was in banking. His sons are in banking.”
Mr. Slavens, who followed his own father Bob Slavens into the banking business, said it was critical that the Slavens family choose a partner who “would be equal or better” for the bank’s future.
“This is too important (of a decision) from my standpoint. You don’t do this very often in this community,” he said of the bank’s sale. “You’ve got to make sure if you do it … it’s not just about the shareholders, it’s about the employees, the customers. It’s about the community.”
He described Time Bank’s leaders as “open, honest, values family – values people in general in terms of staff … I looked at it and said ‘this is someone I’d have my son-in-law go to work for,” he said with a smile.
Subsidiaries to spin off
The pending acquisition does not include the sale of Northwest Bank’s trust and investment management group or its other subsidiary companies, all of which will remain as tenants in the Davenport bank tower.
Mr. Slavens said the trust and investment management group, which had been part of the bank, now will become its own company and be renamed Tower Trust & Investment Company. “We’ll be the only non-bank trust company in the Quad Cities,” he said.
Tower Trust will be managed and owned by the Slavens family through the formation of an Illinois trust company.
The parent company, Northwest Investment Corp., will employ Mr. Slavens and retain longtime employees Donna Connors, now the bank’ controller, and Tracy Schwind, senior vice president and chief experience officer, who leads the bank’s marketing and human resources.
The other subsidiary companies also will be spun off from the bank, including the award-winning Centennial Tax & Accounting; River Cities Development, which will own the bank towers and real estate; and Stratman Solutions, a nationwide provider of financial services software solutions. Centennial Tax won the QCBJ’s Fastest Growing Company honor in 2023.
Together, the subsidiaries employ about 55 people, which is about 15 people more than the bank itself.
“Now the other companies can come out of the shadows of the bank,” Mr. Slavens said, adding that Northwest Investment Corp. will now own the four subsidiaries.