Five Star Bank Adds Two Commercial Lenders

WARSAW, N.Y., July 22, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Five Star Bank (the "Bank"), subsidiary of Financial Institutions, Inc. FISI, today announced the hiring of Thomas A. Halter and Marytherese Hayes. They were each named Vice President, Senior Commercial Banker. Halter and Hayes are responsible for managing and cultivating existing and new commercial banking relationships across the Bank's operating footprint. Mr. Halter is based in Five Star Bank's Regional Administrative Center in downtown Rochester and Ms. Hayes' office is in the Bank's commercial lending offices at 300 Spindrift Drive in Amherst.

Thomas A. Halter Marytherese Hayes

Mr. Halter is an experienced banker and financial executive having served as a Vice President and Relationship Manager in Commercial Banking for HSBC Bank USA for more than a decade before transitioning to the role of CFO for Nymat Machine Tool Corp. He most recently served as CFO for R.W. Dake & Co., Inc.

Ms. Hayes is a well-known and respected commercial banker in Western New York with more than 30 years of experience at Bank of Akron, RBS Citizens Bank and HSBC Bank USA. She most recently served as Vice President and Commercial Relationship Manager at Evans Bank.

C&I Lending Executive and Buffalo Regional President Ted Oexle said, "We welcome Tom and Maryterese to Five Star Bank. Tom's banking and financial expertise and Marytherese's strong Western New York banking background position them well to make significant and positive contributions to our commercial lending team and our organization."

Mr. Halter received a BS in Accounting from LeMoyne College and an MBA from Canisius College. Ms. Hayes received a BS in Business Studies from State University College at Buffalo.

About Five Star Bank and Financial Institutions, Inc.

Five Star Bank provides a wide range of consumer and commercial banking and lending services to individuals, municipalities, and businesses through a network of more than 50 offices throughout Western and Central New York State. Additional Five Star Bank information is available at www.five-starbank.com, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

Five Star Bank, SDN Insurance Agency, LLC ("SDN"), Courier Capital, LLC ("Courier Capital") and HNP Capital, LLC ("HNP Capital") are subsidiaries of Financial Institutions, Inc. SDN provides a broad range of insurance services to personal and business clients. Courier Capital and HNP Capital provide customized investment management, investment consulting and retirement plan services to individuals, businesses, institutions, foundations and retirement plans. Financial Institutions, Inc. and its subsidiaries employ approximately 700 individuals. Financial Institutions, Inc. stock is listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol FISI. Additional information is available at www.fiiwarsaw.com.

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3dee7af1-2815-4a87-8fee-ffc39a0c9eea

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/08425a2a-7440-47ba-9958-eb04f3b6e022

Contact:
Shelly J. Doran
(585) 627-1362 or sjdoran@five-starbank.com