BAY MINETTE, Alabama — The First of Baldwin County, a division of The First, a national banking association, has announced the opening of its new Bay Minette branch office at 211-B E. First St. Longtime local banking professional Martha Ryan of Bay Minette has been named branch manager of Bay Minette office.  

The North Baldwin Chamber of Commerce was on hand to host a ribbon cutting for the new full service branch on Feb. 29 during the grand opening. Chamber Board members, staff and fellow chamber members stopped by to welcome Ryan and her team to downtown Bay Minette.

“We are very excited to be opening our sixth Baldwin County branch location in Bay Minette,” said W. Wade Neth. Alabama Regional president. “We now offer our full array of deposit and loan services to our personal and commercial banking customers in the North Baldwin market area. We are also delighted to have such a well-known, experienced banker as Martha Ryan, a Bay Minette native, join our team. Martha is eager to serve our growing customer base in North Baldwin County.”

George Noonan, senior credit officer for the bank’s Alabama Region and also a  Bay Minette native said “While we have enjoyed operating our commercial and personal lending office in Bay Minette for almost nine years, we are pleased to now offer all of our deposit services with convenient office hours from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily and including a full portfolio of checking, savings, CDs and money market accounts along with ATM 24-hour banking, Internet banking with bill pay and mobile banking.” 

In addition to the Bay Minette office, The First has offices in Gulf Shores, Orange Beach, Foley Fairhope and Daphne, along with 23 other branches in Mississippi and Louisiana. Founded in 1996, and headquartered in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, The First is a unit of The First Bancshares Inc. and is traded on NASDAQ Global Market under the symbol FBMS.