Pub. 6 2015 Issue 3

www.wvbankers.org 8 West Virginia Banker Meet Your Chairman Alan Brill, President and CEO Capon Valley Bank Wardensville, WV How I got into the banking business: Actually, I started working at the bank the summer of my junior year in college. The bank was looking for someone to work during the summer months and also on weekends. Fortunately, I was close enough to home that I could work over the weekends, so I kept the job on a year round basis. I continued to work that schedule until I graduated from college and started full time employment as a tell- er later that year. I have been at the bank since then, working in various positions over the years, rising to the position of President and CEO in 2001. The one person who’s had the greatest influence on my career: My degree is in secondary education, so I did not start out thinking that I would become a banker. The opportunity for a job changed all of that. So, I had to learn everything about banking from the experience. Our former CEO, Les Barr, took me under his wing and taught me a great deal, not just about banking, but also about customer relationships, community involvement and employee morale. In 1973 the bank was well under $10 million in Assets, with just 7 employees including myself, all housed in one office, so he was able to teach me about all facets of the banking business. In those days, every- thing was done manually, so it was easy to see how one thing affected another. He is the Chairman of our Board and I still seek his advice occasionally. The best advice I received during my banking career: Although he did not practice his own advice very well, Mr. Barr advised me sev- eral times not to get overly burned out by community involvement and neglect my family. He told me numerous times about missing out on his children’s school func- tions and general family time because of obligations with organizations to which he belonged. I have tried to balance that by not overloading myself with too many of those obligations at any one time. Being the only bank in the community and at the forefront of community activity can make limiting involvement difficult at times. Advice you would give emerging leaders in the banking industry: The banking industry today is a chal- lenging one. It is difficult enough to turn enough profit to satisfy shareholders, but it also has to be done within the frame- work of a highly regulated environment. It seems that we have some group of auditors, regulators, compliance reviewers, or loan reviewers in our bank every other week throughout the year. The costs associated with the current regulatory environment are phenomenal. However, on the other hand it is very rewarding to look back over the years and see what your customers have been able to accomplish with the financing that you and your bank have been able to provide to them. Our communities would not be where they are today without our community banks. To sum it up in one sentence, banking is both challenging and rewarding. Hopefully, at the end of your career you will be able to say that the rewards outweighed the challenges. What are you looking forward to most as WVBA Chairman? In my banking career, I have met many great people, not only in our community, but also throughout the industry. My big- gest regret is that I have not had the time to visit many of the banks in our state, so I hope to use this as an opportunity to get out to many of the banks in our state and meet folks in their environment. Our state is very diverse and I know that the challenges for other parts of the state are very different from those in the eastern panhandle area where we are located. What do you see as your biggest challenge this year? Primarily as a result of Joe’s impending retirement in 2016 and our search for his successor, the association has embarked upon a strategic initiative of strengthening not only its financial position, but also its educational benefit to the membership, its influence upon the legislative processes