Business First Bank Names Daniel Hereford Chief Information Officer, EVP

BATON ROUGE, La., March 15, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Jude Melville, president and CEO of Business First Bank, today announced Daniel Hereford as Chief Information Officer and Executive Vice President of the company. Hereford, a graduate of the University of New Orleans, has over 13 years of experience in the financial sector, most recently serving as director of information technology for First NBC Bank in New Orleans.

"I am so proud to have someone of Daniel's caliber join our Business First banking team," said Melville. "His experience successfully managing technological integration and change in a public company environment complement perfectly the opportunities we are fortunate to have in front of us. The intersection of technology and finance has never been more important for community banks to get right. I am confident Daniel is the person to ensure we get it right."

"It is incredibly exciting for me to join the Business First Bank team," Hereford added: "The convergence of technology and security with digital service is creating amazing opportunities for community banks. I look forward to enabling Business First Bank to fully realize the opportunities and continue our market growth."

About Business First Bank

Business First Bank is the largest community bank headquartered in Baton Rouge and one of the largest institutions headquartered in Louisiana. Business First Bank operates 18 offices, including 16 banking centers, one loan production office and one wealth solutions office in seven markets across Louisiana. Business First Bank provides commercial and personal banking, treasury management and wealth solutions services to private businesses and their owners, operators, executives and employees. It was chosen as one of American Banker magazine's Top 40 Banks to Work For in 2014. Business First Bank was also chosen as one of Baton Rouge Business Report's Top Companies to Work for in 2014 and 2015.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this news release may not be based on historical facts and are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements may be identified by their reference to a future period or periods or by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "may," "might," "will," "would", "could," or "intend." We caution you not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements contained in this news release, in that actual results could differ materially from those indicated in such forward-looking statements as a result of a variety of factors. We undertake no obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that occur after the date of this news release.

SOURCE Business First Bank