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A STRONG PARTNERSHIP: BELL MORTGAGE NOW A PART OF STATE BANK & TRUST

Both companies have outstanding reputations for customer service and a dedication to their employees, customers and communities.

Bell Mortgage, a 130-year-old, independent mortgage company, is now a division of State Bank & Trust, based in Fargo, North Dakota. The alliance combines the resources of the largest independently owned bank in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota with the tri-state area's largest private mortgage company.

All of our Bell Mortgage offices, with the familiar faces of our Bell Mortgage lending and management team, will remain the same. Gary Kirt, who has owned and led Bell Mortgage since 1980 and is now president of State Bank & Trust's Bell Mortgage Division, said he was looking for a partnership with a regional bank to help his company grow and adapt to the changing mortgage industry.

State Bank & Trust was the perfect match for Bell Mortgage. Both our companies have done well while others in the mortgage and banking industry have struggled during tough financial times. Our philosophy of taking care of our employees and customers, and giving back to the communities we serve, matches well with State Bank's culture.

Since it was founded in 1880, Bell Mortgage has funded more than half a million home mortgages, including $10 billion in mortgages in the last decade alone. In addition, Bell has built a reputation for progressive growth combined with outstanding customer service. Now, Bell will enjoy the added financial strength and resources of State Bank & Trust, and the bank will be able to offer additional mortgage-related products such as home equity loans, construction loans and other home mortgage services to Bell's customers.

Bell Mortgage currently has 180 employees at 28 mortgage offices in the Twin Cities area, Bozeman, Mont., and Phoenix, Ariz. State Bank & Trust has more than 500 employees at 14 full-service banking locations in Fargo-Moorhead-West Fargo, Wahpeton, N.D., and the Minnesota lakes area, as well as trust offices in Fargo, Bismarck and Boise, Idaho. Chartered in 1966, the bank has assets totaling more than $2 billion.