|
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 15, 2007
Hancock
Bank of Alabama names local business leaders to board
MOBILE, AL (May 15, 2007) -
Hancock Bank of Alabama, which opened its first downtown Mobile
financial center earlier this month, recently named three
of Mobile's most outstanding business and civic leaders to
the company's Alabama board of directors.
Business consultant and retired
Degussa Corporation executive Charles E. Story, Alabama
Power Company Mobile Division Vice President Cheryl A.
Thompson, and commercial law attorney C. Richard Wilkins
have joined the Hancock Bank of Alabama Board of Directors
as local advisors for the company's continued growth throughout
the metropolitan Mobile area.
Jerry Broughton, Hancock's senior Mobile lender, said that
Hancock has a longstanding tradition of relying on local business
leaders to advise the company in its efforts to facilitate
commerce and opportunity across a Gulf South market that spans
the I-10 corridor from almost Texas to Tallahassee.
"We
are very pleased to welcome Charles Story, Cheryl Thompson,
and Richard Wilkins to the Hancock Bank of Alabama board.
These professionals have demonstrated extraordinary achievement
within their respective fields and exemplary dedication to
the ongoing economic, philanthropic, and cultural growth of
Mobile - a sense of community commitment that has remained
central to Hancock's core values since 1899," said Broughton.
Broughton said that Hancock's Mobile and Baldwin counties
expansion forges a natural, strategic link between the bank's
existing South Mississippi and Florida Panhandle franchises
and encompasses one of the Gulf South's most dynamic hubs
of commerce and development. With a focus on commercial services,
small business banking, and wealth management, Hancock's downtown
Dauphin Street office precipitates additional growth in Mobile
and the Eastern Shore area.
"Many
of our customers already have established business and family
connections within the Mobile area. Opening our first location
in downtown Mobile and, subsequently growing in Mobile and
Baldwin counties helps strengthen Hancock's extensive network
of convenient Gulf South locations and delivers Hancock's
comprehensive money management choices to Mobile businesses
and families through local professionals who know and understand
the community," said Broughton.
The
Hancock Bank of Alabama Directors
 |
|
Charles
E. Story
|
Mobile
native Charles E. Story is a graduate of The
University Military School. He received a bachelor of science
degree in industrial management from Auburn University. His
career includes almost 30 years in human resources at Vanity
Fair, Teledyne Continental Motors, and the Degussa Corporation.
Story retired from Degussa in November 2002 after serving
13 years as the company's vice president of government and
public affairs responsible for handling all state and federal
legislation affecting Degussa sites across North America.
He was also the media spokesperson for the company's operations
in the United States, Canada, and
Mexico. Story is currently a political consultant to a number
of companies as well as the Business Council of Alabama. Additionally,
he serves on the legislative affairs committee of the Mobile
Area Chamber of Commerce. He chairs the local Volunteers Of
America board and is active on the Springhill Hospital, Mobile
Works, and the Business Council of Alabama boards. Story also
serves on the personnel committee and as a deacon at Dauphin
Way Baptist Church in Mobile.
 |
|
Cheryl
A. Thompson
|
Cheryl
A. Thompson joined Alabama Power Company in 1972,
and in 1992, became assistant to the vice president of the
Birmingham Division of Alabama Power Company. She served as
manager of Montevallo and East Jefferson district operations
and as a corporate marketing segment manager. In 1996 she
was named Southeast region manager at Georgia Power Company.
She returned to Alabama Power Company in January 1998 for
her current assignment as vice president of the company's
Mobile division. A native of Alexander City, Thompson holds
a bachelor of science degree from Auburn University and a
master of business administration degree from The University
of Alabama at Birmingham. She has completed the Advanced Management
Program at Templeton University in Oxford, England, and the
Women in Power Program at Harvard University. The Leadership
Alabama graduate and board chair served as president of the
Industrial Development Board and on the boards of the Business
Council of Alabama, Industrial Park of Mobile County, and
the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce. She is also an advisory
board member for the Mobile County Public School System, Springhill
College, and University of South Alabama Mitchell College
of Business. She is married to Jerry Thompson.
 |
|
C.
Richard Wilkins
|
C.
Richard Wilkins, of the Mobile law firm of Vickers,
Riis, Murray and Curran, LLC, primarily practices in commercial
litigation, commercial transactions, finance, admiralty, real
estate, and bankruptcy. The University of Alabama graduate
holds a bachelor's degree in commerce and business administration
and received his juris doctor from The University of Alabama
School of Law. A member of the Alabama State Bar, American
Bar Association, the Torts and Insurance Practice Section
(TIPS), the Business Law Section, the Mobile Bar Association,
and the Southeastern Admiralty Law Institute, he is licensed
to practice before the Supreme Court of Alabama, United States
Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, and the United
States District Courts for the Northern, Middle and Southern
Districts of Alabama. Wilkins currently serves on the boards
of directors of the Mobile Chapter of the American Heart Association,
Mobile Association for the Blind, and Goodwill/Easter Seals
of Southwest Alabama. He is a member, former president, and
director of the Mobile Rotary Club and a member of the Senior
Bowl Committee. Wilkins, his wife (the former Jeanie Guthans
of Mobile), and their three sons are members of St. Ignatius
Catholic Church.
About Hancock Bank
Founded October 9, 1899, Hancock Bank is the only financial
services company headquartered in the Gulf South to rate among
the top 20 percent of America's top performing banks, Hancock
consistently ranks as one of the country's strongest, safest
financial institutions, according to Veribanc, Inc., and BauerFinancial
Services, Inc. Thomson Financial also recently listed Hancock
as the ninth largest corporate trustee bank in the U.S.
Hancock Holding Company (NASDAQ: HBHC) - parent company of
Hancock Bank of Alabama, Hancock Bank Mississippi, Hancock
Bank of Florida, and Hancock Bank of Louisiana - has assets
of more than $6 billion. Bank subsidiaries include Hancock
Investment Services, Inc., Hancock Insurance Agency, and Harrison
Finance Company. Additionally, the company operates corporate
trust offices in Gulfport, Jackson, New Orleans, and Baton
Rouge. Hancock's trust department, a division of the wealth
management group, has assets of $7.4 billion, with assets
under management of $2.31 billion, as of December 31, 2006.
More corporate information and online banking are available
at www.hancockbank.com.
—
30 —
FOR
MORE INFORMATION
R. Paul Maxwell, VP & Corporate Communications
Manager
228.563.7953 or paul_maxwell@hancockbank.com
|
