When the Liberty Lake, Wash.-based Spokane Teachers Credit Union decided to open a new branch in Pasco, Wash. – more than 100 miles away from its home base and main cluster of branches around Spokane, Wash. – President/CEO Ezra Eckhardt knew there would be work to do. The credit union, which has $3.1 billion in assets and about 195,000 members, already had 23 other branches under its wing. Trying to build and operate a branch far outside the credit union's geographic epicenter meant added time and expense, even though the move would fortify STCU's reach in the bourgeoning Tri-Cities area, whose population growth rate since 2000 is expected to exceed 50% by the end of this year, according to the Washington Office of Financial Management.