Merrill Merchants Bancshares, Inc. Declares an Increase in Cash Dividend of 18%

  
    
  
  
    
      Edwin N. Clift, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Merrill 
      Merchants Bancshares, Inc. (the "Company") (NASDAQ:MERB), the parent 
      company of Merrill Merchants Bank, announced that the Company has 
      declared a cash dividend of $.20 per share on the Company’s 
      common stock for the first quarter of 2007. This is an increase of $.03 
      or 18% over last year’s first quarter dividend 
      and an increase of $.01 over the previous quarter’s 
      dividend. The cash dividend will be payable to all shareholders of 
      record as of April 13, 2007, and will be paid on April 30, 2007.
    
    
      The Company’s subsidiary, Merrill Merchants 
      Bank is headquartered in Bangor, Maine. Merrill Merchants Bank provides 
      consumer, commercial, and trust and investment services through its 
      eleven locations in Central and Eastern Maine. The Bank is a “Preferred 
      Lender” of the Small Business Administration.