FFKY First Financial Service Corp.

ELIZABETHTOWN, Ky., Oct. 1, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- First Financial Service Corporation (NASDAQ: FFKY) today announced that Senator Walter Dee Huddleston director of the Financial Service Corporation (the "Company") and its banking subsidiary First Federal Savings Bank of Elizabethtown, Inc. ("First Federal") has retired effective September 19, 2012.  His retirement caps over 46 years of service to the organization, including 15 years as Chairman.  Senator Huddleston will remain a part of the organization as a Director Emeritus. 

"Senator Huddleston's commitment and contributions to our organization for over four decades will be missed," said Steve Mouser, current Chairman of the Boards.  "However, we are very pleased that he will remain with the organization as a Director Emeritus."

Senator Huddleston is a former two-term member of the United States Senate. He began his professional career in broadcasting in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. Today he owns and operates Walter D. Huddleston Consulting, a legislative consulting firm located in Elizabethtown and Washington D.C. and is a former President of the Elizabethtown Chamber of Commerce and Rotary Club. Senator Huddleston has received the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency Medal of Honor and awards as the Outstanding Young Man of Elizabethtown and Kentucky. More recently he was inducted into the Kentucky Civil Rights Hall of Fame.

The Company also announced today the appointment of Gregory S. Schreacke to the board of directors of First Financial Service Corporation and its banking subsidiary First Federal Savings Bank.  Mr. Schreacke, who is a Certified Public Accountant, joined the organization as the Company's Chief Financial Officer in January 2004, serving in that capacity until 2008, when he was promoted to President of the Company and First Federal.  In February of 2012, he assumed principal management responsibility for the Company and First Federal.

"We are fortunate to have Greg join the board of directors," said Steve Mouser, current Chairman of the Boards.  "We have great confidence in his ability and look forward to working with him as a board member and as the leader of this organization for years to come."

First Financial Service Corporation is the parent bank holding company of First Federal Savings Bank of Elizabethtown, which was chartered in 1923.  The Bank serves the needs and caters to the economic strengths of the local communities in which it operates and strives to provide a high level of personal and professional customer service.  The Bank offers a variety of financial services to its retail and commercial banking customers.  These services include personal and corporate banking services, and personal investment financial counseling services.  Currently, the Bank serves six contiguous counties in central Kentucky through its 17 full-service banking centers.

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements about beliefs and expectations based on the information available to, and assumptions and estimates made by, management as of the date made. These forward-looking statements cover, among other things, anticipated future revenue, expenses, capital ratios, and the future plans and prospects of First Federal Savings Bank.  For a discussion of the risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ from these expectations and our other forward-looking statements, refer to First Financial Service Corporation's 2011 Annual Report on Form 10-K, including the "Risk Factors" section, and other periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and First Financial Service Corporation undertakes no obligation to update them in light of new information or future events.

First Financial Service Corporation's stock is traded on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol "FFKY."  Market makers for the stock are:

SOURCE First Financial Service Corporation