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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Neil Cotiaux, FHLBank Pittsburgh: 412-288-2851; cell 412-335-9488
Joseph F. Patterson, Sterling Financial Corporation, 717-735-5651

Pennsylvania State Bank Wins Pillars Awards for Community-Building:
Annual Award from FHLBank Pittsburgh Highlights Small Business

CAMP HILL, PA, June 26, 2006 – Pennsylvania State Bank, a Camp Hill, PA-based community bank serving Dauphin and Cumberland counties and surrounding areas, is the 2006 recipient of a Pillars of the Community Award for outstanding leadership in the area of community commitment. The award was presented at FHLBank Pittsburgh’s annual meeting of regional community bankers in Lititz this week.

“Each year, FHLBank Pittsburgh honors a select group of members that have applied a multitude of resources in the relentless pursuit of community-building,” said John R. Price, president and chief executive officer of FHLBank, a wholesale lender of low-cost financing to community banks across Pennsylvania, Delaware and West Virginia. “These Pillars of the Community recipients exemplify outstanding leadership and a civic commitment that sets them apart. Homes become affordable, businesses create jobs, neighborhoods gain new vitality and families prosper, thanks to these very special banks.”

FHLBank Pittsburgh selected Pennsylvania State Bank, one of seven community banks in Sterling Financial Corporation’s Banking Services Group, as a 2006 Pillars award winner due to its exemplary work in supporting small-business growth. In 2005, Pennsylvania State Bank channeled nearly one-half million dollars in funding from FHLBank Pittsburgh’s Banking On Business Program – while adding $1.2 million more of its own financing – to four small businesses seeking to start up or expand. In all, the financing served to create or preserve 78 jobs for residents of central Pennsylvania. Also in 2005, the bank helped small businesses secure nearly $2 million in funding using U.S. Small Business Administration-guaranteed loans. And the bank secured funds for two other major revitalization projects as well.

In addition to its own financing, Pennsylvania State Bank’s employees and board members remained active in the community in 2005, volunteering and making charitable contributions to a number of local organizations such as ParentWorks Incorporated, the Technology Council of Central Pennsylvania and the Central Pennsylvania Multiple Sclerosis Society. In 2003, Pennsylvania State Bank ranked number one among medium-sized companies as one of the “Best Places to Work” in Pennsylvania.

In recognition of the bank’s contributions to the community, FHLBank Pittsburgh is making a $1,000 donation to ParentWorks Incorporated.

Established in 1932 to provide a steady stream of low-cost housing finance to its membership, FHLBank Pittsburgh has expanded its mission in recent years to include financing for business startup and expansion and a variety of community and economic development projects. The Bank is one of twelve FHLBanks, all cooperatively owned banks using private capital for a public mission.