Johnson Named Chief Executive Officer of Choice Financial

The Choice Financial Board of Directors named Brian

Johnson as chief executive officer of the bank on February 2, 2011.

Johnson has been with the company since 1999, and most recently held the position of chief operating officer. He has also held the position of chief credit

officer, and served as

market president for the bank's Grand Forks and Walhalla locations. Johnson is a member of the

company's board of

directors, senior credit committee, and executive management team.

"Mr. Johnson has played a key role in the on-going growth and success of our company," states Tom Campbell, Choice Financial board chairman. "With his energy, passion and

unmatched commitment to his customers, we have

experienced significant growth and kept our

Midwestern roots at the core of our business."

Johnson, a native of

Walhalla, N.D., graduated from Jamestown College with a business

management and

economics degree. He serves on the Grand

Forks-East Grand Forks Chamber of Commerce board of directors and was named a Rising Star by Northwestern Financial

Review in 2006. Brian and his wife Necole reside in Grand Forks with their four children.

Choice Financial is a

premier provider of financial solutions with nine locations in North Dakota. The

company serves the

communities of Grand Forks, Fargo, West Fargo, Grafton, Goodrich,

Langdon, Petersburg, and Walhalla.