Cole Named CEO of the First.HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- Chairman of the Board of The First, David E. Johnson David E. Johnson (born December 21, 1946 in Princeton, New Jersey) is an American linguist. He is best known for his work on relational grammar, especially the development with Paul Postal in 1977 of arc pair grammar (Johnson and Postal, 1980). , announced today that M. Ray "Hoppy" Cole will be named Chief Executive Officer (CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. ) of The First, A National Banking Association and The First Bancshares (Nasdaq: FBMS FBMS Fleet Ballistic Missile Submarine FBMS Formation Battle Management System (UK) FBMS Fleet Ballistic Missile System FBMS Foreign Broadcast Monitoring Service (US; now the Foreign Broadcast Information Service) ). Cole will take over the day-to-day operations of the South Mississippi bank as of September 14, 2009. Cole is a founding Director of the First National Bank of the Pine Belt (the predecessor bank of the current Laurel branch) and a Director of The First Bancshares, Inc. Cole joined the bank as President of the Picayune Picayune (pĭkəy  n`), city (1990 pop. 10,633), Pearl River co., S Miss., near the Pearl River and the La. line; inc. 1904. location in 2002, was named President of the banking
system in 2006, and relocated his office to Hattiesburg in 2007.
Cole graduated from the University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi, also known as Ole Miss, is a public, coeducational research university located in Oxford, Mississippi. Founded in 1848, the school is composed of the main campus in Oxford and three branch campuses located in Booneville, Tupelo, and Southaven. where he earned a Bachelor's and Master's Degree in Business Administration. He began his career with The First National Bank of Commerce in New Orleans, Louisiana where he held the position of Corporate Banking Officer. He joined Sunburst Bank in Laurel, Mississippi serving as Senior Lender and later as President of the Laurel office. Cole attended the Stonier Graduate School of Banking at the University of Delaware [3] The student body at the University of Delaware is largely an undergraduate population. Delaware students have a great deal of access to work and internship opportunities. . He has also served as Secretary/Treasurer of a privately-held corporation. Johnson will continue as Chairman of the Board, carrying out newly-expanded responsibilities of that office. Commenting on the transition, he said, "Market conditions and growth within our bank have brought about the necessity of separating the critical duties of the CEO and Chairman of the Board to ensure protection for our shareholders. The First has grown from a Hattiesburg-Laurel bank to a $475 million dollar institution with ten locations in eight South Mississippi cities. Separating the duties of Chairman and CEO is good corporate governance Corporate Governance The relationship between all the stakeholders in a company. This includes the shareholders, directors, and management of a company, as defined by the corporate charter, bylaws, formal policy, and rule of law. . Hoppy has done an outstanding job as President, and I look forward to his leadership as CEO." The First began in South MS in August 1996, and has full-service banking locations in Hattiesburg, Purvis, Laurel, Picayune, Pascagoula, Bay St. Louis, Wiggins and Gulfport. The Company's stock is traded on NASDAQ Global Market under the symbol FBMS. For more information about The First, please stop by any of our locations or visit us online at www.TheFirstBank.com. |
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