Newly Formed Bank of Scottsdale Plans to Raise the Bar for Authentic, Personalized Service with a Hometown Flavor

Bank of Scottsdale, an independent community bank with a hometown style, is now being formed to serve local Scottsdale businesses and residents from its Hilton Village Office Park location on McDonald and Scottsdale roads. The bank’s management team of proven executives, with more than 70 years combined banking knowledge, will bring local focus and banking experience to a market that is receiving continually deteriorating customer service from larger, impersonal financial institutions.

Bank of Scottsdale will operate under a state charter as a full-service bank to businesses and consumers. The bank will emphasize exceptional service that is both high-touch and high-tech. Focusing on building long-term relationships, it will offer an array of financial products and services, including a variety of deposit products, small business loans, investment services, lines of credit and term loans, real estate and construction loans, residential and commercial mortgage loans, cash management services and online banking. Additional focus will be serving the medical and non-profit industries where other banking institutions may have fallen short.

Referring to the multi-state banks located in Bank of Scottsdale’s chosen service area, Lauren Kingry, who will lead Bank of Scottsdale’s management team as president and CEO, said, “We are committed to investing in the people, tools and systems necessary to provide the authentic personal service demanded and expected by banking clients today. We can give immediate attention to our customers – including faster loan decisions – because of our concentrated target audience and our nimble infrastructure. Banking clients today simply can’t wait months on decisions that can take minutes.”

Jerry L. Schwallier, who will be the chief lending officer, noted, “In today’s challenging real estate market, many banks have troubled loan portfolios, putting pressure on staff and loan reserves. As a new bank, we are not burdened by any of that, which gives us a tremendous competitive advantage.”

Bank of Scottsdale will open in a service area characterized by rapid commercial and residential expansion. FDIC data indicates the average annual deposit growth rate for that area in the years 2001 to 2006 was 30 percent, which is more than double the rate for the Greater Phoenix Metropolitan Area. The bank is now raising capital through a private stock offering and hopes to open its doors in fourth quarter 2008.

In addition to Kingry and Schwallier, the Bank of Scottsdale executive management will include Marilyn Sheedy as senior vice president and chief financial officer. Kingry’s most recent position was president of Commercial Federal Bank’s Southwest Region, based in Scottsdale. Schwallier was previously president and chief operating officer of Stearns Bank Arizona. Sheedy joins Bank of Scottsdale from Pinnacle Bank, where she served as chief financial officer.

The management team is supported by a strong board of directors who contribute not only their business and leadership expertise but their extensive local relationships. Named to the board of directors are:

• Scott T. Archer, founder and manager of Barclay Group’s Western Region, who is also involved in community organizations Sojourner Center and St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital;
• Michael H. Daniels, president of Kansas State Bank in Manhattan, Kan.;
• Richard H. Dozer, president of GenSpring Family Offices and former president of the Arizona Diamondbacks;
• Robert W. Fleming, retired chief administrative officer of Mayo Clinic and Mayo Foundation;
• Susan R. Gilman, principal of Gilman Law Offices, P.C.;
• MaryAnn Guerra, president of TGen Accelerators, L.L.C. and chief business officer of Translational Genomics Research Institute;
• Lauren W. Kingry, president and CEO, Bank of Scottsdale;
• David J. Larcher, founding principal and executive vice president of Vestar;
• Paul J. Luna, president of Helios Education Foundation and past president of Valley of the Sun United Way;
• Robert H. McKee, managing partner of Hidden Springs Ranch in Wickenberg, Ariz., and chairman of McKee Oil Corporation; and
• Howard R. Neff, whose 18 years of banking experience includes CEO and vice chairman of BlueBonnet Savings Bank of Dallas, Texas.

Bank of Scottsdale organizers consider the launch timing to be ideal. Richard H. Dozer, Director for Bank of Scottsdale, said, “We’re bringing a familiar name back to life again for Scottsdale under a fresh new organization and business model. This Bank of Scottsdale has no relation to a bank of the same name that existed in the Valley during the late 1980s. We liked the name because it embodies our vision of a very localized bank with no grandiose plans of going national. The name resonates with the concept of a community bank.”

About Bank of Scottsdale

Bank of Scottsdale will be an independent, full-service commercial and residential bank located at Scottsdale and McDonald roads in Scottsdale, Arizona, 85258. The state-chartered bank is currently in its initial funding stage. Its business model raises the bar on attentive, individualized customer service to neighborhood businesses and residents because of its authentic hometown style of service. For more information, please call 480-946-3230 or visit www.bankofscottsdale.com.

Forward-Looking Statement

Statements concerning future performance, developments or events, expectations for growth and income forecasts, and any other guidance on future periods, constitute forward-looking statements that are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from stated expectations. Specific factors include, but are not limited to loan production, balance sheet management, the economic condition of the market in Scottsdale, Ariz., net interest margin, loan quality, the ability to control costs and expenses, interest rate changes and financial policies of the United States government, and general economic conditions.

When used in this release, the words or phrases such as “will likely result in,” “management expects that,” “will continue,” “is anticipated,” “estimate,”“projected,” or similar expressions are intended to identify “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA). Readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements, which reflect management’s view only as of the date hereof. Bank of Scottsdale undertakes no obligation to publicly revise these forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances. This statement is included for the express purpose of protecting Bank of Scottsdale under PSLRA’s safe harbor provisions.