GULFPORT, Miss., Jan. 25, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Hancock Holding Company (Nasdaq:HBHC) officials today announced the company's nominating committee appointment and subsequent board approval of Anthony J. Topazi, Mississippi Power Company's president and chief executive officer, as a Hancock Holding Company director.
Topazi joined the Hancock Bank board of directors in 2004.
"We are very pleased with the appointment of Anthony Topazi to Hancock's holding company board. His leadership, integrity, business acumen, and steadfast commitment to our community will further strengthen our Gulf South business presence," said Hancock Holding Company Chairman of the Board George A. Schloegel.
Topazi, a Birmingham, AL, native, became Mississippi Power Company's 10th chief executive leader in January 2004. Previously an executive vice president at Southern Company Generation and Energy Marketing, he began his Alabama Power career as a cooperative education student engineer and rose to numerous executive positions in the company's Birmingham and Western divisions. As chair of the Tuscaloosa County, AL, Industrial Development Authority, he assumed a primary role in recruiting to Alabama the first Mercedes-Benz automotive assembly plant outside Germany.
Topazi chairs the Infrastructure Committee of the Governor's Commission on Recovery, Rebuilding, and Renewal; Momentum Mississippi -- a public-private economic development partnership designed to boost the state's economic future; and the Gulf Coast Business Council. He previously served on the Blueprint Mississippi steering committee and co-chaired the economic development work team. Topazi currently serves on the Mississippi Economic Council board of directors, as vice chair of the Mississippi Partnership for Economic Development, and as chair-elect of the Mississippi Gulf Coast Chamber of Commerce. He also serves on the boards of directors for MAST, Inc., and the Gulf Coast Community Foundation and on the Nature Conservancy of Mississippi board of trustees. He is a member of the de Toqueville Society of United Way of America.
Hancock Holding Company -- parent company of Hancock Bank (Mississippi), Hancock Bank of Louisiana, and Hancock Bank of Florida -- has assets of $6.1 billion. Founded in 1899, Hancock Bank stands among the strongest, safest financial institutions in the United States and is the only financial services company headquartered in the Gulf South to rate among the top 20 percent of America's top-performing banks. Hancock offers comprehensive financial solutions through more than 140 banking and financial services offices and more than 130 automated teller machines across South Mississippi, Louisiana, southern Alabama, and the Florida Panhandle. Additional corporate information and on-line banking and bill pay services are available at www.hancockbank.com.
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