Hunt celebrates 20 years with GB&T

GAINESVILLE - Richard Hunt, President and CEO of GB&T Bancshares, Inc., celebrates 20 years with the company this month. In 1987, the organizing directors of Gainesville Bank & Trust, including Abit Massey, Philip Wilheit, Sam Oliver, Don Carter, John Mansfield, Grady Coleman, John Darden and Bennie Hewett, hired Hunt as President and CEO of Hall County's newest community bank. Hunt came to GB&T from First Union National Bank (formerly First Georgia Bank), where he held the position of Senior Vice President and Head of the Retail Banking Division.

Hunt's first office was located in the building housing the Hulsey, Oliver and Mahar law offices. In September of that year, Hunt hired Burlyn Barker as his administrative assistant, to help with the organization process and issuing stock certificates, and she continues working with him today. The company sold $7 million in stock in seven weeks, which at that time was a record.

Gainesville Bank & Trust opened for business on February 1, 1988 in Gainestown Office Park on E. E. Butler Parkway. The bank moved into their current main office located at 500 Jesse Jewell Parkway in January 1990 and opened the bank's first branch in Oakwood in August of that year. For several years GB&T was recognized as the fastest-growing new bank in north Georgia, and the bank operated at a high level of profitability very early in its existence. This level of profitability allowed the bank to sustain its capital from earnings in an environment of exceptional growth.

In 1996, Hunt proposed a strategic plan to the Board of Directors that would double the size of the bank in three years. Although there was some skepticism, the plan was unanimously adopted by the board and senior management, and at year-end 1999, the goal was surpassed as total assets were $259 million, with an annual growth rate of 32%.

With the successful completion of the 1996 strategic plan, Hunt and the board began looking for banking opportunities in markets outside of Hall County. As the bank was celebrating its ten-year anniversary, GB&T Bancshares was formed in April 1998 as part of a new strategic plan to build a multi-bank holding company with a footprint in high growth markets across north Georgia.

In January 1999, the company's stock began trading on the NASDAQ national market under the stock symbol GBTB, and Hunt led the company through a series of successful acquisitions of other community banks. Beginning with its first completed acquisition in 2000, the company completed one or more acquisitions every year through 2006, for a total of eight bank acquisitions in seven years. With total assets approaching $2 billion, Hunt remembers the early days. "I look at the size of our company today, and think about the early successes and strong growth from that initial $7 million raised by the original GB&T organizers", Hunt comments. "I'm also proud that the original board of directors is still actively involved with the company today."

Hunt announced in the summer of 2002 that Mike Whitmire would join Gainesville Bank & Trust as President and Chief Operating Officer (COO). While Hunt continued to serve as CEO of Gainesville Bank & Trust and President and CEO of GB&T Bancshares, Inc., he announced earlier this year that Whitmire would assume the CEO position as well, so that Hunt could focus more of his efforts on the management of the holding company.

Through separate merger acquisitions in 2004, Southern Heritage Bank in Oakwood and Lumpkin County Bank became divisions of Gainesville Bank & Trust. That same year, Gainesville Bank & Trust opened Bank of Athens, a de novo branch serving Clarke and Oconee counties. In 2006, Lumpkin County Bank became a part of Mountain State Bank, which joined the company earlier that year. Gainesville Bank & Trust currently has nine full-service branches and a drive-thru only location.

In May 2007, Hunt announced the establishment of the Company's newest subsidiary, GB&T Mortgage.

GB&T Bancshares, Inc. is the only bank holding company headquartered in Gainesville. The company now operates seven community banks: Gainesville Bank & Trust, United Bank & Trust, Community Trust Bank, HomeTown Bank of Villa Rica, First National Bank of the South, First National Bank of Gwinnett, and Mountain State Bank, with 32 banking offices located in 14 Georgia counties.

Visit the Company's web site at: http://www.gbtbancshares.com for additional information.