“The community’s been very supportive of us and our growth,” said John Taets, the bank’s regional president. “Growth year over year is very strong.”

The closure of the bank’s downtown office and the movement of all personnel and operations to the building at 10 N. 29th St. also contributed to the need to expand, he said

“We wanted to bring everything under one roof and to do that we knew we had to expand,” he said.

That building opened in May 2003. It was constructed by Jensen Builders Ltd., of Fort Dodge.

-Messenger photo by Bill Shea
The exterior walls are up and the roof is in place as work on a 2,500-square-foot addition to the Northwest Bank building at 10 N. 29th St. progresses.

“Because of that, it was easy for us to go to Jensen Builders and say we need to add on, we’re out of space,” Taets said.

To meet the need for more space, a 2,500-square-foot addition is being built onto the rear of the bank building. It will house five offices, a combination training and board room, and an employee break room with an outside patio.

That addition is expected to be done in mid-November.

Its completion will be the first step to “just modernizing the whole facility,” Taets said.

When the addition is done, crews will begin working on the original two-story bank building. The renovations will add two offices, a new teller line and better handicapped accessibility. New furniture will also be purchased.

-Messenger photo by Bill Shea
Jordan Imler, an employee of Jensen Builders Ltd., of Fort Dodge, staples plastic sheeting over a window in the addition under construction at Northwest Bank, 10 N. 29th St.

The entire project is expected to be done by May 2024, according to Taets.