Mercantile Bank Corporation

Good morning, and welcome to the Mercantile Bank Corporation 2024 First Quarter Earnings Conference Call. All participants will be in listen-only mode. Should you need assistance, please signal a conference specialist by pressing the star key followed by zero. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. Please note, this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Nicole Clatter First Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer of Mercantile Bank. Please go ahead.

Good morning and thank you. Welcome to the Mercantile Bank Corporation's conference call and webcast to discuss the company's financial results for the first quarter of 2024. Joining me today is Bob Kaminski, President and Chief Executive Officer, Chuck Christmas, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, and Ray Reitzma, Chief Operating Officer, and the President of the Bank. We will begin with prepared remarks and a presentation reviewing the quarter's results and open the call to questions. Before we begin, it is my responsibility to inform you that this call may involve certain forward-looking statements, such as projections of revenue, earnings, and capital structure, as well as statements on the plans and objectives of the company's business. The company's actual results could differ materially from any forward-looking statements made today due to factors described in the company's latest Securities and Exchange Commission's filings. The company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements made during the call. If anyone does not already have a copy of the first quarter 2024 press release and presentation deck issued by Mercantile today, you can access it on the company's website at www.mercbank.com. At this time, I would like to turn the call over to Mercantile's President and Chief Executive Officer, Bob Kaminski. Bob?

Thank you, Nicole, and thanks to all of you for joining us on the conference call today. This morning, Mercantile released its first quarter 2024 earnings, which reflected a strong start to the year. For the quarter, Mercantile earned $1.34 per share on revenues of $58.2 million. We also announced a cash dividend of 35 cents per share, payable on June 19, 2024. Key themes demonstrated in this performance include solid core local deposit growth, strong asset quality, continuation of our strong commercial loan pipeline, and ongoing focus on near-term and long-term strategic initiatives. Ray and Chuck will have the full details on the first quarter performance shortly. For 26 years, Mercantile Bank has been setting the standard for what a relationship-focused community bank should be. Our customers are at the center of all that our team does. At Mercantile, we understand that the key to developing and maintaining long-term customer relationships is focusing on our customers and delivering what's best for them. We work diligently to understand customers' needs, and then craft solutions that provide them the tools to help them reach their financial goals. This is how Mercantile was built and continues to operate today. Many financial institutions seem to place a higher priority on advancing their products ahead of what is optimal for the client. Another tenet for Mercantile is the desire to develop strong partnerships within the communities we serve. This helps to make better places where we live and work. The manner in which we do business with our clients while operating as a strong corporate citizen will continue to promote and enhance the sustainability of our company and our communities. Those are my prepared remarks. I'll now turn the call over to Ray and then to Chuck for their comments. Ray?