NORTH BEND – Whenever an employee of Financial Consultants International Inc. (FCI) deals with a new customer, there is always a bit of discussion about the name of the company. Since FCI deals mostly in leasing and refurbishing police cars, the name seems a little odd.

“I always have to tell the story,” said Mike Bateman, one of the owners of FCI.

The story starts with Mike’s father, Don, who incorporated FCI in 1971 in Seattle as an international commodities trading business. Don found that one of the realities of the business, however, was bribes to foreign market officials. The process seemed a little shady, so Don wanted to focus on other things.

He began leasing out office equipment and portable offices to municipalities, and business was good. One customer asked if Don could lease him a police car. Don obliged and soon found that many municipalities needed to lease police cars. While some cities prefer to own vehicles, it behooves many to lease them since there is little a city can do with a used police car except sell it for a low price.

Leased cars are a good deal for FCI as well, since once a car is used past its prime, FCI can easily sell them to cab companies.

“We get three or four calls a week from cab owners,” said Alan Bateman, another of Don’s sons who is also an owner of FCI.

As his fleet grew, Don offered more services, such as refurbishing and outfitting police cars. Don’s son Tony, one of Don’s 10 children who would all be involved with the business at one time or another, was an innovative wiring expert and is credited with developing the refurbishing business that helped make FCI successful. Rather than taking vehicles all over the region to get radios and other gear installed, municipalities were able to bring cars to FCI to be completely refurbished. As FCI started taking over work it had previously farmed out to other companies in the Northwest region, it found it was one of the few outfits in the country that offered all the services it did in one place. The closest competitor the Batemans can think of is one in Kansas City, and FCI recently filled orders for police stations in Ohio and Vermont.

“It’s one-stop shopping,” Don said.

The Bateman’s business grew along with the Seattle metro area and when the traffic became unbearable in 1980, Don moved the office to Bellevue. When that location eventually became frustrating, Don moved the office to North Bend near the intersection of State Route 202 and Northwest 14th Street in 1992. That building became cramped and Alan started looking for another space. He found a parcel east of North Bend on Southeast 140th Street that had been zoned for a storage facility, a perfect space for another business the Batemans were thinking of getting into – storage. Alan worked for three years to get the office and storage buildings built, and FCI moved into its present location last November.

“It’s a good place for storage,” Alan said. “There is always someone on site and police are coming in and out all day.”

Although FCI has found itself getting further away from the population center of Seattle, the Batemans agreed that the location has been great. Many of FCI’s customers come from the other side of the Cascades, and the ability to drive over without heaving to deal with Seattle or the Eastside makes them happy.

With a new garage and crew that has spent many hours under hoods of cars, FCI is now starting to take on private auto work. What started out as favors for neighbors and friends has become another service FCI can offer.

While cars and storage may be the most prevalent businesses FCI dabbles in, Don still prides his company on offering financial services. FCI still does consulting work and owns a lot of real estate in the area. While the three letters may have little do with police cars, Don knows they have a lot to do with a tradition of customer service and reliability.

“We were incorporated as FCI and our name will remain FCI,” he said.

It is a business, though, that he will hand off to his children.

“They can change it after my funeral,” Don said.

* For more information about FCI, visit www.fcicars.com.