Exhibit 99
PEOPLES BANCORP INC. - P.O. BOX 738 - MARIETTA, OHIO - 45750
www.peoplesbancorp.com
NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Mark F. Bradley
- --------------------- President and CEO
September 14, 2005 (740) 373-3155
PEOPLES BANCORP INC. ANNOUNCES UPCOMING
EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT CHANGES
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MARIETTA, Ohio - Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ: PEBO) today announced
that effective January 1, 2006, David B. Baker, President of Peoples Financial
Advisors and Peoples Insurance Agency, Inc., will assume a non-executive role as
Senior Financial Advisor of Peoples Financial Advisors, a division of Peoples
Bancorp's subsidiary Peoples Bank, National Association ("Peoples Bank")
dedicated to serving clients' investment, trust, and retirement planning needs.
"Dave Baker has been a strong contributor to the success and growth of
our company," said Mark F. Bradley, President and CEO of Peoples Bancorp. "In
the last 5 years, Peoples Bancorp's revenues from investment and insurance
operations have tripled to over $12 million on an annualized basis."
In his new role, Baker, 59, will be responsible for directly serving
clients' financial planning needs and other special projects. Effective January
1, 2006, Baker will no longer serve as an Executive Vice President of Peoples
Bancorp or Peoples Bank.
Baker began his career in 1974 in Peoples Bank's Investment and Trust
Division (now Peoples Financial Advisors). Since 2000, Baker has also served as
President of Peoples Insurance Agency, Inc., a full service insurance agency
offering health, life, and property and casualty insurance to clients. Effective
January 1, 2006, Mark Bradley will assume the role of President of Peoples
Insurance Agency, Inc.
"Dave recently expressed an interest in lesser executive management
responsibilities, and his new duties in Peoples Financial Advisors will allow
him to do what he does best: serve the financial planning needs of many of our
clients," said Bradley.
Peoples Bancorp has appointed David T. Wesel, Vice President, to the
position of President of Peoples Financial Advisors effective January 1, 2006.
Wesel, 44, has served as Sales Manager of Peoples Financial Advisors since 2004
and has previous experience at a regional brokerage firm. Effective January 1,
2006, Wesel will become an Executive Vice President of Peoples Bancorp and
Peoples Bank.
Wesel has 20 years experience in executive management and sales
administration. He is a graduate of The Ohio State University and earned an MBA
from Ohio University in 1997. More recently, Wesel successfully completed all of
the requirements to be a Certified Trust Financial Advisor through the Institute
of Certified Bankers. Wesel is also the son of Joseph H. Wesel, Chairman of the
Board of Peoples Bancorp.
"I am confident David Wesel will be prepared to take on the next level
of leadership in our company," summarized Bradley. "I look forward to seeing
more positive changes as we execute on our strategies to deliver quality
financial products and services to our clients."
Peoples Bancorp Inc., a diversified financial products and services
company with $1.8 billion in assets, makes available a complete line of banking,
investment, insurance, and trust solutions through 50 locations and 34 ATMs in
Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky. Peoples Bancorp's financial service units
include Peoples Bank, Peoples Financial Advisors (a division of Peoples Bank)
and Peoples Insurance Agency, Inc. Peoples Bancorp's common shares are traded on
the NASDAQ national market under the symbol "PEBO", and Peoples Bancorp is a
member of the Russell 3000 index of US publicly traded companies. Learn more
about Peoples Bancorp at www.peoplesbancorp.com.
END OF RELEASE