Independent Banker - October 2022 - 70

CONNECTIONS TRAILBLAZER
Clear Mountain Bank
president and CEO
Dave Thomas says
a nimble mindset
toward lending is
critical for success. In
2021, the bank was
named West Virginia
Community Lender of
the Year.
products so that we can get the next
generation of customers started off on
the right foot, " Thomas says.
Clear Mountain's collaborative
spirit extends to peer banks, too.
The bank is a member of and is
represented on both state bank trade
associations in West Virginia. Thomas
serves on the Community Bankers of
West Virginia's board of directors and
will become its chairman next June.
In addition, Clear Mountain is
one of 15 members of TopNet, a
cooperative of community banks
from across the Mountain State that
discusses and addresses ways to
achieve financial stability for their
because the world's changing at a
pretty rapid pace. "
He sees the responsibility of looking
" upward and outward " as one that
can be shared among the bank's 168
employees. " I think where you get the
best ideas is through collaboration,
through teamwork. That's just kind of
a cultural philosophy that we have, "
he says. " We're blessed to have a lot
of talented folks within the bank, so
I'd really be selling us short if I didn't
take advantage of all the great ideas
that our team members have. "
An open door for innovation
To that end, four forward-thinking
bankers from different areas of
Clear Mountain meet regularly to
consider how the bank can innovate
on different fronts, including
technologically and culturally.
The quartet, dubbed the Embers
Group, present ideas to Thomas and
the senior management team for
consideration.
They don't work in a vacuum,
however. The group seeks
perspectives about fresh approaches
to innovation from local business
leaders who are outside the banking
industry. They have also organized
an innovation challenge with prizes
to gather actionable ideas from
their colleagues.
A team member participating in
that competition had the idea to
create a financial literacy program
for local high school students, and it's
become a focus of the Embers Group.
The community bankers are working
through technology options that could
be incorporated into the effort, and
they have conducted focus groups
to understand students' perceptions
of banking.
" It's a financial literacy program
that we hope to tie into some bank
68 Q ICBA Independent Banker Q June 2022
October 2022
customers and communities.
" The nice part about community
banking is we do consider ourselves
part of the same community banking
family, " Thomas says. " So, we're not
afraid to get together and talk openly
about what's going on in our banks
and how we can help each other. The
group was particularly helpful as we
were going through the pandemic and
had a lot of unique challenges. " 
Mindy Charski is a writer in Texas.
QUICK STAT
60%
of Clear Mountain Bank's
loan portfolio comprises
commercial lending,
primarily to small
businesses.
Independent Banker - October 2022

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