One Valley Bancorp, Charleston, W.Va., appointed Phyllis Huff Arnold, who is president and chief executive officer of its flagship One Valley Bank in Charleston, chief operating officer of the parent company.
The company said chief operating officer is a newly created post. Ms. Arnold, who retains her duties at the bank, also announced a series of hirings and promotions there.
She joined the company in 1973, then was West Virginia banking commissioner from December 1979 to June 1983.
She returned to the company as senior vice president of affiliate bank relations, was promoted to executive vice president of the bank in 1988 and then to bank president and CEO in 1991.
In 1994, she was promoted to executive vice president of the holding company.
Meanwhile, One Valley Bank hired Patricia L. Alexander to be vice president in the executive group and promoted Gail Pitchford Cochran to the same rank in executive banking.
The executive group includes the office of the president, and executive banking serves large corporations.
Ms. Alexander had been a corporate relationship manager at Bank One in Charleston, where she held the post of loan approver for business banking and corporate lending; before that she managed credit services and developed a loan review department at Commerce Bank and earlier was a loan officer for consumer and small-business lending at Charleston National Bank. She started as a commercial lender at One Valley Bank in 1978.
Ms. Cochran joined One Valley in 1989 as an executive banker and was promoted to assistant vice president in 1995.
One Valley also promoted Anne Clark to financial services officer in retail banking. Ms. Clark, based in Parkersburg, W.Va., had been an investment representative.
She joined the bank in 1991 from Atlantic Financial Corp., when One Valley bought it.
The bank also hired Jean G. Farmer as a small-business development officer and promoted Judy C. Whittington to small-business banking officer.
Ms. Farmer was marketing director and business development officer in charge of merchant services at City Holding Co.
Ms. Whittington was an administrative assistant.
