CHARLOTTE, N.C., April 30, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Park Sterling Corporation (Nasdaq:PSTB), the holding company for Park Sterling Bank, announced today that it has hired H. E. "Tripp" Tuttle, III, a veteran wealth management executive, to help develop the company's wealth management franchise in the upstate region of South Carolina. Mr. Tuttle will be based out of Greenville, South Carolina and will have the role of senior vice president and wealth management officer, reporting to Taylor T. Stokes, senior vice president and head of the Wealth Management Group at Park Sterling.
Mr. Tuttle has over 20 years of experience leading both sales and product management teams in the wealth arena, primarily in South Carolina. He was most recently an executive vice president and head of Palmetto Bank's Trust and Investment Group, based in Greenville. Mr. Tuttle previously held various officer positions at M.S. Bailey & Son Bankers and First Union National Bank. Mr. Tuttle earned his undergraduate degree from Presbyterian College, and is a graduate of both the Stonier Graduate Banking School at the University of Pennsylvania and the Cannon Trust School. He holds Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Series 6, Series 63 and Series 7 licenses.
Mr. Tuttle is active in his community, having served as Chairman of the South Carolina Bankers Association's Trust Committee, as a member of the Greenville, South Carolina Estate Planning Council, the Greenville Surgical Foundation, the Piedmont Mental Health Board, and the Cultural Fine Arts Board for Fountain Inn, South Carolina. Mr. Tuttle is also a previous instructor for the Cannon Trust School at both the University of Notre Dame and The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and is currently an instructor at the South Carolina Bankers School at Lander University.
"We are very excited to add a wealth management executive with Tripp's background and experience to our growing presence in Greenville," commented James C. Cherry, Park Sterling's chief executive officer. "Greenville is a high priority market for us, and teaming Tripp up with Dixon Harrill, our Upstate regional president, and David Shelnutt, head of our Asset-Based Lending Group, positions us well for continued success in this important market."
About Park Sterling Corporation
Park Sterling Corporation is the holding company for Park Sterling Bank, headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. Park Sterling's primary focus is to provide financial services to small and mid-sized businesses, owner-occupied and income producing real estate owners, professionals and consumers doing business or residing within its target markets. Park Sterling offers a full array of banking services, including a diverse wealth management group. Park Sterling is focused on building a banking franchise across the Carolinas and Virginia that is noted for sound risk management, superior customer service and exceptional client relationships. For more information, visit www.parksterlingbank.com. Park Sterling's shares are traded on NASDAQ under the symbol PSTB.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward Looking Statements
This news release contains, and Park Sterling Corporation and its management may make, certain statements that constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts and often use words such as "may," "plan," "contemplate," "anticipate," "believe," "intend," "continue," "expect," "project," "predict," "estimate," "could," "should," "would," "will," "goal," "target" and similar expressions. These forward-looking statements express management's current expectations, plans or forecasts of future events, results and condition. Actual outcomes and results may differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, any of these forward-looking statements. You should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statement and should consider all of the following uncertainties and risks discussed in any of Park Sterling's filings with the SEC. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and Park Sterling undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect the impact of circumstances or events that arise after the date the forward-looking statement was made.