Evans Bancorp, Inc. (the “Company”) (NYSE American: EVBN), a community financial services company serving Western New York since 1920, announced that following yesterday’s annual meeting of shareholders, two new directors were elected to Evans’ Board, Dawn DePerrior and Robert A. James. James E. Biddle, Jr., who has served as a director since 2001, did not seek re-election. With these changes, Evans’ Board will comprise fourteen directors, thirteen of whom are considered independent, and nine of whom have been elected in the past ten years.

“We are excited to welcome two highly experienced and accomplished leaders to Evans’ Board,” said Lee C. Wortham, Chair of Evans Bancorp’s Board of Directors. “Dawn’s vast knowledge and experience within information technology, cyber security, finance, strategy, and digitization, along with Robert’s expertise in diversity, equity and inclusion, and legal experience will further strengthen our Board’s depth and diversity. We look forward to their insights and valuable perspectives.”

Mr. Wortham added, “On behalf of the Board, I thank Jim for his numerous contributions, counsel, and incredible commitment to Evans over the past 22 years. We wish him the best in all his future endeavors.”

Ms. DePerrior brings over 40 years of technology experience and was most recently a Managing Director, Advisory Services, for Ernst & Young. She led multiple business transformation initiatives powered by technology and aimed at improving customer experiences and business results. A lifelong digital leader, Ms. DePerrior has led all aspects of information technology, including business transformation, cyber security, digitization, data, analytics, innovation, mergers and acquisition integration, finance and strategy. She serves on the board and is past chair of Villa of Hope and is a board member of North Coast Holdings and Greater Rochester Regional Health Information Organization (GR-RHIO). Previously, Ms. DePerrior was a member of the board of directors of Fairport Savings Bank. She will join the Audit and Enterprise Risk Committees.

Mr. James is vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion corporate strategies for Allegheny Health Network/Highmark Health, a $26 billion national, blended health organization based in Pittsburgh, PA. Prior to joining Allegheny Health Network and Highmark Health, Mr. James served in a legal advisory role with the Office of Minority and Women Inclusion at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. A practicing lawyer for more than 20 years, he spent several years facilitating Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) financings nationally for capital projects through a U.S. Department of Education program. Mr. James will join the Audit and Human Resource and Compensation Committees.

About Evans Bancorp, Inc.

Evans Bancorp, Inc. is a financial holding company and the parent company of Evans Bank, N.A., a commercial bank with $2.1 billion in assets and $1.8 billion in deposits at March 31, 2023. Evans is a full-service community bank with 18 branches providing comprehensive financial services to consumer, business and municipal customers throughout Western New York. Evans Insurance Agency, a wholly owned subsidiary, provides life insurance, employee benefits, and property and casualty insurance through eight offices in the Western New York region. Evans Investment Services provides non-deposit investment products, such as annuities and mutual funds.

Evans Bancorp, Inc. and Evans Bank routinely post news and other important information on their websites, at www.evansbancorp.com and www.evansbank.com.

Safe Harbor Statement: This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements concerning future business, revenue and earnings. These statements are not historical facts or guarantees of future performance, events or results. There are risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause the actual results of Evans Bancorp to differ materially from the results expressed or implied by such statements. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements include competitive pressures among financial services companies, interest rate trends, general economic conditions, changes in legislation or regulatory requirements, effectiveness at achieving stated goals and strategies, and difficulties in achieving operating efficiencies. These risks and uncertainties are more fully described in Evans Bancorp’s Annual and Quarterly Reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Evans Bancorp undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking information, whether as a result of new, updated information, future events or otherwise. 

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