Company Website: http://www.FSGBank.com
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- (Business Wire)

First Security Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSGI) announced today that Robert P. “Bob” Keller had been appointed to First Security’s Board of Directors and Joseph E. “Joe” Dell had been appointed Executive Vice President and Chief Lending Officer.

Bob Keller

Keller is a Managing Director of Triumph Investment Managers, LLC. First Security and Triumph have partnered to explore avenues for the creation and restoration of shareholder value. Triumph is also working with First Security to refine and further develop a comprehensive business plan centered on relationship banking, with the goal of creating a profitable, diversified and core-funded community banking franchise.

Keller serves in leadership board positions with two financial institutions. He is the Chairman of Security Business Bancorp, a community bank based in San Diego, California, and Chairman of First State Bank, a community bank based in Cranford, New Jersey. Keller also serves as a Director and Chairman of the Audit Committee for Pennichuck Corp, a publicly traded water utility holding company in Nashua, New Hampshire. Prior to co-founding Triumph, Keller served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of three financial institutions, all of which were in excess of $1 billion in assets prior to their sale.

“We are continuing to develop a close working relationship with Triumph,” said Ralph E. “Gene” Coffman, Jr., President and Chief Operating Officer of First Security. “Bob’s addition enhances the leadership and banking experience on our Board of Directors as we re-engineer and refine our strategic direction.”

Joe Dell

With three decades of experience in community banking, Dell has a strong background in commercial, small business and consumer lending and has held a number of leadership roles.

“We are extremely pleased to have Joe join our executive management team here at First Security; his management experience and expertise in lending and credit administration will be a tremendous asset to our bank,” said Coffman. “He strengthens our commitment to support the communities we serve in east Tennessee and north Georgia.”

Dell most recently served as Chief Lending Officer for First Commonwealth Bank, a community bank in Indiana, Pennsylvania with $6 billion in assets and 115 branches. In this role, Dell managed over 110 employees and consistently exceeded production and revenue goals. “My first priority since starting at FSG was to meet all the lenders in our markets. In doing so, I see the tremendous opportunity to grow FSGBank in the markets we serve,” Dell said. “The most rewarding aspect of banking is being a business advisor to your customers and sharing in their success. In the coming weeks, we will be launching a lending campaign, and I look forward to meeting many of our current and future customers.”

Dell earned a master of business administration degree from Waynesburg College, a bachelor of science degree from Clarion State College and completed the Stonier Graduate School of Banking. An active community leader and volunteer, Dell has served in a number of roles including the Board of Directors for YMCA in Indiana County, Pennsylvania and Campaign Chair of the American Heart Association’s Heart Walk.

About First Security Group, Inc.

First Security Group, Inc. is a bank holding company headquartered in Chattanooga, Tennessee with $1.1 billion in assets. Founded in 1999, First Security's community bank subsidiary, FSGBank, N.A. has 36 full-service banking offices along the interstate corridors of eastern and middle Tennessee and northern Georgia. In Dalton, Georgia, FSGBank operates under the name of Dalton Whitfield Bank; along the Interstate 40 corridor in Tennessee, FSGBank operates under the name of Jackson Bank & Trust. FSGBank provides retail and commercial banking services, trust and investment management, mortgage banking, financial planning and Internet banking services (www.FSGBank.com).

Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements

Some of our statements contained in this release are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements relate to future events or our future financial performance and include statements about the competitiveness of the banking industry, potential regulatory obligations, our entrance and expansion into other markets, our other business strategies and other statements that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of performance or results. When we use words like “may,” “plan,” “contemplate,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “intend,” “continue,” “expect,” “project,” “predict,” “estimate,” “could,” “should,” “would,” “will,” and similar expressions, you should consider them as identifying forward-looking statements, although we may use other phrasing. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and are based on our beliefs and assumptions, and on the information available to us at the time that these disclosures were prepared.

These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and may not be realized due to a variety of factors, including, but not limited to the following: deterioration in the financial condition of borrowers; changes in loan underwriting, credit review or loss reserve policies; the failure of assumptions underlying the establishment of reserves for possible loan losses; changes in political and economic conditions; changes in financial market conditions; fluctuations in markets for equity, fixed-income, commercial paper and other securities, which could affect availability, market liquidity levels, and pricing; governmental monetary and fiscal policies, as well as legislative and regulatory changes; First Security’s participation or lack of participation in governmental programs; First Security’s lack of participation in a “stress test” under the Federal Reserve’s Supervisory Capital Assessment Program; the effects of competition from other commercial banks, thrifts, and other financial institutions; and the effect of any mergers, acquisitions or other transactions, to which we or our subsidiary may from time to time be a party.

Many of these risks are beyond our ability to control or predict, and you are cautioned not to put undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. First Security does not intend to update or reissue any forward-looking statements contained in this release as a result of new information or other circumstances that may become known to First Security.

All written or oral forward-looking statements attributable to us are expressly qualified in their entirety by this Note. Our actual results may differ significantly from those we discuss in these forward-looking statements.

Public companies, from time to time, become aware of rumors concerning their business. Investors are cautioned that in this age of instant communication and internet access, it may be important to avoid relying on rumors and unsubstantiated information. First Security complies with Federal and State law applicable to disclosure of information. Investors may be at significant risk in relying on unsubstantiated information from other sources.

Contacts:

First Security Group, Inc.
Ralph E. “Gene” Coffman, 423-266-2000
rcoffman@FSGBank.com
or
For First Security
Melissa P. Kelly, 931-636-0909
principal@mpkandassociates.com

Source: First Security Group, Inc.