ebank.com Restructures Senior Management
Board of Directors Names James L. Box CEO; Board Member Bremer Named Chairman
ATLANTA, July 28 /PRNewswire/ -- In a move to respond to the uncertainty of the
capital markets, the Board of Directors of ebank.com, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board:
EBDC - news) today announced that it has restructured the company's executive
management team.
James L. Box, an experienced financial services executive, has been appointed
Chief Executive Officer of ebank.com, Inc., and will also serve as Chief
Financial Officer. Gary Bremer, one of the founders of the bank and
Vice-Chairman of the Board, has been named Chairman of the Board, replacing
Richard Parlontieri, who resigned to pursue other interests. Louis J. Douglass
III will continue to serve as the president of ebank.com, Inc.
"Financial services companies are operating in a difficult market environment,
and the challenges are compounded when you are also trying to invest in building
a leading Internet service," said Bremer. "While we continue to pursue
opportunities to grow our core business by focusing on small business customers
and the Internet as one of our delivery channels, we will reevaluate certain
strategies to emphasize our traditional banking business and reduce costs." "We
are not a dot.com company with an Internet-only strategy," added Louis J.
Douglass III. "ebank.com, Inc. has a healthy traditional banking business with
strong asset and deposit growth. We plan to continue building that business at
the regional level, while developing strategies to cost efficiently attract
those customers nationwide who prefer to do their banking on the Internet." "I
am looking forward to building on the early success of the technology and
marketing investments that have been made in ebank.com, Inc. to help the company
reach its full potential," said Box, who is 53 and a resident of Atlanta,
Georgia. "To do this, we must continue to be innovative and focused on our
long-term vision and the right business strategies, while maintaining strong
operational and financial controls."
"We have had to eliminate some senior level positions and begin reevaluating
certain business strategies," continued Box. "Implementing effective cost
reduction measures will allow us to allocate resources to the areas with the
greatest potential for achieving our objective to provide quality banking
products and services to existing and potential customers, whether its through
our brick and mortar facilities or the Internet."
During his 30 years in the financial services industry, Mr. Box has also held
several senior level banking positions at Georgia Federal Bank, First Union
National Bank and First Georgia Bank, where his career was centered in finance
and operations. Most recently, Mr. Box served as President of Ashford Investment
Group, a financial services consulting firm he founded in 1997, where he
provided corporate development services to such clients as Vestcom
International, Novus Systems, Inc., Bell & Howell, Lason and F.Y.I Inc. Mr. Box
was also Senior Vice President and Director of Corporate Development at First
Image Management Company, where he was responsible for creating and implementing
the company's business diversification strategy, including the general
management of the operations and financials of First Image's new business units.
About ebank.com, Inc.
Based in Atlanta, GA, ebank.com, Inc., a unitary thrift holding company, is
tailored to serve the financial needs of small businesses through the ebank
centers and the Internet. Through its subsidiary thrift, ebank, the company
provides a broad array of financial products and services to its small business
and retail customers, including its checking accounts, money markets, CDs, ATM
cards,
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equipment leasing, home loans, commercial loans, credit cards and bill payment
services. For more information, visit http://www.ebank.com.
Certain statements in this news release contain "forward-looking statements"
within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and
are thus prospective, such as statements relating to ebank.com's future business
strategies. These statements are based on many assumptions and estimates, many
of which are beyond ebank.com's control. The words "may," "would," "could,"
"will," "expect," "anticipate," "believe," "intend," "plan," and "estimate," as
well as similar expressions, identify such forward-looking statements. These
statements appear in a number of places in this release and include all
statements that are not statements of historical fact regarding the intent,
belief or expectations of ebank.com and its management. These forward-looking
statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may
differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a
result of risks such as (1) ebank.com's limited operating history; (2) whether
ebank.com can successfully implement its new business strategies; and (3)
whether ebank.com can manage its projected growth.
