The 2024 West Virginia Young Banker of the Year recipient is Tim Broyles, chief experience officer of Clear Mountain Bank. In his position, Tim is a member of the bank’s executive management team and leads the bank’s customer experience strategy across all banking channels and lines of business.
Tim began his career with Clear Mountain Bank as a teller in 2003 and has served the bank in numerous roles during his tenure, including director of digital banking and retail operations, AVP of retail banking, and teller operations manager. He also participated in Clear Mountain Bank’s management trainee program early in his career.
Tim is a graduate of Fairmont State University with a bachelor’s degree in business administration/finance and holds an MBA from West Virginia University. In addition, he is a 2010 graduate of the West Virginia Bankers Association (WVBA) School of Banking and participated in the WVBA Emerging Leaders Program. In 2021, Tim was named to the ICBA “40 Under 40: Emerging Community Bank Leaders” list — this award recognizes the nation’s up-and-coming community bank innovators and influencers who represent the industry’s future.
Recently, WVBA had the chance to talk with Tim about his career and life. The following are excerpts from our conversation.
In your career, what contribution have you made that is the most meaningful to you?
The contribution that is most meaningful to me has been helping to develop team members throughout my career, watching people gain experience and seeing them progress into successful careers. Even if a team member I have mentored leaves the bank, it is still rewarding to know that through collaboration, feedback or some kind of support, our working together helped play a role in their success. It is even more rewarding when a team member I’ve mentored stays with the bank, and I’m able to see them progress, take on additional responsibilities and build a career with us.
What motivates you to work?
Curiosity. I’m a naturally curious person in general. I’m the kind of person who will be watching a TV show and think to myself, “How does that work?” Then, I’ll start googling it, and I will keep researching it until I find out why things work the way they do.
My curiosity carries over into my work life as well. It’s been nice working at a community bank where I have the opportunity to say, “Why do we do things the way we do them?” or “Are there better, more meaningful ways to do things?” This might involve creating new processes or finding new ways to interact with customers.
What is your favorite thing about living in West Virginia?
I think the people in West Virginia are some of the most authentic and genuine people I know. I’ve been to a lot of different areas of the country, and there are pockets of very genuine people, but there is nothing like the people in West Virginia. I love the people here.
The scenery here is amazing as well. I used to work in branch operations and spent a lot of time on the road driving to our different branch offices. We have an office in a little town called Rowlesburg in the southern part of Preston County. To get there, you take Route 72 right along the Cheat River. The views are amazing, especially in the spring and fall.
Looking back on your career, what’s the highlight?
Looking back at my career in its entirety with the bank, it’s exciting to have been a part of the bank’s growth and success. I started working here in January 2003. We had five branch offices and around $160 million in assets. Here we are, 21 years later, with 11 branch offices, and the bank is getting ready to cross over that $1 billion asset threshold.
The highlight for me has been implementing new technology at the bank to better interact and communicate with our customers. Two projects in particular come to mind: One was when we implemented ITMs or interactive teller machines. The second was enacting digital prescreening for loans. It’s been a very successful program for us. We’ve seen incremental increases year over year in our consumer lending book of business, better cross-selling to deposit-only customers, and have leveraged the tool in customer acquisition efforts as well.
What is your favorite part of working in a bank?
I’ve always loved the community banking arena. Your job is not just your job; you’re going to wear many different hats on any given day because your resources are limited compared to what a larger bank would have. That might stress a lot of people out because they want to know their exact job. But not knowing is one of the things I’ve enjoyed. Every day holds something new: diversity in workload and a wide variety of experiences that can be applied in many different areas.
If you had to pick three songs to describe your work ethic, what would they be?
- “Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor: To me, it’s about perseverance and determination.
- “Don’t Stop Believin’” by Journey: This song reminds me of someone I used to work with who would always say, “Tim, just keep doing the right thing, and the results will come.”
- “The Final Countdown” by Europe: A lot of what I’ve done over the years is project management. It doesn’t matter if it’s a little project or a big conversion. You get to this point where it’s go-time. And I feel like I need to turn this song up in the background — this is the final countdown!
What is your favorite way to relax outside of work?
We’re crazy dog people. We have an 11-year-old golden retriever and a 1-year-old goldendoodle puppy. Our favorite thing to do is to travel and vacation with the dogs. We usually go to Hilton Head Island once or twice a year. It’s very pet-friendly and a wonderful place to visit.
Who is the most influential person in your life, how have they influenced you and why is he or she important?
My maternal grandfather, Neil Bruynis, was a very hard worker and that left a lasting impression on me. My grandparents immigrated from the Netherlands in 1955, soon after they were married. They were sponsored by a hog farmer in Illinois and spent their first few years in the state there working on his farm.
In 1958, they moved to Goshen, Ohio, right outside of Cincinnati. Through the years, my grandfather continued to work in agriculture and farming, and over time, was able to purchase three separate farms, amassing more than 600 acres into his farming enterprise, Hollandia Farms.
What is some advice you would give to those thinking about going into banking?
Working in a bank is not what you would expect it to be. It is very different than the old 9-5 workday that many people remember. Banking today is technology-based, fast-moving and ever-changing. You need to be prepared not only to embrace change but to be a catalyst of change. This is an exciting field to work in, and it makes a very viable career.
What are you most excited about for the future?
I’m excited and curious to see where the industry goes with regard to technology and customer trends.
