BLOOMINGTON, IN – May 5, 2004 — Monroe Bank will host its Third Annual Economic Forum on Thursday, May 13, bringing together Dr. Charles Trzcinka, the James and Virginia Cozad Chair of Finance at the Kelley School of Business, and Mr. Mark Vitner, Vice President, Senior Economist with Wachovia Securities. The two-part economic address will be held at the Ruth N. Halls Theatre in the Lee Norvelle Theatre and Drama Center on the Bloomington campus of Indiana University. The program begins at 4 p.m. The Bank will host a reception following the presentations.

Monroe Bank has a long history of organizing and sponsoring financial seminars, from its Financial Choices for Women Today seminar series to talks on investing, estate and retirement planning and identity safeguards for its Prime Time Club for seniors. The Bank continues the tradition with this third year of their Annual Economic Forum, aimed at providing local community members with access to prominent corporate executives, analysts, academicians and economists who will address national and regional business, political and economic issues.

“Our goal in presenting the Economic Forum is to bring experts in the financial field to discuss national economic issues, and how they relate to living and conducting business in our region,” said Ed Gross, Monroe Bank Vice President and Private Banker. The Private Banking Group of Monroe Bank hosts the Economic Forum each year. “We’re especially proud this year to present Dr. Trzcinka, an IU faculty member, alongside Wachovia Vice President Mark Vitner, both of whom have received national accolades for their work in Economics.”

Dr. Trzcinka will present “Investing in Mutual Funds: A Scandalous Affair,” a brief look at recent mutual fund scandals and corporations’ responsibilities to their investors. He will also explore how the audience can determine whether and how they might trust in mutual fund investing from this point on.

Mr. Vitner will follow with “So Much Growth, So Few Jobs: Will We Finally See Non-farm Job Increases?” a discussion of the state of the economy as it relates to real jobs growth.

While Dr. Trzcinka joined the faculty at the Kelley School in 2000, his academic and professional career spans over 20 years, including professorships at State University of New York at Buffalo and New York University. In addition, he was Director of the U.S. Commerce Department’s M.B.A. program in the People’s Republic of China, and Senior Economist with the Office of Economic Analysis of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). His articles dealing with mutual funds and institutional money management have been written up in Business Week, Money Magazine and the New York Times. He holds a B.A. in History from the University of Massachusetts, an M.A. in Economics, an M.S. in Management and a Ph.D. in Financial Economics, all from Purdue University.

Mark Vitner joined the Wachovia Corporation in 1993 and is Vice President, Senior Economist responsible for tracking U.S. and regional economic trends. His work has been featured in the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Business Week and USA Today, and he is a frequent guest on CNBC, CNN and “The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer”. Mr. Vitner is a distinguished lecturer/practitioner at the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia and is a member of the Governor’s Advisory Board of Economists for the Commonwealth of Virginia. He holds a B.B.A. in Economics from the University of Georgia, and an M.B.A. from the University of North Florida. In addition, he has completed the National Association for Business Economics (NABE) Advanced Training at Carnegie-Mellon University.

The Economic Forum is free and open to the public, however attendees should register in advance. Call (812) 331-3425 or email EconomicForum@MonroeBank.com to make a reservation, or call Ed Gross, Vice President and Private Banker, at (812) 353-7719 for more information. The Lee Norvelle Theatre and Drama Center is located at 275 North Jordan Avenue. Monroe Bank is providing free parking to Economic Forum attendees at the Indiana University Parking Garage on Jordan Avenue, across the street from the Theatre and Drama Center.

Monroe Bank was established in 1892 in Bloomington, Indiana and is the wholly owned subsidiary of Monroe Bancorp, an Indiana bank holding company headquartered in Bloomington. Monroe Bank offers a full range of financial, trust and investment services to more than 20,000 retail and commercial customers through offices in Monroe, Jackson, Lawrence and Hendricks counties. The Company's common stock is traded on the NASDAQ ® National Stock Market under the symbol MROE.