Hamilton State Bank Opens New Operations Center

Hamilton State Bank opened its new operations center in Oakwood, bringing 40
jobs to the community.

The operations center, at the Oakwood South Industrial Park on McEver Road,
will house the support staff for Hamilton State Bank's 14 branches.

"With our growth over the last several months, we had outgrown our current
operations center," Hamilton State Bank Chairman and CEO Robert Oliver said.
"Looking ahead, we knew we would need extra space to support our expansion
plans."

The 25,600-square foot operation center opens with 40 employees who will
manage deposit and loan operations, accounting and information technology.
There is space to expand to 60 employees.

"We are excited to welcome Hamilton State Bank to Oakwood South Industrial
Park and be home to its Operations Center," City of Oakwood Mayor Lamar
Scroggs said. "Hamilton State Bank is growing throughout the state, and we
are pleased to have them be a part of our community."

Hamilton State Bank has branches throughout Georgia with offices in Barrow,
Bartow, Cobb, Hall, Forsyth, Jackson, Butts, Jasper and Henry counties,
including a branch in Oakwood off Winder Highway in the Robson Crossing
shopping center.

The City of Oakwood was a perfect spot for the new Operations Center.

"This location was ideal because it is near our main office in Braselton,
which houses our corporate office, and close to several other branches,"
Oliver said. "It is convenient for our long-term operations center employees
who had been working at our Braselton location. In addition, we have space
to grow which was an important factor when we were looking at sites."

Hamilton State Bank is one of the fastest growing banks in Georgia. In
February, Hamilton State Bank completed private offer and sale of common
stock and securities convertible and exercisable into common stock that
together resulted in proceeds of approximately $231.6 million. Two months
later, the bank then became just the third bank in Georgia to successfully
complete repayment of Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds back to the
U.S. Treasury Department.

With the stock offering and the TARP repayment, Hamilton State Bank
positioned itself to work with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to
purchased distressed banks. Hamilton State Bank acquired Cartersville-based
Bartow County Bank on April 15 and McIntosh State Bank of Jackson on June
17.