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FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October
5, 2006
Hancock
Bank Special Edition symposium to focus on key rebuilding
topics
GULFPORT,
MS (October 5, 2006) - With thousands of Gulf South families
and businesses immersed in an unprecedented period of rebuilding
and renewal, Hancock Bank will host a special "Together
We Rebuild" symposium spotlighting three issues critical
to the region's successful recovery from Hurricane Katrina:
municipal money, affordable housing, and the outlook for a
new Gulf Coast economy.
| Slated
for Tuesday, October 10, 2006, from 7:45 a.m. - noon in
the Mississippi Coast Coliseum arena, the 40th annual
Hancock Bank Gulf Coast Economic Symposium will offer
guests first-hand information on current and future initiatives
supporting community revitalization throughout South Mississippi.
Featured speakers are Mississippi State Treasurer Tate
Reeves ("Money Matters: The Finances of Recovery"),
Mississippi Power Company president and chair of the Gulf
Coast Business Council Anthony Topazi ("A Roadmap
for Solving the Coast's Housing Crisis"), and economics
expert Loren Scott ("Constructive Economics: Building
A New Gulf Coast"). |
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According
to Hancock Bank President and Chief Executive Officer George
A. Schloegel, post-storm availability of facilities necessitated
postponing Hancock's traditional February symposium. However,
this year marks the symposium's 40th anniversary, and Hancock
executives decided that providing Coastians current, relevant
economic information was essential to a renaissance of commerce
and opportunity in the area.
"Hancock
Bank was founded in 1899 to help communities grow and prosper;
and the Hancock Bank symposium was established 40 years ago
to help folks make well-informed financial and business decisions.
Now, as we rebuild the Coast, access to good information is
even more essential to ensure viable recovery strategies,"
said Schloegel. "Our speakers are recognized authorities
in their fields, know the area and its people, and are working
daily to strengthen our Gulf Coast economy."
With
the Coliseum convention center under construction, this year's
Hancock Bank symposium will take place in the Coliseum arena.
Guests can park on the west side of the Coliseum and enter
the symposium through the northwest arena entrance.
Advance
reservations are necessary to attend the symposium. A limited
number of seats are still available through the Hancock Bank
corporate marketing department (phone 228-563-7954, fax 228-563-7973,
or e-mail).
The
Speakers
 Tate
Reeves was elected Mississippi's 52nd Treasurer
on November 4, 2003. Currently, he is America's youngest state
treasurer, Mississippi's youngest statewide elected official,
and the first Republican treasurer in Mississippi history.
The Rankin County native graduated from Florence High School
and holds a bachelor's degree in economics as a Millsaps College
honors graduate. A past point guard for Millsaps basketball,
he remains an active alumnus and serves on the college's General
Louis Wilson Fund investment policy board. The former bank
investment strategy committee member and assistant vice president
holds Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation and is
a member of both the CFA Society of Mississippi and the CFA
Institute, an organization leading the investment industry
in setting the highest standards of ethics and professional
excellence. In 1996 he received the Mississippi Society of
Financial Analysts Award.
After
serving one term as president of the Southern Region of the
National Association of State Treasurers (NAST), Reeves was
elected senior vice-president of NAST and will become the
organization's national president in 2007. He currently serves
as chairman of the Investment Committee and is a member of
the board of directors of the Public Employees Retirement
System (PERS) of Mississippi. Reeves also serves as chairman
of the board of directors of College Savings Plans of Mississippi
and the Health Care Trust Fund. Currently the state chairman
for United Way, he remains committed to many Mississippi civic
and charitable organizations, including the Mississippi Society
of Disabilities, UMC Children's Cancer Clinic, Middle Mississippi
Girl Scout Council, Boys & Girls Clubs of Mississippi,
Stewpot Ministries, the Exchange Club Parent Child Center,
and the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra.
 Mississippi
Power Company President and CEO Anthony
J. Topazi - a Birmingham, AL, native - became Mississippi
Power's 10th chief executive leader in January 2004. Previously
an executive vice president at Southern Company Generation
and Energy Marketing, he began his Alabama Power career as
a cooperative education student engineer and rose to numerous
executive positions in the company's Birmingham and Western
divisions. As chair of the Tuscaloosa County, AL, Industrial
Development Authority, he assumed a primary role in recruiting
to Alabama the first Mercedes Benz automotive assembly plant
outside Germany.
Topazi
chairs the Infrastructure Committee of the Governor's Commission
on Recovery, Rebuilding, and Renewal; Momentum Mississippi
- a public-private economic development partnership designed
to boost the state's economic future; and the Gulf Coast Business
Council. He previously served on the Blueprint Mississippi
steering committee and co-chaired the economic development
work team. Topazi currently serves on the Mississippi Economic
Council board of directors, as vice chair of the Mississippi
Partnership for Economic Development, and as chair-elect of
the Mississippi Gulf Coast Chamber of Commerce. He also serves
on the boards of directors for Hancock Bank, MAST, Inc., and
Gulf Coast Community Foundation and on the Nature Conservancy
of Mississippi board of trustees. He is a member of the United
Way of America deTouqueville Society.
Topazi
earned a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering
at Auburn University and completed Harvard University's advanced
management program. He holds memberships in the Edison Electric
Institute, Southeastern Electric Exchange, and Auburn's Engineering
Council.
 Presenting
50 to 70 speeches annually on the state of the economy, Dr.
Loren C. Scott is the president of Loren C. Scott
& Associates, Inc., a 23-year-old economic consulting
firm with large national clients such as BellSouth, Entergy,
ExxonMobil, Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association, the Governor's
Military Advisory Board, the Louisiana Chemical Association,
Cleco Power, the Louisiana Judicial Compensation Commission,
and the Coushatta Indian Tribe. He is one of only 32 members
of the National Business Economic Issues Council (NBEIC),
a group of experts in areas of international trade, Washington
economic policies, retail trade, trucking, and steel and chemical
industries who meet quarterly to discuss issues of state,
national, and international impact. Scott is also an energy
specialist on the NBEIC.
His
career in academia started at Louisiana State University in
1969, where, during a 33-year tenure, he advanced from assistant
professor to the prestigious Freeport McMoran Endowed Chair
of Economics and as the Director of the Division of Economic
Development and Forecasting. He was the chairman of the LSU
Economics Department from 1983-1996. During that time, the
department's ranking rose from 101st to 38th among the 3,000
economics departments in the United States. Presently a professor
emeritus at LSU, he has received seven LSU awards for outstanding
classroom teaching. His CD collection of humorous stories
- "Laughter: The 'Economical' Way to Feel Great"
- is available through his website.
About
Hancock Bank
Hancock
Holding Company (NASDAQ: HBHC) - the parent company of Hancock
Bank of Florida, Hancock Bank (Mississippi), and Hancock Bank
of Louisiana - has assets of $6.26 billion. Hancock Bank stands
among the strongest, safest financial institutions in the
United States and is the only financial services company headquartered
in the Gulf South to rate among the top 20 percent of America's
top performing banks. Additional corporate
information or on-line
banking and bill
pay services is available online.
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30 —
FOR
MORE INFORMATION
R. Paul Maxwell, VP & Corporate Communications
Manager
228.563.7953 or paul_maxwell@hancockbank.com
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