Neil Strickland

Independent Director

Chairman of the Conflicts Committee and the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee; member of the Audit Committee, the Strategic Planning Committee, and the Shareholder Relations, Communication, and Development Committee.

Neil H. Strickland was employed by Loyalty Group Insurance (which subsequently merged with America Fore Loyalty Group and is now known as The Continental Group) as an automobile insurance underwriter. From 1957 to 1961, Mr. Strickland served as Assistant Supervisor of the Casualty Large Lines Retrospective Rating Department. From 1961 to 1964, Mr. Strickland served as Branch Manager of Wolverine Insurance Company, a full-service property and casualty service company, where he had full responsibility for underwriting of insurance and office administration in the State of Georgia. In 1964, Mr. Strickland and a nonactive partner started Superior Insurance Service, Inc., a property and casualty wholesale general insurance agency. Mr. Strickland served as President and was responsible for the underwriting and all other operations of the agency. In 1967, Mr. Strickland sold his interest in Superior Insurance Service, Inc. and started Strickland General Agency, Inc., a property and casualty general insurance agency concentrating on commercial customers. Mr. Strickland is currently the Senior Operation Executive of Strickland General Agency, Inc. and devotes most of his time to long-term planning, policy development, and senior administration.

Mr. Strickland is a Director of First Covenant Bank located in Woodstock, Georgia. He is a past President of the Norcross Kiwanis Club and served as both Vice President and President of the Georgia Surplus Lines Association. He also served as President and a director of the National Association of Professional Surplus Lines Offices. Mr. Strickland is a past director of First Capital Bank, a community bank, and from November 2004 to November 2005 served as a director of CNB Holdings, Inc., a publicly traded bank, both located in Georgia. Mr. Strickland attended Georgia State University, where he majored in business administration. He received his L.L.B. degree from Atlanta Law School.