PEOPLES BANCORP INC. – P.O. BOX 738 - MARIETTA, OHIO – 45750

                                                      www.peoplesbancorp.com

NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	Contact:	Mark F. Bradley
February 26 2009		President and Chief Executive Officer
		(740) 373-3155

PEOPLES BANCORP INC. DECLARES

FIRST QUARTER 2009 DIVIDEND

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MARIETTA, Ohio - The Board of Directors of Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ: PEBO) today declared a cash dividend of $0.23 per share payable on April 1, 2009, to shareholders of record at March 16, 2009.

The first quarter dividend represents a payout of approximately $2.4 million, based on 10.4 million shares outstanding at February 26, 2009, and is equal to the dividend declared for the fourth quarter of 2008.

Peoples Bancorp Inc. is a diversified financial products and services company with $2.0 billion in assets, 49 locations and 38 ATMs in Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky.  Peoples makes available a complete line of banking, investment, insurance, and trust solutions through its financial service units – Peoples Bank, National Association; Peoples Financial Advisors (a division of Peoples Bank) and Peoples Insurance Agency, Inc.  Peoples’ common shares are traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol “PEBO”, and Peoples is a member of the Russell 3000 index of US publicly traded companies.  Learn more about Peoples at www.peoplesbancorp.com.

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