NewBridge Bancorp : Robin Snipes Hager of NewBridge Bank wins ATHENA Leadership Award

February 25, 2016

GREENSBORO, N.C. - Robin Snipes Hager, senior executive vice president and chief administrative officer of NewBridge Bank, has been honored with the ATHENA Leadership Award® by the Greensboro Partnership.

The ATHENA Leadership Award is a national honor presented by the Greensboro Partnership to an individual who attains the highest level of professional excellence, and is committed to improving the quality of life for others and the advancement of women. Hager was formally recognized as the 2016 recipient of this prestigious award at the Annual Dinner of the Greensboro Partnership held at the Sheraton Four Seasons/Koury
Convention Center in Greensboro on Thursday, January 28, 2016.

Hager has been in the banking industry for 31 years and has served in many different roles including operations manager, retail sales manager and senior vice president of retail bank administration. She was named to her current role in 2012 and on February 5, 2016, NewBridge Bank announced that Hager will assume the role of chief administrative officer for Yadkin Bank when the merger of Yadkin Financial Corporation (NYSE: YDKN or 'Yadkin') and NewBridge Bancorp (NASDAQ:NBBC or 'NewBridge') closes in March. In her upcoming role, Hager will be responsible for human resources and benefits, marketing and corporate support for the combined bank. She will be based in Greensboro, N.C. and report to Scott M. Custer, Yadkin Bank's president and chief executive officer.

'Robin is a wonderful human being who cares about her community with a focus on the personal and professional development of women in the community,' said Donna Newton, director, workforce initiative, for The Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro. 'As she leaves leadership roles in the nonprofit world, she pulls alongside a millennial female to succeed her. She is always looking for opportunities to support younger women in their growth and advancement.'

In addition to her leadership duties at NewBridge Bank, Hager spends a great deal of time giving back to the Greensboro community, with a particular focus on raising awareness of women's issues and mentoring women to help develop their strengths. As the 2012-2013 Chair of the American Heart Association's Guilford County Go Red for Women campaign, Hager led a highly successful campaign raising more than $250,000 for heart disease education, awareness, research and legislation.

Ruth Heyd, executive director of the American Heart Association, said, 'When you're working with donors, volunteers and sponsors, you come across those few leaders who give you extra time. When Robin was our Go Red For Woman campaign chair, I was in her office every week talking about how we could improve the campaign, engage more women and work with more companies across the community. She gave me that time, and because of her vision and leadership, her legacy with Go Red For Women sits with me every day and is everlasting.'

As a member of the Executive Board of the Women's Resource Center of Greensboro, Robin has volunteered in numerous capacities including job-training workshop facilitation, financial literacy education, participation in one-on-one mentoring opportunities, and assisting with broadening its volunteer and donor base.

'Robin has enthusiastically shared her expertise, knowledge and compassion with numerous women who have reached out to the Women's Resource Center seeking assistance to move towards self-reliance,' noted Ashley Brooks, executive director of the Women's Resource Center of Greensboro. 'The fact that she chooses to support us personally - that it's not just a professional obligation on her part - is an extra bonus. She's a fantastic volunteer, a fantastic board member, and an all-around fantastic woman who's doing great things in our community.'

Robin grew up in Hickory, N.C. where she learned the banking business and the importance of serving others from her father, Charles Snipes, her mentor and retired president and chief executive officer of the former Bank of Granite. She graduated from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro with a bachelor's degree in Business Administration and is also a recent graduate of the American Bankers Association Stonier Graduate School of Banking. She married her husband, Michael, a native of Greensboro, 31 years ago. They have two children who also work in the financial services industry: Brian, a loan assistant for a community bank out of Danville, Va., and Laura, an accounting and marketing assistant for a local insurance company in Greensboro, N.C.

On October 12, 2015 NewBridge entered into a definitive merger agreement with Yadkin, pursuant to which Yadkin will acquire NewBridge.

Disclosures About Forward-Looking Statements

The discussions included in this document and its exhibits may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially. For the purposes of these discussions, any statements that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Such statements are often characterized by the use of qualifying words such as 'expects,' 'anticipates,' 'believes,' 'estimates,' 'plans,' 'projects,' or other statements concerning opinions or judgments of NewBridge and its management about future events. The accuracy of such forward-looking statements could be affected by factors including, but not limited to: the ability to obtain regulatory approvals and meet other closing conditions to the proposed merger, including approval by Yadkin and NewBridge shareholders, on the expected terms and schedule; delay in closing the merger; difficulties and delays in integrating the Yadkin and NewBridge businesses or fully realizing cost savings and other benefits; business disruption following the proposed merger; changes in asset quality and credit risk; the inability to sustain revenue and earnings growth; changes in interest rates and capital markets; inflation; client borrowing, repayment, investment and deposit practices; client disintermediation; the introduction, withdrawal, success and timing of business initiatives; competitive conditions; the inability to realize cost savings or revenues or to implement integration plans and other consequences associated with mergers, acquisitions and divestitures; economic conditions; the reaction to the transaction of the companies' clients, employees and counterparties; and the impact, extent and timing of technological changes, capital management activities, and other actions of the Federal Reserve Board and legislative and regulatory actions and reforms. These forward-looking statements express management's current expectations, plans or forecasts of future events, results and condition, including financial and other estimates and expectations regarding recently completed or proposed acquisitions and the general business strategy of engaging in bank acquisitions. Additional factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by forward-looking statements are discussed in NewBridge's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ('SEC'), including without limitation its annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K. NewBridge undertakes no obligation to revise or update these statements following the date of this press release.

Additional Information About the Proposed Merger and Where to Find It

In connection with the proposed merger, Yadkin filed with the SEC a Registration Statement on Form S-4 as amended, which included a joint proxy statement of Yadkin and NewBridge and a prospectus of Yadkin, as well as other relevant documents concerning the proposed merger. Investors and shareholders are also urged to carefully review and consider each of Yadkin's and NewBridge's public filings with the SEC, including but not limited to their Annual Reports on Form 10-K, their proxy statements, their Current Reports on Form 8-K and their Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q.

Contact:
Jillian Crone
Director of Marketing
336-369-0900
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