The lifeblood of any local economy is its community banks. So when a long-time community bank like Northwest Bank & Trust Co. in Davenport, which traces its roots back to 1941, gets sold, it creates a level of anxiety for the community.
It appears, however, that the recently announced sale of Northwest Bank to Time Bank of Park Ridge, Illinois, could be a positive for the Quad Cities region by making the bank financially stronger.
Under the agreement, Time Bank — owned by the Carter family and led by President, CEO and Chairman Tom Carter Sr. — will purchase the approximately $225 million in total assets and liabilities of Northwest Bank, which is owned by the Slavens family. Details of the transaction were not disclosed.
“This is too important (of a decision) from my standpoint. You don’t do this very often in this community,” Northwest President and CEO Joe Slavens said of the significance of the 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.”
The banking industry, like many others, has changed since the COVID-19 pandemic and it was increasingly challenged due to the significant increase in interest rates.
“I made the decision back in October of 2021 that we need to do something different,” Mr. Slavens recalled. The third generation bank leader said the institution’s leadership recognized at the time its lack of access to capital would impact its future ability to compete and grow.
“We didn’t have the financial capacity to stay in the game,” Mr. Slavens said in an exclusive interview recently with the QCBJ. “We either had to obtain that financial capacity or step into a partnership with someone who has that capacity.”
Banking has always been about relationships. We would expect that Time Bank will become deeply involved in the community.
Fortunately, Adam Pelzer, Mr. Slavens’ son-in-law, will be staying on full-time with Time Bank, where after the deal is completed he will be the Quad Cities market president and executive vice president.
The third-generation, family-owned Time Bank has operated for more than 29 years and has approximately $470 million in assets.
Mr. Slavens, who will serve as a strategic advisor to Time Bank, will continue to lead the family’s business interests including Northwest Investment Corp., which currently owns the bank as well as its other subsidiaries.
We congratulate the Slavens family on this sale and welcome the Carter family and Time Bank to the Quad Cities.
