Bancorp Rhode Island, Inc. Adds Three To Its Board of Directors.

Business Editors

PROVIDENCE, R.I.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 16, 2002

Bancorp Rhode Island, Inc., announced today that it has added two prominent local business owners and a leading health care professional to its Board of Directors.

Meredith A. Curren, Chief Financial Officer of Pease & Curren, Inc., Bogdan (Bob) Nowak, President of Rhode Island Novelty, and Pablo Rodriguez, MD, Associate Chief of OB/GYN at Women & Infants Hospital, were elected to the Board at its October meeting. The three were elected to the Board of the Company's wholly-owned banking subsidiary, Bank Rhode Island, in September.

"Mr. Nowak and Ms. Curren have successfully built their own businesses and Dr. Rodriguez is a highly regarded member of the medical community," said President & CEO Merrill W. Sherman. "We are fortunate to have them serve on our Board."

Ms. Curren earned an MBA in Marketing/Finance from the Columbia University Graduate School of Business and earned a B.A. in English from Smith College. Her company, Pease & Curren, Inc., is a refiner of gold, silver, platinum and palladium and employs more than 50 people at its Warwick offices.

She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Providence Jewelers Association, the Ocean State Tax Exempt Fund, the William H. Hall Public Library and the Norwood Avenue School PTO. She also serves on the House Committee of the University Club. She is the former Vice Chair of the Board of Home & Hospice Care of Rhode Island and is a former member of the Metro Board of the YMCA of Greater Providence.

Mr. Nowak founded Rhode Island Novelty in 1986. The company is an importer and distributor of toys, novelties & fundraising merchandise. The company supplies novelty items to amusement parks, circuses and retail party stores. The company employs over 150 people at its Johnston facility. Mr. Nowak is also president and founder of Chemical Light Technology. Formed in 1995, the company manufactures chemiluminescent products.

Dr. Rodriguez has served on the staff at Women & Infants Hospital since 1987 and was named a Trustee of the Hospital in 1999. He is a Clinical Assistant Professor in OB/GYN at Brown University's School of Medicine and a Lecturing Professor at Universidad Nacional Pedro Henriquez Urenas in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

Mr. Rodriguez is the Vice Chair of the Rhode Island Foundation. He serves on the Preventive Health Advisory Committee of the Rhode Island Department of Health and is the Medical Director of Planned Parenthood of Rhode Island. Mr. Rodriguez also serves on the Board of Directors of the Association of Reproductive Health Professionals in Washington, DC.

Mr. Rodriguez has won numerous awards for his work in the community. In 2000, he was presented with the Bertram Yaffe Award given by the Rhode Island Public Health Association for public health advocacy and activism. In that year he also received the Paris Vaughn Sterrett Award given by the John Hope Settlement House for community service. Last year, he received the Martin Luther King Service Award given by the Ministers Alliance of Rhode Island. He is a graduate of the University of Puerto Rico and the State University of New York at Buffalo Medical School.

Bancorp Rhode Island, Inc. is the parent company of Bank Rhode Island, a full service, FDIC insured, state chartered financial institution headquartered in Providence. The Bank operates 13 branches throughout Providence and Kent Counties. As of September 30, the Bancorp's total assets were $985.8 million and total deposits were $731.0 million. Bancorp Rhode Island's common stock is traded on the NASDAQ National Market under the symbol "BARI" and its corporate web site is located at www.bankri.com.