Wachovia Expands Commercial and Business Banking Teams With New Hires

PHOENIX, May 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Wachovia Bank is delivering upon its expansion goals in the Arizona market, adding nine new hires to its Commercial and Business Banking divisions. With this move, Wachovia broadens the local playing field and will continue to capitalize on a lucrative market for financial services.

"Wachovia is thrilled to be expanding our presence in Arizona, a state that in recent years has outpaced the national population growth average by a scale of three-to-one," said Bill Morgan, Wachovia's regional president for Arizona. "With such a booming population, there is clearly a strong need for financial services that accommodate commercial businesses at every stage of growth. To keep pace with such demand, Wachovia is strengthening its numbers with some of the best personnel Arizona has to offer."

The new Business and Commercial Banking teams are well-poised to serve the local market, including industries such as manufacturing, agriculture, technology, aerospace, and the service industry. As the population has escalated, more businesses have either started up or relocated to Arizona, attracted by the caliber of the workforce, proximity to ports in Los Angeles and Mexico, and the state's supportive business climate.

"We're very pleased to welcome Wachovia to our business community," said Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon. "From large companies to small businesses, our entire community will benefit from the presence of a new bank with a strong reputation for customer service and addressing the unique needs of the local market. I look forward to working with Bill Morgan and his team at Wachovia. I hope they embrace their new home, lend us their talent and help the Phoenix metro area continue to grow and prosper."

The expansion of Wachovia's new Business and Commercial teams follows closely on the heels of the company's announcement to anchor the One East Washington office tower at CityScape, downtown Phoenix's largest multi-use redevelopment project. Wachovia will occupy the new building in 2010 and will be in close proximity to not only the largest education and healthcare institutions in the state, but also to Fortune 500 corporations across all industry sectors.

Building out its team of Commercial and Business bankers, Wachovia's nine new hires include:

Business Banking -- Ryan Andersen as senior vice president and Business Banking director, responsible for building out the Business Banking team for all of Arizona. Andersen previously spent 13 years with Bank of America working and managing the business banking team. He is a graduate of Arizona State University. -- Anthony Guzman as vice president and senior relationship manager, responsible for building and managing a portfolio of Business Banking clients in the Arizona market. He previously spent 12 years with Bank of America working in the Consumer and Business Banking Divisions with an emphasis in the healthcare segment. Guzman is a graduate of the University of Phoenix in business accounting. -- David DeCero as senior vice president and senior relationship manager, serving as primary point person for clients' banking, cash management and financing needs. DeCero has 18 years of banking experience and previously worked for LaSalle Bank and Citibank. He is a graduate of Augusta College in Rock Island, Ill. -- Brett Plains as vice president and senior relationship manager, responsible for partnering with Business Banking clients in the Arizona Market, providing solutions to complex financial and banking needs. Plains has 10 years of banking experience, having previously worked for Bank of America and Wells Fargo. He is a graduate of Arizona State University. -- Josh Shade as vice president and senior relationship manager in Business Banking. He has nine years of financial services experience and previously worked in Commercial Banking for Chase Bank, as well as National City Bank. Shade has a bachelor's degree from Ohio Wesleyan University and an MBA from Case Western Reserve University. -- Shawn Kemp as vice president and senior relationship manager, specializing in agricultural and rural markets in Arizona. He has five years of financial services experience and previously worked for Wells Fargo. Kemp has a bachelor's degree in finance and agribusiness from Arizona State University. Commercial Banking -- Meg DelBrocco as senior vice president and senior relationship officer with the primary responsibility of developing Commercial Banking business. She has more than 21 years of commercial banking experience and has worked for JPMorgan Chase, Southeast Bank/First Union National Bank and Chemical Bank. DelBrocco is a graduate of College of the Holy Cross. -- Abran Villegas as vice president and relationship manager, responsible for the growth and maintenance of a Middle Market portfolio. Villegas has 10 years of commercial banking experience and previously worked for Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase. He is a graduate of Georgetown University and a current MBA candidate at Thunderbird School of Global Management. -- Nancy Reimann as senior vice president and senior relationship manager, responsible for building and managing a portfolio of commercial bank clients. She has more than 20 years of commercial, capital markets and asset-based experience and has been with Wachovia for more than five years. Reimann holds a bachelor's degree from Dickinson College and has an MBA from the University of St. Thomas. About Wachovia Corporation

Wachovia Corporation is one of the nation's largest diversified financial services companies, with assets of $782.9 billion and market capitalization of $75.3 billion at December 31, 2007. Wachovia provides a broad range of retail banking and brokerage, asset and wealth management, and corporate and investment banking products and services to customers through 3,400 retail financial centers in 21 states from Connecticut to Florida and west to Texas and California, and nationwide retail brokerage, mortgage lending and auto finance businesses. Globally, clients are served in selected corporate and institutional sectors and through more than 40 international offices. Our retail brokerage operations under the Wachovia Securities brand name manage more than $1.2 trillion in client assets through 17,900 registered representatives in 1,500 offices nationwide. Online banking is available at wachovia.com; online brokerage products and services at wachoviasec.com; and investment products and services at evergreeninvestments.com.