GCBS Greene County Bancshares (MM)

Greene County Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ/NM:GCBS) today announced that it has been added to the Russell 2000(R) Index as part of the annual reconstitution of that index, which took effect at the market's close on Friday, June 24, 2005. The Company also will be included in the new Russell Microcap(TM) Index. "We are very pleased that Greene County Bancshares has been selected to be part of the debut of the Russell Microcap(TM) Index and to join the Russell 2000(R) and Russell 3000(R) indices," said Stan Puckett, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "Given the reliance that investors of all sizes place on the Russell family of equity indices, both directly and indirectly through benchmarking, we believe our company's inclusion in these three prominent listings will help raise our visibility among retail and institutional investors and provide us with the opportunity to expand our shareholder base. Considering the growth we have experienced in recent years and our recent expansion initiatives in Middle and East Tennessee, inclusion in these Russell products signifies another milestone for Greene County Bancshares as we work to expand the reach of our bank across our strategic market region." Produced by the Frank Russell Company, the Russell 2000(R) index is a subset of the Russell 3000(R), which measures the performance of the 3000 largest U.S.-based companies ranked by market capitalization. The Russell 2000(R) is an index of the 2000 smallest companies in the Russell 3000(R) list. The Russell Microcap(TM) Index, comprising the smallest 1,000 securities in the small-cap Russell 2000 Index(R) plus the next 1,000 smaller securities, measures the performance of the micro cap segment, which represents less than 3% of the U.S. equity market. On July 1, 2005, the Frank Russell Company will publish the final listing of companies constituting its newly rebalanced membership lists for these indices. Greene County Bancshares, Inc., with total assets of approximately $1.3 billion, is the holding company for Greene County Bank, headquartered in Greeneville, Tennessee. Greene County Bank, founded in 1890, now has 41 branches throughout East and Middle Tennessee, one branch in Bristol, Virginia, one branch in western North Carolina, and a trust services office in Lebanon, Tennessee. Greene County Bank does business in Washington County, Tennessee as Washington County Bank; in Blount County and Knox County, Tennessee as American Fidelity Bank; in Sumner County, Tennessee as First Independent Bank; in Rutherford County, Tennessee as Rutherford Bank and Trust; in Sullivan County, Tennessee as Sullivan County Bank and First Bristol Bank; in Hamblen County, Tennessee as Hamblen County Bank; in McMinn County, Tennessee as Bank of Athens and Bank of Niota; in Hawkins County, Tennessee as Hawkins County Bank and Bank of Bulls Gap; in Lawrence County, Tennessee as Bank of Lawrence County; in Cocke County, Tennessee as Cocke County Bank; in Loudon County, Tennessee as Community Bank of Loudon County; in Monroe County, Tennessee as Community Trust Bank; in the City of Bristol, Virginia as First Bristol Bank; in Davidson County and Williamson County, Tennessee as Middle Tennessee Bank & Trust; and in Wilson County, Tennessee as President's Trust. In addition, Greene County Bank also conducts separate businesses through three wholly owned subsidiaries: Superior Financial Services, Inc., a consumer finance company; GCB Acceptance Corporation, a consumer finance company specializing in subprime automobile lending; and Fairway Title Co., a title insurance company. This news release may contain forward-looking statements regarding Greene County Bancshares, Inc., as defined in Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. All forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty and actual results could differ materially from the anticipated results or other expectations expressed in the forward-looking statements. A discussion of factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements is included in the Greene County Bancshares, Inc. filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.