Pub. 2 2011 Issue 3

fall 2011 9 Q Meet Robert L. Buzzo — continued on page 10 importantly, the art of dealing with people. Throughout my career I have always tried to adhere to the principle that Ross taught me and that is simply to treat people with respect and always be fair. Recent accomplishment: I have to say that being elected Chair- man of the WVBA is one of the greatest honors that I have had in my career. This organization has such a rich history of service to the banking industry and to even be included on the list of bankers that have served as President/Chairman is truly a privilege. I look forward to working with bankers throughout the State during my year as Chairman and I am very proud of the strength that West Virginia banks have shown during this recent economic cycle. First job: My first job out of college was with the S.S. Kresge Co. (predecessor to K-Mart) in Washington, D.C. I was selected to go through the management training program for Kresge and my first assign- ment was right in the middle of D.C. on Rhode Island Avenue. I can still re- member how petrified I was as a young man from Bluefield, WV, who had scarcely been out of town, moving to the metropolitan Washington area. The very idea of having to spend an hour and a half to commute to work and to shut- ter the windows of the store to prevent looting was completely foreign to me. My desire to live in the big city waned quickly and after about three months I came back home and began a long career of about four months with Metropolitan Insurance before entering banking. I joined the bank in 1973 and my first position was as a drive-thru teller. In those days there was no such thing as a management training program in small banks so if you were new to the business you started as either a teller or in the bookkeeping department. I remember my first supervisor, Sharon, was a real task master and put the fear of God in you if you ever thought about being out of balance. I was soon moved inside to the main bank to fill in for the head teller who had to take a leave of absence for a surgical procedure. As luck would have it, the head teller chose not to return and I was promoted to that position, unfortunately not because of my uncanny ability, but because I was able to lift the heavy bags of coin and none of the lady tellers wanted the job. Thus, I achieved my first promotion and first managerial position with the bank. I must say that working on the teller line in my early days gave me a great appreciation for the front line employees of the bank and the importance of their interactions with customers to the suc- cess of the bank. Biggest career break: My biggest career break occurred in 2000 when I was named President of –Tony Reitzel, Senior Vice President, BB&T Regional Loan Administrator, Winston-Salem, NC In any organization the key to advancement is knowledge and understanding—knowledge of the industry and the understanding of the interworking of your organization. For more than 60 years the Graduate School of Banking at LSU has provided bankers the knowledge and understanding they need to achieve their full potential. For more information about the school ask one of our 14,000+ graduates. Who is better qualified to take charge of your professional development than you? “The Graduate School of Banking at LSU offers graduate-level educational opportunities for professionals in our highly dynamic industry. The core curriculum is cross-disciplinarian offering of courses in Bank Financial Analysis, Economics, Law, Marketing, Regulatory & Asset/Liability Management with a capstone Bank Simulation Model. Additional specialty courses coupled with real-world case studies round out a comprehensive learning environment. Not only do the students share in the educational process and collaboration but also build life-long friendships. Louisiana State University provides excellent housing and classroom facilities in a beautiful campus setting. Without hesitation, I strongly recommend this program to other banking professionals.” www. gsblsu .org of your career Take Charge For information on the May 20-June 1, 2012 session , contact: Graduate School of Banking at LSU , 4273 Highland Road, Baton Rouge, LA 70808-4541 (888)278-0025