For Immediate Release July 14, 2008 Contact: Dianne Martin Vice President / Director of Communications Elects New Leadership Clarksville Banker to Serve as Chairman William S. Sammy Stuard, Jr, president and chief executive officer of F&M Bank, Clarksville, TN, was installed as chairman of the Tennessee Bankers Association (TBA) during ceremonies at the closing banquet of the organization s 118th Annual Meeting. Approximately 550 members of the financial services industry and related businesses attended the convention held in June at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, CO. Stuard accepted the chairman s gavel from Steve White, executive chairman of Community South in Parsons, who served as TBA chairman last year. White will continue to sit on the association s board of directors for the next three years. Each year, delegates to the TBA s annual meeting elect new executive officers and three new directors. The executive officers for 2008-2009 are: Chairman William S. Sammy Stuard, Jr, president and CEO, F&M Bank, Clarksville, TN Chairman-elect Michael B. Swain, chairman, The First National Bank of Oneida, Oneida, TN Vice Chairman C. Craig Fitzhugh, chairman and CEO, Bank of Ripley, Ripley President Bradley L. Barrett,, Nashville, TN Immediate Past Chairman Steve White, executive chairman, Community South, Parsons, TN. MORE
July 14, 2008 - Add 1 Delegates also elected one director from each of the three grand divisions of the state. New directors, who will serve three-year terms on the board, are: East Tennessee Samuel L. Swafford, president and CEO, First Bank of Tennessee, Dayton, TN Middle Tennessee Ed Lowery, vice chairman, Peoples State Bank of Commerce, Nolensville, TN West Tennessee William D. Buckley, II, president/northeast Region, BancorpSouth, Jackson, TN In addition, R. Molitor Ford, Jr, vice chairman and CEO, Commercial Bank & Trust Co, Memphis, was selected to fill two years of an unexpired term as West Tennessee director. Biographical information on the new officers and board members is attached. # # # The is a not-for-profit organization representing all 255 of Tennessee s commercial banks and savings and loan institutions. The association provides continuing education, develops and monitors state and federal legislative agendas, disseminates information on all facets of the financial services industry, and promotes the public image of financial institutions. Visit us at our website, www.tnbankers.org.
July 14, 2008 - Add 2 WILLIAM S. SAMMY STUARD, JR 2008-2009 Chairman William Sammy Stuard, Jr, is president and CEO of F&M Bank, a locally owned community bank headquartered in Clarksville, TN. With assets of approximately $650 million, the bank has 13 offices in the middle Tennessee area and over 180 employees. The FDIC ranks the bank number one in market share for Clarksville-Montgomery County. Stuard is a former real estate broker and professional auctioneer. Prior to joining F&M Bank, he spent 10 years with Northern Bank in Clarksville. He began his tenure at F&M Bank in 1990 as executive vice president and in 1991 was elected president of the bank and the bank s holding company, F&M Financial Corporation. He attended Austin Peay State University and is a graduate of the Tennessee School of Banking SM at Vanderbilt University and the School of Banking of the South at LSU. Stuard previously served on the board of directors. He also is a past president and board member of the TBA s Independent Bankers Division and currently sits on the Government Relations Committee. The American Banker newspaper recently named Stuard as a 2007 Community Bankers of the Year. Regarded as the financial industry s leading daily information resource, each year the American Banker honors four bankers who set the highest standards of progress, innovation, and performance in the banking and financial services industry. Long active in government, community, and civic organizations, currently, Stuard is a director of Plateau Insurance, chairman of the Clarksville-Montgomery County Industrial Development Board, chairman of ASPIRE Foundation, and a member of the Southern Growth Policies board a nonpartisan public policy think tank with members from 13 southern states and Puerto Rico. In addition, Stuard is vice chairman of the E-911 board, chairman of the Clarksville Economic Development Council, charter committee member and former chairman of the Downtown District Partnership.
July 14, 2008 - Add 3 In the past, he has been chairman of the Clarksville Chamber of Commerce, Leadership Clarksville, and the Down Town District Partnership. He is a past county commissioner for District #3. Stuard is a mentor for the Austin Peay State University emerging leaders program and past chairman of Cogioba District of Boy Scouts of America. He is a member of the First Baptist Church of St Bethlehem. Stuard and his wife, Kathy, have three children.
