Big Changes at PriorityOne Bank

PriorityOne Bank's Odean Busby Appointed as Executive Chairman; Robert Barnes as President and CEO

Odean Busby Robert Barnes

Magee, MS --- PriorityOne Bank announced that its board of directors has appointed Odean Busby as Executive Chairman of the Board and Robert J. Barnes as President and Chief Executive Officer. Both Busby and Barnes have served in executive management positions with PriorityOne for many years. Mr. Busby will continue to serve in numerous capacities throughout the bank and Mr. Barnes will assume the day to day management responsibilities of the organization.

Busby joined PriorityOne Bank as President & CEO in1980. He has served in this capacity,and later as Chairman of the Board, for the past 31 years. The bank under his leadership has grown to over $510 million with 11 branches in five counties in South Mississippi. Also operating under the PriorityOne umbrella are PriorityOne Mortgage, PriorityOne InsuranceAgency, and PriorityOne Financial Services.

Busby currently serves as Treasurer of the Mississippi Bankers Association, Director of First National Bankers Bank, Baton Rouge, LA,Chairman of the Mississippi Guaranty Pool Program, Director of Simpson County Economic Development Foundation, Director of  Health Trust Foundation, and as a re-nominated member of the Board of Trustees of William Carey University.

A graduate of  Taylorsville High School and Jones County Junior College, Busby also earned a degree in Banking and Finance from the University of  Southern Mississippi. He is a graduate of the Mississippi School of Banking, which is held at the University of  Mississippi, and the Graduate School of Banking at Louisiana State University.

He and his wife, Glinda are the parents of two children and three grandchildren. They are both active members of First Baptist Church,Magee, MS

Robert J. Barnes joined the bank as a teller in 1983 while attending the University of Southern Mississippi. After graduating with a BSBA in Banking and Finance, he continued with the bank as a loan officer. Since then he has served as Branch Manager, Division President and as the Chief Lending Officer for the bank. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of PriorityOne Bank, PriorityOne Capital Corporation and Copiah-Lincoln Community College Foundation.

Barnes is Past President of the Simpson County Development Foundation, the Magee Chamber of Commerce and the Magee Lions Club. Actively involved in civic activities, Barnes has served as Chairman of  Magee Adopt-a-School program and as a founder of the Youth Leadership program for Simpson County. He is a graduate of Magee High School, Copiah-Lincoln Community College, and the Graduate School of Banking at Louisiana State University. Barnes and his wife, Melissa are the parents of two daughters and three grandchildren. They are both active members of First Baptist Church of Magee.

PriorityOne Bank, based in Magee, Mississippi, operates in ten Mississippi communities: Collins, Seminary,
Hattiesburg, Magee, Mendenhall, Richland,Brandon, Pearl,Pelahatchie, and Morton. PriorityOne Mortgage also has mortgage loan origination offices in Hattiesburg, Collins, and in Brandon, Mississippi. The bank has assets of approximately $510 million.