FirstMerit Corporation Media Contact: Rob Townsend (Media Relations Officer)
Phone: 330-384-7075

Akron, Ohio, April 1, 2009  -- As the Cavaliers’ most successful season in team history surges towards the playoffs and the race for Most Valuable Player heats up, FirstMerit is campaigning for its hometown player LeBron James. Each evening as the sun sets, the south side windows of FirstMerit’s headquarters tower spell “MVP” for all to see. In support of LeBron’s selection as the NBA MVP, the lighting display will shine throughout the rest of the season which ends April 15th with a home game against Philadelphia.

In addition Friday April 3rd will be “LeBron for MVP” Day in FirstMerit branches.  Customers can be photographed emulating LeBron’s crowd-pleasing pre-game ritual of throwing powder in the air. FirstMerit is inviting everyone to stop by and show their support.

“Lebron and the Cavaliers are having a great season and FirstMerit wants to raise the excitement level even higher,” said Julie Anne Grossi, Executive Vice President of Retail. “We’re lighting up the night sky for Lebron, just as he and the Cavs have lit up his fans and all of Northeast Ohio. We hope our customers will join us in supporting LeBron as MVP.”

About FirstMerit
FirstMerit Corporation is a diversified financial services company headquartered in Akron, Ohio, with assets of $11.1 billion as of December 31, 2008 and 160 banking offices and 182 ATMs in 25 Ohio and Western Pennsylvania counties. FirstMerit provides a complete range of banking and other financial services to consumers and businesses through its core operations. Principal wholly-owned subsidiaries include: FirstMerit Bank, N.A., FirstMerit Mortgage Corporation, FirstMerit Title Agency, Ltd., and FirstMerit Community Development Corporation.