FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
                                   Contact:  Kristi L. Frey
                                   Telephone:  712-732-4117


               FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD AND IOWA SUPERINTENDENT OF BANKING
                             APPROVE ACQUISITION OF
                      SECURITY STATE BANK, STUART IOWA, BY
                          FIRST MIDWEST FINANCIAL, INC.         

(Storm Lake, Iowa - September 5, 1996)  James S. Haahr, President and Chief
Executive Officer of First Midwest Financial, Inc., Storm Lake, Iowa
(NASDAQ:  "CASH"), the holding company of First Federal Savings Bank of the
Midwest,  Storm Lake, Iowa, announced today that the Federal Reserve Bank
of Chicago approved the acquisition of Security State Bank, Stuart, Iowa,
by First Midwest on August 28, 1996.  The Iowa Superintendent of Banking
approved the acquisition on September 3, 1996.  Security State Bank is the
subsidiary of Central West Bancorporation.  The shareholders of Central
West approved the acquisition in May, 1996.

At June 30, 1996, First Midwest Financial, Inc. had assets of $342.1
million and Security State Bank had assets of approximately $29.9 million. 
The estimated purchase price is $5.3 million or $73.00 per share, payable
in cash and shares of First Midwest common stock.  For each of the 72,750
shares of Central West's common stock outstanding, First Midwest will pay
approximately $18.24 per share in cash and issue 2.37 shares of its common
stock.  First Midwest will issue a total of approximately 172,418 shares of
its common stock to the Central West stockholders.

After the acquisition, Security State Bank will continue to operate as a
commercial bank chartered by the state of Iowa, with offices in Stuart,
Casey and Menlo, Iowa.  It will be a separate subsidiary of First Midwest. 
Claude F. Havick will continue to serve as President of Security State
Bank.  The parties expect the acquisition to close on September 30, 1996.

After the acquisition, First Midwest, First Federal and Security will each
continue to exceed their regulatory capital requirements.


CORPORATE PROFILE:

First Midwest Financial, Inc. was formed in 1993 in conjunction with the
conversion of First Federal Savings Bank of the Midwest from mutual to
stock form on September 20, 1993.  The Bank's primary business is marketing
financial deposit and loan products to meet the needs of its customers. 
First Federal currently has seven offices in a four-county area in Iowa,
the two offices of Brookings Federal Bank Division of First Federal in
Brookings, South Dakota, and the one office of Iowa Savings Bank Division
of First Federal in Des Moines, Iowa.