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Announcements: Economic Index 2Q 2005

OPTIMISM GROWS FOR LOCAL ECONOMIC OUTLOOK

Nashville, Tenn., Aug. 19, 2005 - Nashville businesses experienced a strong second quarter, and nearly half of the respondents of the Pinnacle Financial Partners Economic Index survey expect the current quarter to be even better.

A strong majority said their businesses met expectations in the second quarter for number of jobs (90 percent), capital investment (85 percent), revenue (76 percent) and profitability (69 percent). About 53 percent of these business leaders said they expected a similar 3rd quarter, and over 47 percent said they expected a moderately or substantially better third quarter.

Perceptions of the national economy were far better in the second quarter than in the first, with 58.4 percent of local business leaders rating the national economy as above average or excellent in the second quarter, compared to only 39.5 percent giving these ratings in the first quarter.

The quarterly survey was administered in the first two weeks of July. Pinnacle developed the Economic Index survey in partnership with the Vanderbilt MBA program at Owen in 2003 to measure local business leaders' views on the economy and their companies' performance.

"These results mirror what we are seeing in our business," said M. Terry Turner, Pinnacle president and CEO. "Loan demand, a strong indicator of optimism, continues to be up, and people generally seem more inclined to make investments than they would be if the economy were turning downward."

Among the key findings in the second quarter survey:

• For the first time in nine quarters, no one rated the Nashville economy as being worse than the previous quarter.
• Comparing results quarter-to-quarter, most saw increases in revenue (65 percent) and profitability (58 percent), while less then half (42 percent) experienced expense increases.
• Asked about their own "rainy day fund," a slight majority (51 percent) said they have enough money set aside to cover six months of expenses. Only eight percent have no liquid emergency fund.

The Second Quarter 2005 Nashville Economic Index and all previous reports are available free of charge at www.pnfp.com.

About Pinnacle Financial Partners

Pinnacle Financial Partners, the largest financial services firm based in Nashville, was founded in 2000 and offers a full line of financial services and advice to meet all the investment, deposit, and borrowing needs of small-to medium-sized businesses and their owners/manager. Pinnacle provides financial planning services by a certified financial planner (CFP ®), and many of the firm's senior financial advisors provide comprehensive wealth management services to help clients protect and distribute their assets.

The firm operates offices in the downtown, Hendersonville, Green Hills, Rivergate and West End areas of Nashville, and in Brentwood, Cool Springs and Franklin areas of Williamson County, Tenn.