Pub. 2 2011 Issue 3

www.wvbankers.org 8 Title: President Financial Institution: First Community Bank Hometown: Premier, WV How I got into the banking business: Persistence – During my senior year of college, I started thinking about local companies that appealed to me as poten- tial places of employment. It wasn’t long before The Flat Top National Bank of Bluefield rose to the top of my list. One of the main reasons for wanting to work at the bank was because I attended the same church as Al Modena, the Senior Vice President of the bank, and I regarded Mr. Modena as a man of high integrity and respected him for all of the leadership roles he had with numerous Meet Robert L. Buzzo – Your 2011-2012 Chairman Robert Buzzo was elected 2011-12 Chairman of the West Virginia Bankers Association during our 118th Annual Convention community organizations. Incidentally, Al is also a past chairman (1994 - 1995) of the West Virginia Bankers Associa- tion. Just before graduation, I wrote Al, enclosing my resume, asking to be considered for employment at the bank and received a nice letter back stating that there were no positions available. After graduation I took a job in Wash- ington, D.C., mainly because it was my only offer in a tight job market in the early ‘70s, but I still felt I wanted to work for Flat Top National. I wrote Al again and asked him to keep me in mind if anything came up. I didn’t last long in Washington and was a bit homesick and an opportunity came up to work for an insurance agency in Bluefield. How- ever, banking was now my dream and, after several more letters to Al, and of course stopping him at church at every opportunity to plead my case, he finally arranged for me to interview at the bank. Luckily, there was a position open at the bank and I was hired as a teller. I’m not sure if Al saw potential in me or if I sim- ply wore him down but I am eternally grateful to him for opening the door for me to get into banking. I guess it has worked out well so far since I have been with the same bank or its successor for almost 39 years. One unique thing about my bank: The current First Community was formed in 1990 with the merger of First Community Bancshares, Inc. (Princ- eton) and Flat Top Bankshares, Inc. (Bluefield). The roots of the bank go back 137 years to the former Princeton Bank & Trust Company. We have grown to just over $2 billion in assets and have a 50+ branch network system in our four states of operation. While we are relatively large by community bank standards and have a very large footprint of branches, we have main- tained our community bank philosophy of personalized service and local deci- sion making. We feel that our bank is uniquely positioned to provide com- munity banking at its best while having the resources and diverse business lines to also serve our customers’ needs in in- vestments, insurance and trust services. In other words, we are a community bank that has it all. The one person who’s had the greatest influence on my career: I believe there are actually two people that have had the greatest influence on my career. As I mentioned earlier, Al Modena, who not only gave me the opportunity to get into banking, but also, through his example, showed me the importance of community service as a vital role of a community banker. I have been involved with numerous civic and community organizations over the years because Al taught me early on that what is good for the community is also good for the bank. The other person who greatly influenced my career was G. Ross Boyce, who was Senior Vice President and Cashier for the bank and my boss during my early banking career. Ross taught me the business of banking and the fundamental principles of being a manager. Under Ross’ mentorship, I was able to build a strong foundation in bank operations, accounting and, most