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Kathleen O'Neill, Executive Vice-President of Small Business Banking at BMO Bank of Montreal today told a meeting of entrepreneur award winners that BMO has set its sights on being the top bank for small business in Canada.

"We have dramatically increased our small business market share over the past ten years and are well on the way to achieving our goal of becoming the number one bank for small heads of Canada's fastest growing small businesses. The event was held to honour the Top 100 Fastest Growing Companies in the country as determined by Profit Magazine. It was held at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management.

Ms. O'Neill noted that BMO Bank of Montreal takes a customized approach to serving the needs of business operators when designing its products and services rather than the more traditional one-size-fits-all approach that many financial institutions use.

"In today's highly competitive market, our business customers have highly specialized needs and our strategy is to make sure that business owners are offered a tailored approach to achieving their financial goals," she said. "In other words, small business owners must have access to the appropriate mix of expert advice and services to meet their specific needs at any given time whether that be on financing, cash flow management, mergers and acquisitions, succession planning financing, capital markets or franchise financing services."

"Whether your chief concern is to achieve or increase profitability, to expand into the U.S. or into overseas markets, to transition your business into a new growth area or to raise the capital in order to fund further internal growth, our job is to let you as business owners know you can rely on BMO to help and support you through the process, " said Ms. O'Neill. "Indeed, our goal is to be the only bank you and your company will ever need."

BMO Bank of Montreal is a member of BMO Financial Group (TSX, NYSE: BMO), one of the largest financial services providers in North America. BMO Financial Group serves clients across Canada and in the United States through its Canadian retail arm, BMO Bank of Montreal; through its Chicago-based Harris Bank, a major U.S. mid-west financial services organization; and through BMO Nesbitt Burns, one of Canada's leading full-service investment firms. BMO Financial Group is the second largest small business lender in Canada and one of the largest in North America.

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