News

Tuesday, June 14, 2005

BankFIRST Appoints Darrell Kelley to Board

June 14, 2005

BankFIRST Bancorp, Inc. Appoints Darrell Kelley to Board of Directors

Winter Park, Florida – (June 14, 2005) – James T. Barnes, Jr., Chairman of BankFIRST Bancorp, Inc., announced today that Darrell Kelley, President and Chief Executive Officer of Enterprise Florida (EFI), has been appointed to the BankFIRST Bancorp, Inc. Board of Directors.

“We at BankFIRST are excited to have Darrell join our Board.  He is well-known among his friends and business associates as a strategic thinker and planner.  Those are two very admirable qualities that can greatly assist BankFIRST as we continue to grow in the Central Florida marketplace,” Barnes said.

Kelley brings far-reaching leadership and economic expertise to the position with BankFIRST Bancorp, Inc., namely through his involvement with EFI, the state's innovative economic development partnership.  In addition to his mission of supporting, attracting, and helping to create businesses in innovative, high-growth industries with Enterprise Florida, Kelley possesses nearly two decades of management in the telecommunications industry.

He served as president of three Sprint companies in Ohio, Texas, and Florida, and has long been affiliated with the EFI Board of Directors.  During his presidency on the Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission, he was responsible for launching a $17.4 million campaign, promoting Metro-Orlando as a high-tech business center.   Kelley's commitment to these and other organizations further affirms his position as a key contributor to the enhancement of business and development in Central Florida and beyond.   In addition, he has also served as president, chief operating officer and board member for MILCOM Technologies, an Orlando-based business incubator, specializing in the commercialization of defense-related technologies.

Kelley's community involvement is further strengthened through his time spent providing civic involvement and service to higher education.  In 1979, he was presented with the Distinguished Citizen Award by the Ohio Senate, and was appointed by then Governor George Voinovich to manage a task force designed to allow state government processes to operate more efficiently.  His role in government carried over to the state of Florida, where he also served on the Government Accountability to the People Commission.

Kelley earned his Master of Business Administration degree from Case Western Reserve University in 1981.