Stuart H. Lubow Joins Dime as Senior Executive Vic

BROOKLYN, N.Y., Jan. 05, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kenneth J. Mahon, Chief Executive Officer and President of Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (the “Company” or “Dime”) (NASDAQ: DCOM ), the parent company of Dime Community Bank (the “bank”), is pleased to announce today that Stuart "Stu" H. Lubow, former Chairman, President and CEO of Community National Bank, Great Neck, New York, has joined the bank as Senior Executive Vice President and head of Business Banking.

"Today Dime takes another step forward in its evolution toward becoming a full service community commercial bank. Stu shares our values and focus on the customer, and brings a unique skill set of starting and growing the commercial bank services necessary to producing an improved commercial bank-like loan and deposit mix," said Mr. Mahon. "Stu has been an extraordinary leader and has a proven track record of success throughout his career. As we enter the next phase of growing our commercial business and introducing more fee-generating products and services, Stu's extensive background, knowledge of the market, and deep customer relationships will be a significant benefit to our clients and our shareholders."

Reporting to Mr. Mahon, Mr. Lubow will be responsible for all the bank's direct relationship (non-broker) commercial business activities, including C&I loans, direct-sourced CRE loans, SBA loans, and corresponding transactional deposit accounts and fee-based income. "Stu is a seasoned bank executive who will integrate well with the successful credit culture that exists here at Dime," continued Mahon. Mr. Lubow added, "I am thrilled to join Dime Community, with its rich history and look forward to helping Dime evolve into a preeminent community commercial bank. These commercial services will well complement Dime's existing successful commercial real estate model."

According to Mr. Mahon, "Dime's broker derived commercial real estate division will remain under the management of Mr. Kirk Lloyd, Dime's newly-promoted Chief CRE Loan Officer. The broker community continues to be the backbone of commercial real estate brokerage in the New York area, and will always be an important component of our business."

Mr. Lubow has been a banking executive for over 37 years, most recently as Chairman, CEO, and President of Community National Bank, a full service community bank with nearly $1 billion in assets and 10 branches. Previous to that, he was Founder, CEO, and President of Community State Bank and prior to Community State Bank, Mr. Lubow held executive positions at Garden State Bank, Dollar Dry Dock Bank, and People's Bank, N.A. Mr. Lubow is a graduate of Moravian College, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Accounting.

Also joining Dime is Conrad Gunther, a former associate of Mr. Lubow at Community National Bank. He has been named Executive Vice President - Business Banking. Mr. Gunther is a career veteran in New York commercial banking and lending, and will oversee the management of Dime's relationship bankers.

Together, Messrs. Lubow and Gunther will be managing teams of relationship bankers on Long Island and in Manhattan, where Dime has plans to open two new service branches.

ABOUT DIME COMMUNITY BANCSHARES, INC.

The Company had $5.82 billion in consolidated assets as of September 30, 2016, and is the parent company of the bank. The bank was founded in 1864, is headquartered in Brooklyn, New York, and currently has twenty-five branches located throughout Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Nassau County, New York. More information on the Company and the bank can be found on Dime's website at www.dime.com .

Contact: Anthony Rose, Executive Vice President and Director of Investor Relations, 718-782-6200, extension 5260.