**EXHIBIT 31.1**

**CERTIFICATION**

I, Kit M. Cole, certifythat:

1.     I havereviewed this Annual Report on Form 10-KSB of Epic Bancorp;

2.     Based onmy knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a materialfact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, inlight of the circumstances under which such statements were made, notmisleading with respect to the period covered by this report;

3.     Based onmy knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial informationincluded in this report, fairly present in all material respects the financialcondition, results of operations and cash flows of the small business issuer asof, and for, the periods presented in this report;

4.     The smallbusiness issuer’s other certifying officer(s) and I are responsible forestablishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined inExchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the smallbusiness issuer and have:

(a)          Designed such disclosurecontrols and procedure, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to bedesigned under our supervision, to ensure that material information relating tothe small business issuer, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is madeknown to us by others within those entities, particularly during the period inwhich this report is being prepared;

(b)         [Paragraph reservedpursuant to SEC Release 33-8238]

(c)          Evaluated theeffectiveness of the small business issuer’s disclosure controls and proceduresand presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of thedisclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by thisreport based on such evaluation; and

(d)         Disclosed in this reportany change in the small business issuer’s internal control over financialreporting that occurred during small business issuer’s most recent fiscalquarter that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materiallyaffect, the small business issuer’s internal control over financial reporting;and

5.     The smallbusiness issuer’s other certifying officer(s) and I have disclosed, basedon our most recent evaluation of internal control over financialreporting,  to the small business issuer’sauditors and the audit committee of small business issuer’s board of directors(or persons performing the equivalent functions):

(a)          All significantdeficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internalcontrol over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adverselyaffect the small business issuer’s ability to record, process, summarize andreport financial information; and

(b)         Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employeeswho have a significant role in the small business issuer’s internal controlsover financial reporting.
| Date: March 30, 2005 | /s/ KIT M.  COLE                            |
|---------------------------|---------------------------------------------|
|                      | Kit M. Cole                                 |
|                      |  President and Chief Executive Officer |
|                      | (Principal Executive Officer)               |

 

----