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MCB announces two Directors elected to the Board of Directors

MCB announces two Directors elected to the Board of Directors

JOHNSON CITY, TENNESSEE – May 19, 2011 – The Board of Directors of Mountain Commerce Bank (MCB) is pleased to announce the addition of Earl “Wendell” Barnette of Wise, Virginia and Joel “Joe” Connell of Knoxville, Tennessee to the Bank and Holding Company Board.

Mr. Barnette is the owner and president of Freedom Ford which consists of four Ford-Lincoln automobile dealerships.  He also owns and operates Barnette Enterprise, Inc., and Double T, LLC with various business interests in Virginia, Tennessee and Kentucky. Mr. Barnette has more than 35 years of commercial and residential real estate construction, and development experience.  He is a member of the Wise County Chamber of Commerce, the University of Virginia’s College (UVA) at Wise Alumni Association and a past member of the Board of UVA at Wise.  He is also a member of the Wise, Virginia Lions and Kiwanis Club. Mr. Barnette is actively involved in several community non-profit organizations in Southwest Virginia.
 
Mr. Connell is the owner and president of Connell Properties, Inc., specializing in commercial and industrial brokerage. He is the president of Spanish Fork Properties, Inc. and CF Companies, Inc., as well as managing partner of Westbridge Development Group and CT Properties, Inc.   Mr. Connell has served on various boards, including Industrial Development of Knox County, State of Tennessee Building Finance Committee, State Board of Agriculture and Industry, Goodwill Industries, and the past president of the Tennessee Industrial Development Council.  In 2008, he was elected to the board of the Knoxville Utilities Board (KUB); he is a former vice-chairman.  He is currently on the board at the Helen Ross McNabb Center having served as chairman.

Connell is a 1976 graduate of the University of Tennessee with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and the University of Georgia, School for Executive Development.
“I look forward to working with Wendell and Joe to accomplish our mission and objectives for the coming years,” said Bill Edwards, president and chief executive officer for Mountain Commerce Bank. “We are pleased and fortunate to have them serve on the Board of MCB; their business experience and insight will be an asset to the Bank.”

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