At its annual shareholders meeting on April 1st, Merchants & Marine Bank announced the creation of Canvas Mortgage, a new residential mortgage banking division. Canvas Mortgage will operate as a standalone division of the bank and serve the bank’s trade area of Mississippi and the Alabama Gulf Coast as well surrounding communities.

The new mortgage division will be led by Jonathan Shows and Sharon Rice, two of the region’s most accomplished residential mortgage leaders. Shows will serve as President, Mortgage Production, and Rice will be President, Mortgage Operations. Shows and Rice will be supported by a talented team of mortgage loan originators, underwriters and compliance officers.

“Mortgage lending is an increasingly critical and relationship-oriented part of community banking,” said bank President and CEO Clayton Legear. “By committing resources to create Canvas Mortgage, the Bank will have the opportunity to deepen existing customer relationships, attract new customers to our company, and help support the continued growth of the communities we call home.”

“We created Canvas Mortgage to be unique, with a focus on individualized service and providing the community with creative solutions to meet a broad range of home buying needs,” said Shows. “With over 100 years of experience in mortgage lending, our team knows how to help customers find the right solution for their home buying or refinancing needs. We believe customers will welcome the opportunity to turn to us first as their primary option for a mortgage loan.”

Canvas Mortgage will offer a range of mortgage products including conventional, FHA, VA and USDA loans. In addition, the bank will continue to offer in-house product options for unique situations where a secondary-market alternative may not best meet a customer’s needs. To learn more about Canvas Mortgage, or to obtain additional information on its product offerings, please visit www.canvasmortgage.com.

About Merchants & Marine Bank

Merchants & Marine Bank (M&M Bank), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Merchants & Marine Bancorp, Inc. (OTCQX: MNMB), is a full-service state-chartered community bank with more than $700 million in total assets. Merchants & Marine Bank operates 14 full-service branch offices across the Mississippi and Alabama Gulf Coast, as well as loan and deposit production offices in Hattiesburg. The Bank has a five-star, superior rating from BauerFinancial, and offers a full suite of traditional and electronic banking services for both personal and business clients. Canvas Mortgage is an operating division of Merchants & Marine Bank.

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