NORWICH – Members of NBT Bancorp’s executive management team opened the NASDAQ Stock Market Friday morning at the NASDAQ MarketSite in New York City. This event took place the day before the company celebrated its 150th anniversary in Norwich on Saturday.

NBT Bancorp (symbol NBTB) has traded on NASDAQ since March 17, 1992. The company has had a compounded annual return of 13.67% between March 31, 1992, and March 31, 2006. During the opening ceremony, NBT Bancorp’s logo – and the signature of Martin Dietrich, the company’s president and chief executive officer – appeared on the seven-stories-high MarketSite Tower, the world’s largest stationary video screen. In the United States, the opening was broadcast on NASDAQ’s website and on CNBC, Fox News and Bloomberg Television. It was also broadcast in Brazil, India, Canada and China. NBT Bancorp opened for business on July 15, 1856, as the Bank of Norwich, a community bank based near the company’s current headquarters in Norwich.

NASDAQ is the largest electronic screen–based equity securities market in the United States, both in terms of number of listed companies and traded share volume. With approximately 3,200 listed companies, the market is home to leading companies in all areas of business. NASDAQ has been a major supporter of financial companies, and more than 80% of community banks are listed on it.