Special Investment Election Form

The Defined Contribution (Plan A) of CBERA (the "401(k) Plan")

THIS IS A SPECIAL INVESTMENT ELECTION FORM TO BE USED IN CONNECTION WITH THE HOMETOWN FINANCIAL GROUP, INC. STOCK OFFERING.

PLEASE NOTE you must open a Schwab Personal Choice Retirement Account (“Schwab brokerage account”) online via your 401(k) Plan T. Rowe Price account at rps.troweprice.com prior to submitting this form unless you already have a 401(k) Plan T. Rowe Price Schwab brokerage account.  If you wish to place a stock order through the 401(k) Plan, you must fill out this Special Investment Election Form online at www.CBERA.com no later than [*] p.m., eastern time, on [*], 2026 (the “Deadline”).  A paper form will not be accepted.

SECTION A:  PARTICIPANT INFORMATION

SECTION B: SPECIAL ONE-TIME INVESTMENT ELECTION

Participants with existing 401(k) Plan account balances may make a special election to invest a portion of their account in Hometown Financial Group, Inc. common stock in connection with the stock offering of Hometown Financial Group, Inc.  The purchase price of the common stock in the offering is $10.00 per share.  You must subscribe for a minimum of 25 shares ($250).  Your subscription through the 401(k) Plan, plus any order you placed outside of the 401(k) Plan using a Stock Order Form, are together subject to a maximum purchase limit. Generally, no individual, or individuals through a single account held jointly, may purchase more than 50,000 shares of common stock ($500,000).  The prospectus describes an additional purchase limitation of 120,000 shares ($1,200,000) for an individual, together with associates.  Participants may elect to use up to 50% of their 401(k) Plan account balance minus any outstanding loan balances, each as of 9/30/2026 to purchase common stock of Hometown Financial Group, Inc. Please refer to your 9/30/2026 quarterly statement from T. Rowe Price available online (View Account Details > Statements & Documents) for your account totals. The  funds will be liquidated as soon as feasible after the Deadline and will be held in a short-term interest bearing trust account outside of the 401(k) Plan for several weeks until they are invested in common stock at the completion of the offering. During this time, you will not see this amount in your 401(k) Plan account balance. Note that there is a $12.50 quarterly Schwab brokerage fee that will be deducted from your 401(k) Plan core investment funds at the end of each quarter in which at least $1.00 of stock or cash is invested in the Schwab brokerage account. This order form relates only to the Schwab brokerage account within the 401(k) Plan and placing an irrevocable stock order through the 401(k) Plan.

Indicate below the dollar amount of your 401(k) Plan account balance to be used to purchase common stock of Hometown Financial Group, Inc. in the stock offering.  The amount of your 401(k) Plan account that you designate to be used to purchase common stock of Hometown Financial Group, Inc. will be liquidated from your core investment funds and sources (pre-tax/post-tax/Roth/employer contributions) on a pro-rata basis. This excludes any money in the Schwab brokerage account. If you would like to utilize some/all of the money currently in your 401(k) Plan Schwab brokerage account, you must liquidate your Schwab holdings first and move the cash from Schwab into one of the 401(k) Plan’s core investment funds. Also note that a maximum of 90% of your total 401(k0 Plan account balance can be in the Schwab brokerage account, including the amount of shares in your requested transfer below.

I elect to transfer $

of my 401(k) Plan account core investment funds to

purchase Hometown Financial Group,  Inc. common stock in the stock offering.

I understand that the above amount may not exceed 50% of my total account balance minus any outstanding loans, each as of 9/30/2026.  If this amount is not available in the core investment funds on the day that funds are liquidated, then the maximum amount available will be liquidated.

SECTION C: IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS

Your election to invest a portion of your 401(k) Plan account in Hometown Financial Group, Inc. common stock is IRREVOCABLE.  After the submission of this form, the amount liquidated in accordance with Section B above will be transferred to an interest-bearing cash account held outside your 401(k) Plan account, pending the completion of the stock offering.  You will not have access to the amount placed in the interest-bearing cash account during the stock offering.  Following the completion of the stock offering, you will have the ability, through your 401(k) Plan Schwab brokerage account, to diversify out of your investment in Hometown Financial Group, Inc. common stock or purchase additional shares, subject to applicable banking and securities laws.  If you are unable to purchase all shares of Hometown Financial Group, Inc. common stock for which you subscribed because the stock offering is oversubscribed, following the conclusion of the stock offering, the trustee will return unused funds including accumulated interest to your Schwab brokerage account in the form of cash (Schwab Cash Feature), which you may invest at your discretion.

SECTION D: PURCHASER INFORMATION AND PURCHASE PRIORITY

Subscription Offering – Check the box that is applicable, as of the earliest eligibility date.

Community Offering – Check the box below only if the above Subscription Offering section does not apply and you:

Please list below the  bank deposit account(s) (individual, joint owner, IRA, certificate of deposit) you had with TruNorth Bank (or its predecessor banks).

Note: Failure to list all of your accounts at TruNorth Bank may result in the loss of part or all of your stock allocation in the event of oversubscription.  

Account Title (Names on Accounts)

Account Number

SECTION E: PARTICIPANT AUTHORIZATION

I certify that I have received a copy of the Prospectus of Hometown Financial Group, Inc. that provides detailed information with respect to the stock offering of Hometown Financial Group, Inc. common stock and the accompanying Prospectus Supplement relating to the election to direct investments under the 401(k) Plan to Hometown Financial Group, Inc. common stock.  I understand that the value of the investments may fluctuate over time and that risks are associated with investing in the investment options I have selected.  Furthermore, I authorize the 401(k) Plan administrator to execute my directions as set forth above.  I understand these directions are irrevocable.

If you need assistance or have any additional questions, please contact Stephanie Vincelette at (413) 779-2409.

PLEASE REVIEW YOUR INPUTS BEFORE SUBMITTING.

Once you click SUBMIT, your elections are IRREVOCABLE and cannot be changed. Any future submissions for the same participant will be disregarded. You will receive an email confirmation of your submission.

Please click the SUBMIT button to submit this election form.