Merchants Bancshares Declares Dividend

SOUTH BURLINGTON, VT-Merchants Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ: MBVT), the parent company of Merchants Bank, announced today that its Board of Directors declared a dividend of 28 cents per share, payable February 19, 2009, to shareholders of record as of February 5, 2009. Merchants plans to release earnings on or about January 28, 2009.