Construction of the new Stockman Bank building on the corner of Highway 93 and 13th Street in Whitefish is now underway.

The Montana-based Stockman Bank company held a ground-breaking ceremony on Monday to celebrate the commencement of the Whitefish location. This will be Stockman’s 37th branch to open in its over 70 years of doing business as a family-owned, privately-held banking organization.

The other Flathead Valley location is off Main Street in Kalispell.

Joe Kola, Stockman Bank Flathead Market President, at the ceremony spoke of the honor it was to bring a new branch to Whitefish.

“That we have a chance to build a state-of-the-art building right here in this unique town is really something for us; we’re proud of what we’ll do here and proud to build this community,” Kola said. “We tip our hats to this community and we want to do right by those who live and work in our small towns.”

Kola stated in a press release that Stockman Bank received a warm welcome when it opened the Kalispell location in December and looks forward to expanding its footprint in the Flathead Valley.

“[We] are confident that our unique brand of Montana community banking and high level of customer service will be as well received in the Whitefish community,” he said in the release.

Kola says he grew up in the Flathead Valley and frequented Whitefish as a kid heading to The Big Mountain to ski. He is no stranger to the town and is looking forward to working with this community.

The new banking facility will include a 24-hour ATM, night depository, multi-lane drive up, along with covered bicycle parking. The targeted completion is late spring 2023.

Stockman Bank was established in 1953 and has locations across the state, several in small towns like Cut Bank and Conrad. Stockman states it is, “uniquely focused on Montana, with comprehensive banking products and services, along with state-of-the-art online and mobile banking, wealth management and insurance services.”

For more information visit www.stockmanbank.com