Mellon 1st Business Bank Promotes F. David Hare to Vice Chairman/Director, Jeffrey R. McGraa to Chief Credit Officer

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Mellon 1st Business Bank (M1BB) has announced two senior level promotions -- F. David Hare has been named vice chairman and director and Jeffrey McGraa to chief credit officer. Both are veteran southern California bankers. "These promotions are part of our overall strategy to continue growing our organization and achieving record results each year," said Christopher D. Myers, M1BB chairman and chief executive officer. "One way to accomplish such goals is to take advantage of the knowledge, experience and strength of our key managers, such as Dave and Jeff."

As vice chairman of M1BB, Hare will be responsible for both line and support units of the Bank, and he also joins the organization's board of directors. He first joined M1BB in May 1996 and had served as an executive vice president and chief credit officer since August 1996. Immediately prior, he was president and chief executive officer of First National Bank, San Diego. His career also includes positions as regional senior vice president of City National Bank, Beverly Hills; a partner in Henry & Co., a venture capital investment firm; and corporate and middle market banking at Irving Trust Company in both New York and Los Angeles. Hare has served on the board of directors of the March of Dimes, both San Diego and Los Angeles chapters, and of Big Brothers of Greater Los Angeles. He is currently a director of California Community Reinvestment Corporation and has served on numerous corporate boards at middle market companies such as Ivonyx, Inc., Pacific Communication Sciences, Inc., Motion Analysis Corporation, Raytel Systems Corporation, and Spectragraphics Corporation. He has a bachelor's degree in English literature from the University of South Carolina, a master's degree in business administration from New York University and is a graduate of the Advanced School of Commercial Bank Management, Columbia University Graduate Business School. Hare currently resides in Tarzana.

McGraa, who will retain his executive vice president title, joined M1BB in February 1981 as vice president of commercial lending. He also has managed the asset-based lending, loan services and credit departments. Previously, McGraa was vice president of commercial lending at Union Bank. He currently sits on the board of Five Acres Boys and Girls Aid Association of Los Angeles and the Investment Committee of the California Economic Development Lending Initiative, a statewide lending consortium. McGraa, a native of Los Angeles and current resident of West Lake Village, received a bachelor's degree in business administration at California State University, Los Angeles.

Since its founding in 1981, M1BB has exhibited strong growth and record strong earnings. In the face of a challenging external environment in recent years, the organization has continued to post record earnings and record deposit growth. With nearly $3 billion in assets, Mellon 1st Business Bank provides full commercial banking services to businesses, professionals, entrepreneurs and business owners through its headquarters office and five regional offices in the growing Southern California region. It also is part of an extensive network of Mellon businesses already operating in the region under the umbrella of Mellon West, which provides financial products and services to individuals and businesses in 14 western states. Additional information on M1BB is available at http://www.mellon.com/mfbb.

Mellon Financial Corporation is a global financial services company. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, Mellon is one of the world's leading providers of financial services for institutions, corporations and high net worth individuals, providing institutional asset management, mutual funds, private wealth management, asset servicing, payment solutions and investor services, and treasury services. Mellon has approximately $4.2 trillion in assets under management, administration or custody, including $738 billion under management. Its asset management companies include The Dreyfus Corporation and U.K.-based Newton Investment Management Limited. News and other information about Mellon are available at http://www.mellon.com/.