Farmers & Merchants Bank announces the appointment of Robert M. Benson III as vice president, business banker and manager of the Brannen Street branch in Statesboro. Benson, a 1997 graduate of Bulloch Academy, returns to his hometown of Statesboro after nine years with a large regional bank — most recently in Charleston, S.C. — four years in the Army, most recently as an infantry captain, and a BBA from The Citadel. The father of two says he is “excited to get back to Statesboro … the closest-knit community I know.”