URBANA, Ill., Sept. 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- First Busey Corporation announced today it has solidified its executive leadership team and management transition plans for Busey Bank, N.A. with the elevation of Thomas Good to President and Chief Executive Officer. Good currently serves as Executive Vice President of Risk Management for First Busey Corporation and will continue to fulfill his corporate duties. "Tom Good is a tremendous leader in our organization whose experience, enthusiasm and passion for Busey and our Florida market make this a terrific fit," commented Van A. Dukeman, First Busey Corporation President and CEO.
"I want to thank Van and our leadership team at Busey for this opportunity," says Good, "but most importantly I am extremely grateful for the support I have received from my predecessor Mike Geml. All of us at Busey owe Mike our gratitude for his many years of service to our Florida customers and associates," said Good. Mike Geml will continue to serve as Chairman of Busey Bank, N.A. until December 31, 2007, at which time he will retire after 34 years of community banking in southwest Florida, including the past eight years with Busey Bank, N.A. "Tom Good is an ideal selection during this period of transition to new leadership for Busey Bank, N.A.," explained Geml, who will assume the duties of an outside Director and consultant. "He understands the market and more importantly personifies the core values of a community banking company that has been in business for nearly 140 years," commented Geml.
Completing the transition to Chairman of the Board of Busey Bank, N.A. on January 1, 2008 is David Mills, who will also continue to serve as Executive Vice President of Mergers and Acquisitions for First Busey Corporation. "With Tom's passion and commitment to the organization, coupled with Mike's knowledge and history of the Florida market, I am extremely excited about the future of Busey Bank, N.A.," commented Mills.
Nationally chartered Busey Bank, N.A. is a separate subsidiary of First Busey Corporation with headquarters in Port Charlotte, Florida. Busey Bank, N.A. has nine banking centers serving the Counties of Lee, Charlotte and Sarasota with total assets of $445 million as of June 30, 2007.
Additional Information About the Company
First Busey Corporation is a diversified financial holding company headquartered in Urbana, Illinois. First Busey Corporation has three wholly-owned banking subsidiaries with locations in three states. Busey Bank is headquartered in Urbana, Illinois, with 22 banking centers. Busey Bank also has a banking center in Indianapolis, Indiana, and a loan production office in Ft. Myers, Florida. On June 30, 2007, Busey Bank had total assets of $2.0 billion. Main Street Bank & Trust is headquartered in Champaign, Illinois, with 23 banking centers. On June 30, 2007, Main Street Bank & Trust had total assets of $1.5 billion. Busey Bank and Main Street Bank & Trust serve Champaign, Macon, Shelby, McLean, Ford, Peoria and Tazewell Counties in Illinois. First Busey provides electronic delivery of financial services through its websites, http://www.busey.com/ and http://www.mainstreettrust.com/.
Busey Investment Group is a wholly-owned subsidiary of First Busey Corporation and owns three subsidiaries: First Busey Trust & Investment Co., First Busey Securities, Inc., and Busey Insurance Services, Inc. As of June 30, 2007, Busey Investment Group had approximately $2.6 billion in assets under care. Main Street Wealth Management, a division of Main Street Bank & Trust, had $2.2 billion of financial assets under management as of June 30, 2007. First Busey also owns a retail payment processing subsidiary, FirsTech, Inc., which processes over 25 million items per year. Headquartered in Decatur, Illinois, FirsTech also operates a sales and service operation in the St. Louis market.
Safe Harbor Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995
This release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Act of 1934 as amended. These include statements as to the benefits of the merger, including future financial and operating results, cost savings, enhanced revenues and the accretion/dilution to reported earnings that may be realized from the merger as well as other statements of expectations regarding the merger and any other statements regarding future results or expectations. First Busey Corporation intends such forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and is including this statement for purposes of these safe harbor provisions. Forward-looking statements, which are based on certain assumptions and describe future plans, strategies, and expectations of First Busey Corporation, are generally identified by the use of words such as "believe," "expect," "intend," "anticipate," "estimate," or "project" or similar expressions. First Busey Corporation's ability to predict results, or the actual effect of future plans or strategies, is inherently uncertain. Factors which could have a material adverse effect on the operations and future prospects of First Busey Corporation and its subsidiaries include, but are not limited to: the risk that the businesses of First Busey Corporation and the former Main Street will not be integrated successfully or such integration may be more difficult, time-consuming or costly than expected; expected revenue synergies and cost savings from the merger may not be fully realized or realized within the expected time frame; revenues following the merger may be lower than expected; customer and employee relationships and business operations may be disrupted by the merger; changes in interest rates, general economic conditions, legislative/regulatory changes, monetary and fiscal policies of the U.S. government, including policies of the U.S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve Board; the quality and composition of the loan or securities portfolios; demand for loan products; deposit flows; competition; demand for financial services in the companies' respective market areas; their implementation of new technologies; their ability to develop and maintain secure and reliable electronic systems; and accounting principles, policies, and guidelines. These risks and uncertainties should be considered in evaluating forward-looking statements and undue reliance should not be placed on such statements.
