First Financial NW Bank gives $1,000 bonuses after tax cut

First Financial Northwest Bank is giving all of its non-executive employees a special $1,000 after-tax bonus in response to federal tax cut passed last month by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump.

The bonuses along with a handwritten note from First Financial president and CEO Joseph W. Kiley III were delivered to 138 employees for the bank.

Kiley said in a news release that the expected lower tax rate for companies like First Financial would allow for the one-time bonus.

“We pride ourselves on providing excellent benefits, competitive salaries and the opportunity for participation in the company’s long-term success,” Kiley said. “The expected tax savings give us an opportunity to invest even more in our team.”

First Financial is based in Renton, but is growing fast in Snohomish County. First Financial opened its first branch in Snohomish County in Mill Creek in 2015 and added another in Edmonds in 2016. Last summer, the bank purchased four branches from Opus Bank, including three in Snohomish County — one in Smokey Point-Arlington, another in Snohomish-Clearview and the last in Lake Stevens.

The bank is publicly traded on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol FFNW. First Financial notes that the company also pays all of its employees more than $15 an hour and higher than the Washington state minimum wage of $11.50.

The tax overhaul permanently reduces the corporate tax rate to 21 percent from 35 percent, while also moving to a system that would exclude many foreign profits from taxation.

Several business including Boeing and Comcast have promised to use a portion of the lower corporate tax rates to pay for job training, facility upgrades, charitable giving and bonuses in response to the tax cut.

Jim Davis: 425-339-3097; jdavis@heraldnet.com; @HBJnews.