July 14, 2008, Add 4 MICHAEL B. SWAIN 2008-2009 Chairman-elect Mike Swain is chairman of the board of The First National Bank of Oneida in Oneida, TN. He was elected a director of the bank in 1975 and began his full-time duties with the bank in 1977 as a loan officer. He was named president in 1988, CEO in 1991, and chairman in 2005. Swain earned his BS degree from the University of Tennessee. His education within the banking industry includes completing the ABA Essentials of Banking School at Notre Dame, the Graduate School of Banking of the South at LSU, and the Senior Bank Officers Seminar at Harvard University. He also is a 1982 graduate of the UT Executive Development Program. He has served the as a member of the board of directors and the Credit Committee. Within the industry, Swain is a past member of the ABA BankPac Committee and has been a director of the Nashville Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank since 2002. Swain is active within his community. With the Great Smoky Mountain Council, he has served on the Endowment Committee, the Audit Committee, as chairman of the Cumberland District Sustaining Membership Enrollment Committee, and as vice president of the executive board. Among his other activities, Swain served as president of the Big South Fork AAU Club, president of the Scott County Chamber of Commerce, chairman of the Scott County March of Dimes, chairman of the American Cancer Society Relay for Life in Scott County, and head coach for both boys and girls soccer at Oneida High School. Currently, Swain is a member of the board of directors for St Mary s Hospital of Scott County, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, and the American Youth Soccer Organization, Region 385. He is a member of the UT Financial Institutions Advisory Council, the Roan State Community College site support team for Scott County, and president of Oneida Alumni and Friends for Better Schools.
July 14, 2008 - Add 5 Swain is a member of St Jude s Catholic Church in Helenwood, where he serves on the parish council. He is married to the former Marsha Lynn Chambers, and they have three children and one grandchild..
July 14, 2008 - Add 6 C. CRAIG FITZHUGH Vice Chairman Craig Fitzhugh, is chairman and CEO of the Bank of Ripley in Ripley, TN. In addition, he has represented Tennessee 82nd legislative district as a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives since 1994. Fitzhugh is chairman of the House Finance, Ways, and Means Committee and chairman of the Council on Pension and Insurance. Born in Brownsville, Fitzhugh graduated from Ripley High School where he played football, baseball, and basketball. He is an Eagle Scout and remains active in scouting. Fitzhugh holds an undergraduate degree in finance and a law degree from The University of Tennessee. He served in the US Air Force from 1976 to 1980 as a Captain in The Judge Advocate General Corps and served an additional eight years as a Major in the Air Force Reserve. He practiced law in West Tennessee for 12 years. Fitzhugh is active in business, youth, and civic activities. Through the Bank of Ripley, he created a grant program that has provided more than $200,000 to supplement classroom resources for local teachers. The Bank of Ripley has earned six State Quality Awards and was named one of the Best Employers in Tennessee in 2007. Fitzhugh serves on the Board of Professional Responsibility for the Tennessee Supreme Court and on the board of directors of The Tennessee Technology Development Corporation. Business TN magazine recently named him one of the Best Lawmakers in Tennessee. A deacon at the First Baptist Church Ripley, Fitzhugh has been married to Pam for 34 years and has three children.
July 14, 2008 - Add 7 STEVE WHITE 2008-2009 Immediate Past Chairman Steve White is executive chairman of Community South in Parsons, TN. White received his Bachelor of Science degree from Lambuth University, Jackson, TN, in 1969. He is a 1976 graduate of The Southeastern School of Banking SM at Vanderbilt University and completed the Graduate School of Banking at LSU in 1980. In addition to his service as TBA chairman, chairman-elect, and vice chairman, White has served on the board of directors of both the and the TBA s Young Bankers Division. He has also served as chairman of the TBA BankPac Committee, was a member of the American Bankers Association BankPac Committee, and served on the board of directors of Financial Products and Services, Inc, a subsidiary of the TBA. Beyond the TBA, White currently serves as vice chairman on the board of trustees at Lambuth University, Jackson, TN. He is a past board member for Decatur County General Hospital, serving 13 years, and a member of Parsons First United Methodist Church. White has also served the State of Tennessee as a member of both the Tennessee State Collateral Pool Board and the Tennessee Student Assistance Corporation. He is married to Benita Baker White. They have two children and five grandchildren. A third child, Drew, is deceased.
July 14, 2008 - Add 8 SAMUEL L. SWAFFORD Board of Directors Sam Swafford is president and CEO of First Bank of Tennessee in Dayton, TN. He began his banking career in 1973 as a management trainee at Dayton Bank & Trust Company. Swafford worked his way up in various departments and was vice president in the lending department when he left the bank in 1982. From 1982 to 1984, he was vice president in charge of the Dayton office of C&C Bank of Rhea County. C&C became First Bank of Tennessee in 1984, and Swafford remained as vice president. He was promoted to president in 1985. Swafford earned his BS degree in personnel management from the University of Tennessee in 1971. He continued his professional education in banking and graduated from the Tennessee School of Banking at Vanderbilt University (now The Southeastern School of Banking) in 1976 and the School of Banking of the South at LSU in 1979. Swafford was a member of the US Navy Reserve from 1972-1978. Within the community, he is a member of the Jaycees and various other civic organizations. He served as councilman for the City of Dayton from 1981-1989 and as mayor of the city from 1989-2005. Swafford has been married to Cynde E Swafford for 29 years, and they have three children.
