Angela Erickson logs upward of 30 hours a week as president of the North Idaho Building Contractor's Association.

That's 30 volunteer hours - on top of her full-time job as vice president and commercial loan officer at Panhandle State Bank.

No worries.

Board members, committee members, everyone at NIBCA, gives their time and talents, too.

"I think that's what people don't realize is how passionate that group is about our industry and they're working so hard," she said.

Erickson has been involved in North Idaho's banking and building industry for 20 years. She has seen the good times and the bad. Either way, she rolls up her sleeves and digs in. Her day often begins around 4 a.m., when she works at home for a few hours before heading to her office at Panhandle State Bank on Neider Avenue.

For NIBCA, add in some morning hours, afternoons and evenings.

The hours are no problem.

"I love construction," she said.

Erickson, who took on a one-year term Jan. 1, wants to let the community know what this not-for-profit, established about 32 years ago, is doing these days, and who is doing it. It includes builders, lenders, subcontractors, contractors, insurance and title companies, etc.

"Our goal is to protect the building industry," she said. "We're a lobbying group. We watch legislation, get behind bills that affect our builders and developers, we try to defeat those that will hurt our industry."

How does it feel to be NICBA's first woman president?

I guess I don't dwell on that so much. To me, that's not why they asked me to do this. I bring different resources to the table because of my years of lending, number one. Because I've been working with builders and developers for about 20 years, and because I used to be a partner in a custom construction company. I've been on both sides of the desk, and I have a whole corporation behind me that can help at this really busy time. I think that's more important, First Associate President.

How do you like being president?

I love it. I enjoy trying to corral the energy of my board because they're incredibly energetic and forward thinking this year. They've got all these great new ideas going on. We've been following legislation, we've been looking at potential litigation, we've been checking fee structures, we've been coming up with new ideas for fundraisers. Everything they've done so far has been incredibly successful. Membership is increasing, attendance at all our meetings is increasing, people are volunteering for committees, there's huge energy. I love that. That's exciting.

How do you balance a full-time banking job and a nearly full-time NIBCA role?

It would be really difficult if I was trying to run my own company right now to do all of this. But to have a corporation behind me and all my resources here, that's making it possible. I'm so grateful to Panhandle State Bank for letting me do this. It was a big decision. I'm gone a lot.

It's only possible because I have a corporation behind me that supports me and gives me resources. I couldn't do this alone.

What's the environment like today for construction?

Well, it depends on who you ask (laughs). There seems to be some real positive energy. From a lending perspective, we didn't expect to put many houses in the ground last year and last year we put 25 in, Kootenai County only. I've got six going in March, and I've got six more applications we're starting right now. And that's not huge, compared to '07, but that's way more than we anticipated. We had some really successful legislation that's going to help our developers start moving some lots. I think you're going to start seeing the banks working with more of the builders this year, because I think we are going to be running short on inventory by the end of this year.

What's your take on the economy?

Slow recovery. I still see that people are coming in, they're looking at the rates on construction loans. They're looking at the fact that commodities may go up with gas. The builders are very aggressive and very competitive right now and I think they're saying, 'We are absolutely positively at the bottom, and things are already going up.'

I get two or three calls a day on custom construction. Our Parade of Homes, it's coming up in August, and we already have 10 tentative houses signed up, in March. That tells me the builders are optimistic about this year.

Are banks loaning more?

These last four years have been very difficult for the banking industry. Every bank has positioned itself on how they're going to go forward. We'll probably see lots of mergers and acquisitions. I will tell you that our bank is absolutely ready to lend. Construction lending, absolutely. I'm talking to our builders, I'm out there every day. We did a lot of commercial lending last year and we're doing huge commercial this year. Non-owner occupied for instance, none of the banks were doing that at all. Now we are, in a really competitive way. Again, every day we're getting more and more calls. It's good. We have a lot of investment funds coming into this community right now. I don't think people realize how many people are coming and investing here. And we can finance it now. We couldn't finance it last year.

So things are looking up?

This is an energetic year. There's a lot going on and people are feeling positive about the economy. We have a lot of builds happening and investments coming to town. So yes, things appear to be looking up.

As NIBCA president, do you have any specific goals this year?

My biggest goal is to continue to do all the great work that the previous presidents and boards have done, and to make sure the community and our members know what we're doing.

What do you enjoy most about what you do?

Being involved in the construction industry. I love it because every time I get a house going, I know somebody sold the dirt. I know a title company is happy. A Realtor is happy. A general contractor is happy, subs are happy and suppliers are happy. A couple years ago everybody was making more money. Now it's like food on the table money. I know that's a huge impact for all these families and I know these families. I know the subs. I know the suppliers. That's what I love.

It's all so connected. It's exciting. It's positive business.

What would you want this community to know about NIBCA?

This particular group has a lot of focus. They do an incredible amount for this industry. I think we've been really poor at letting the public know exactly what we do. They don't know that we go down to Boise and meet with legislators, lobby and work so closely with the governmental agencies in our area. In as many years as I've been involved, I am still so astounded by the passion there. I just want people to understand what they're doing for everybody.