Bank of America Names Peter D. Joers III Washington State President, Announces $1 Million Grant to YMCA of Greater Seattle

SEATTLE, April 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Bank of America Market President Executive Graham W. Denton today announced that Peter D. Joers III has been named Washington State president and Seattle market president. In addition, Joers will continue to serve as market executive of The Private Bank of Bank of America for Washington and Idaho.

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Among Joers' first official duties was to present a $1 million donation to the YMCA of Greater Seattle on behalf of the Bank of America Charitable Foundation. Joers joined Andrew Plepler, president of the Bank of America Charitable Foundation, and Norm Rice, Board Chair for the YMCA of Greater Seattle, at the Meredith Mathews East Madison YMCA to announce the grant. Bank of America is the largest corporate donor to-date in the YMCA's effort to significantly expand services through new comprehensive YMCA branches and improvements to aging facilities.

As state president, Joers will provide business, civic and philanthropic leadership for Bank of America throughout Washington. He will work to strengthen communication and integration among the company's local business lines, continuously improve the customer experience, grow revenue in the state and enhance Bank of America's presence in the community.

"Bank of America is very fortunate to have an outstanding leader, civic champion and experienced banker like Peter Joers to lead our team in Washington," said Denton. "As a market executive for The Private Bank, Peter has done an outstanding job building Bank of America's brand and reputation among his clients and in the community. I have no doubt his success will continue as he assumes greater responsibilities. We are very excited to have him step into this critical role."

Joers succeeds Marie Gunn, who is retiring after a 38-year career with Bank of America. "I cannot thank Marie enough for her leadership, energy and enthusiasm. She has had a remarkable career with Bank of America and we have enjoyed much success in Washington under her leadership. I wish her the very best in her retirement," added Denton.

In his role as state president, Joers will lead a cross-functional team of seasoned banking leaders with many years of experience in the community.

Since joining Bank of America in 1998, Joers has worked in senior leadership positions within Banc of America Securities and Bank of America's Global Wealth and Investment Management division.

Joers devotes a great deal of his free time to charitable and civic activities in Greater Seattle. He presently serves on the boards of the Seattle Art Museum, Washington Roundtable, Community Development Roundtable and Washington State Financial Literacy Public-Private Partnership.

Born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Joers has resided in the Seattle area for the past 34 years. He is married with three children.

Bank of America

Bank of America is one of the world's largest financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small and middle market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk-management products and services. The company provides unmatched convenience in the United States, serving more than 56 million consumer and small business relationships with more than 5,700 retail banking offices, more than 17,000 ATMs and award-winning online banking with nearly 22 million active users. Bank of America is the No. 1 overall Small Business Administration (SBA) lender in the United States and the No. 1 SBA lender to minority-owned small businesses. The company serves clients in 175 countries and has relationships with 98 percent of the U.S. Fortune 500 companies and 80 percent of the Fortune Global 500. Bank of America Corporation stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Bank of America Corporate Philanthropy

Bank of America has embarked on an unprecedented 10-year goal to give $1.5 billion to nonprofit organizations engaged in improving the quality and vitality of their neighborhoods. The Bank of America Charitable Foundation will give more than $200 million in 2007, making the bank one of the most generous corporate donors in the world. Bank of America approaches giving through a national strategy called "neighborhood excellence" under which it works with local leaders to identify and meet the most pressing needs of individual communities. Through Team Bank of America, bank associate volunteers contribute more than 500,000 hours each year to improve the quality of life in their communities nationwide. For more information about Bank of America Corporate Philanthropy, please visit http://www.bankofamerica.com/foundation.