good addition to the Sweetwater bank, and we are pleased to have a location in the Trent community. We are honored that Johnny Trotter, President and Chief Executive Officer of Livestock Investors, Ltd., has accepted nomination for election as a new director of the Company at our annual shareholder meeting in April 2003. He is presently a director of the Hereford State Bank and a prominent business, community and cattle industry leader. Craig Smith, President and Chief Executive Officer of Hereford State Bank, retired at the end of 2002, after 31 years of service to the bank. Craig also served as a direc- tor on our Company board. Mike Mauldin, a well-known Texas Panhandle banker with over 23 years of banking experience, has been elected President and Chief Executive Officer of the Hereford State Bank to succeed Craig. After 12 years of service, Curtis Harvey, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, will be leaving the Company on March 31, 2003, to manage his new business interest in Fort Worth. J. Bruce Hildebrand has been elected to succeed Curtis. Bruce, a CPA, was a financial services audit partner at KPMG LLP, where he worked for 24 years. He is well-qualified for the Executive Vice President/Chief Financial Officer position due to his expe- rience with publicly held companies and financial institutions. The Board has also elected Gary L. Webb as Executive Vice President/Operations. Gary has over 15 years of experience in the banking and consulting indus- tries, and  will be managing our technology, operations, training and product development. Over the next several years, we plan to make  additional investments in technol- ogy in order to expand our services and gain operating efficiencies for the Company. We thank Craig and Curtis for their outstanding service and dedication to the Company, and we welcome the newest members of our management  team. We are very honored to have these experienced professionals join the Company. We also are pleased that Kenneth T. Murphy will continue as Chairman of the Board and in that role will focus on acquisitions. With this experienced management team, which includes our 10 bank presidents, we are poised for growth and continued strong results. We greatly appreciate both their efforts and those of our directors and employees. In 2003, we will continue to pursue opportunities to grow and enhance shareholder value. We plan to actively seek strategic acquisitions; look for additional branch locations in higher-growth areas to expand our existing banks; and increase our mortgage and brokerage operations. We cur- rently are in the process of forming a trust company that will consolidate our present  trust operations, provide greater expertise to our clients and allow us to expand trust services to additional markets. This year’s annual report features a few of the many peo- ple that we work for every day  – our shareholders and customers. As we grow the  Company , we promise that our dedication to you will not waver,  and that we will continue to focus on the importance of value and values. Thank you for your investment in and support for First Financial Bankshares. F. Scott Dueser President and Chief Executive Officer 5