July 14, 2008 - Add 9 WILLIAM D. BUCKLEY, II Board of Directors Bill Buckley is president of the Northeast Region of BancorpSouth, a multi-state regional bank providing financial services to over six states with $10 billion in assets. Buckley s office is in the downtown Jackson, TN, branch, and his duties include overseeing operational and credit responsibilities for the Tennessee area, which includes 26 branches and 264 employees. Buckley moved from the Tupelo, MS, headquarters of Bancorp- South, and has been in Jackson, TN, since February of 1997. He entered banking in 1979 as a courier while working his way through college at Mississippi State University. Buckley graduated from Mississippi State in 1983 with a bachelor s degree in banking, finance, and economics. He also attended the Graduate School of Banking at LSU in 1993. Buckley is a member of the Jackson Downtown Development Corporation; past president, Revenue Finance Corporation; and Jackson Area Chamber of Commerce. He is a past board member of the Boys and Girls Club, Jackson Symphony, Jackson Chamber of Commerce executive committee. In 2003, he served as United Way campaign chairman and is a past United Way chairman in Meridian, MS. While attending Mississippi State, Buckley was president of his fraternity, Pi Kappa Alpha, a senator for two years, member of Blue Key National Honor Society, Gamma Iota Sigma Honorary Business Fraternity, MSU alumni delegate, and elder statesman. Buckley has two sons. He is very involved with local youth sports activities and coaches his sons in baseball, football, and basketball.
July 14, 2008 - Add 10 MARION EDWIN ED LOWERY Board of Directors Ed Lowery is vice chairman of Peoples State Bank of Commerce in Nolensville, TN, and chairman of Citizens Corporation, headquartered in Franklin, TN. Citizens Corporation was organized in 1985 as a bank holding company to acquire The Citizens Bank of Smithville, TN. From 1985 to 1993, the company acquired The Bank of Ardmore, The Bank of Giles County, and organized The First Citizens Bank of Franklin, TN, which later acquired The Bank of Maury County in Columbia. In 1993, the company was involved in the organization of Financial Data Technology Corporation, servicing banks in Tennessee, Alabama, Kentucky, and Arkansas. While serving as chairman of Citizens Corporation, Lowery also purchased banks in Grant, AL, and Trenton, TN. The merged banks of Grant and Trenton have since expanded holdings to Ardmore, Hartsville, South Pittsburg, Jasper, and Whitwell, TN, as well as a new location in Nolensville, TN, now the main office of Peoples Bank of Commerce. Lowery began his banking career in 1977 as a correspondent banker with Commerce Union Bank, Nashville. From 1979-1982, he worked with Third National Bank, Nashville. In 1982, Lowery became president of First National Bank of Manchester. Lowery is a native of Alabama and earned his BA degree from The University of Alabama. His professional education includes the Commercial Lending School at The University of Oklahoma and The School of Banking of the South at LSU. He is a past founding president of The Rotary Club at Breakfast in Franklin, TN. He has served on the boards of the Heritage Foundation, Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Franklin Association, and Boy Scouts of America and was a member of the City of Franklin Pension Committee. Lowery is a member of the First United Methodist Church in Franklin.
July 14, 2008 - Add 11 R. MOLITOR FORD, JR Board of Directors Mott Ford is vice chairman and CEO of Commercial Bank & Trust Co with responsibility for the bank s strategic and operating initiatives. Commercial Bank & Trust is a $560 million institution with banking operations in Memphis, Paris, Union City, and Jackson, TN. Ford began his career in the banking industry in 1988 at National Bank of Commerce, where he served in various capacities until 1995. From there, he joined Commercial Bank & Trust as Memphis community president. Transferring to Paris in 1997, he accepted the position of vice chairman and in 1998 was promoted to his current role as chief executive officer. Deciding to return to Memphis in 2001, Ford established his office at the East Memphis/Mendenhall location. Ford earned a degree from the Stonier Graduate School of Banking in conjunction with the University of Delaware. He is a graduate of The Leadership Academy in Memphis and a past member of their board of directors. Ford recently finished a term as president of the Independent Bankers Division of the. He serves on the board of trustees of Presbyterian Day School, the board of trustees of Memphis Academy of Health Sciences Charter School, the board of trustees of The Memphis College of Art, and the advisory board of Bridges, Inc.