First Interstate Bank appoints new Idaho regional president

First Interstate Bank has hired a new regional president for Idaho and eastern Washington.

Lorrie Asker, who started on Aug. 15, previously worked for First Foundation Bank in Irvine, California, in a regional role. A long-time Idaho resident, she has been living in Boise for the past year and resided in North Idaho before that, commuting to California regularly.

“I’m really excited about being back here in Idaho, joining an organization that shares my values for community and teamwork,” she said.

Asker replaces Kurt Gustavel, former CEO of Idaho Independent Bank, who was named to the position in October 2018 when First Interstate acquired Idaho Independent Bank.

“After leading our Idaho markets through the transition as Regional President, Kurt resigned his position at First Interstate in June 2019,” said Sara Becker, vice president and marketing manager for First Interstate. “It is my understanding that Kurt decided to take a step back to make way for new leadership as a fresh chapter emerges for First Interstate.”

Gustavel replaced longtime First Interstate executive Rob Perez, who announced his retirement for the first half of 2019 at the October acquisition.

In the role, Asker oversees 36 branches, six commercial lending teams and 363 employees in Idaho and eastern Washington, as well as service providers and affiliated deposit services. The bank has three markets in the region: North Idaho, south Idaho and eastern Washington.

“I’m responsible for our strategic presence in these markets, making sure we’re contributing value to the bank and our communities, and providing a good and safe environment for our employees,” she said.

Asker said First Interstate doesn’t have any specific plans for further expansion in Idaho.

“The state of Idaho, in particular, is seeing a lot of growth,” she said. “We’re constantly evolving and looking for ways to serve the communities across all the bank’s footprints. We’re here to serve and grow with the community. Strategically, the bank is looking to grow. I can’t speculate on where we’ll find opportunities for growth.”

Parent company First Interstate BancSystem has acquired a total of four Idaho banks. The Billings, Montana-based company announced in October 2018 that it had acquired Idaho Independent Bank, based in Coeur d’Alene, and Community 1^st Bank, based in Post Falls. In mid-August 2018, the company closed on its April 2018 acquisition of Northwest Bancorporation Inc., which operated in Washington and Idaho as Inland Northwest Bank. Inland Northwest had three branches in Idaho, two in Coeur d’Alene and one in Spirit Lake.

First Interstate entered Idaho in May 2017 through another acquisition, Bank of the Cascades. Before the October acquisitions, it had about 120 branches in Idaho, Montana, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington and Wyoming.

However, the bank may be done with acquisitions for a while, she indicated. “We’re looking for growing organically.”

Asker’s office is based in the First Interstate office in Boise at 401 West Front Street, but she will travel to the various regions.

“I’m visiting all our offices and meeting our team members in my first 75 days here,” she said. “For my first 90 days, I’m just observing and understanding how things are working, and looking for opportunities to improve and to grow. I don’t have any immediate plans to change anything.”

Like many banks, First Interstate is working on technology to look for ways to better serve its clients, Asker said.

“My job is to remove obstacles and help them execute on all the tasks,” she said. “We’re working as an institution on projects and initiatives to accomplish those goals.”