Taylor Capital to Expand Mortgage Lending Operations

""Taylor Capital Group, Inc."":http://www.taylorcapitalgroup.com/, is initiating a major expansion of its mortgage division. The group recently announced plans to double the number of branches for ""Cole Taylor Mortgage (CTM)"":http://www.coletaylormortgage.com/, which serves as the company's lending unit through Taylor Capital subsidiary, ""Cole Taylor Bank (CTB)"":http://www.coletaylor.com/.

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To facilitate CTM's growth, the organization is hiring more than 60 additional retail mortgage professionals, most of whom will

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join the company from ""Amera Mortgage's"":www.ameramortgage.com/ locations in Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio. The new staffers will represent a 20 percent increase in personnel for CTM.

Mark A. Hoppe, president and CEO of CTB, stated of the expansion plans, ""Since its inception in late 2009, Cole Taylor Mortgage has proven to be an important source of revenue and income diversification for the Bank.├âÔÇÜ├é┬á This expansion will provide CTM with a significant increase in its retail operations and greatly enhance the organization's mortgage banking capabilities.""

Contributing his thoughts on the company's decision to bolster its mortgage lending efforts, Willie Newman, president of CTM, noted, ""Retail lending is a key component of our strategy to grow and diversify our sources of production and revenue.

""As part of our efforts to expand our retail channel and provide us the ability to maximize opportunities in the markets we serve, we are pleased to welcome Mark Janssen, the CEO of Amera Mortgage, and his outstanding team to Cole Taylor Mortgage,"" added Newman.