Pub. 1 2010 Issue 4

winter 2010 5 A M ESSAGE FROM THE P RESIDENT AND CEO By Joe L. Ellison I t has been some time since I held a public policy role affecting the bank- ing community. My 14 years in the West Virginia House of Delegates con- cluded after I decided in 1994 not to seek an eighth term in the legislature from my Wheeling home, Ohio County. But the dysfunction in Washington drew me back into politics this year. Though I have been engrossed in my business, a 40-person professional engineering and architectural design firm, I was compelled to give elective office another shot. Now that the voters have spoken, the enormous task of reversing course from the past two years begins. My four-and-a-half decades in the con- struction industry will serve me well in Congress, having been involved in $1.2 billion of projects over that time. In every one, bankers have been part- ners in helping make them a success. Now I will help make decisions affecting the banking industry and those served by it. West Virginia is fortunate to have my soon-to-be colleague Shelley Moore Capito as a member of the House Com- mittee on Financial Services. As I get acquainted with legislation of importance to banks, I know that the Dodd-Frank bill has many unwelcome consequences that I hope can be ad- dressed by the new Congress. I am no fan of Big Government. Banks should do what they do best: serve their customers and their communities unen- cumbered by unnecessary regulation. Please know that my door will be open to you. I look forward to an ongoing dialogue that fosters economic growth and business vitality for the markets you serve. Your Washington f ly-in will follow shortly after the new Con- gress is sworn in and not long before we hear the president’s State of the Union address and receive a new fed- eral budget. When I join you in July at your state convention I anticipate we will have made progress in getting Washington back on track. That is what this large new class of freshmen in the House were sent to do. Q I yield my column in this edition of the West Virginia Banker to introduce you to our State’s newest Congressman, David McKinley, who will represent West Virginia’s first Congressional District. I look forward to visiting him during my next trip to DC and having the opportunity to discuss the challenges facing the banking industry in WV and around the country. A Message from David McKinley, U.S. House of Representatives David McKinley was elected in November to the U.S. House of Representatives from WestVirginia’sFirstcongressionaldistrict.A graduate of Purdue University with a B.S. in civil engineering, David and his wife Mary have four children and six grandchildren. So from all of us at the WVBA Merry Christmas and Prosperous 2011 Joe, Debbie, Donna, Diane and Terri It is hard to believe that when you read this it will almost be Christmas and the end of another year.