Tom Rokisky retiring from CNB Mark Harrell will be bank’s new president

Thomas F. Rokisky, president and CEO of CNB Bank, Inc. for the past 16 years, will be retiring on January 2, announced Charles S. Trump, chairman of the bank’s board of directors.

Rokisky will continue to serve as president and CEO of the bank’s parent company, CNB Financial Services, Inc., and as a director of both CNB Financial Services, Inc. and CNB Bank.

Mark D. Harrell, CNB senior executive officer, has been chosen by the board of directors as the bank’s new president/CEO, Trump said.

40 years in banking
Rokisky has more than 40 years of community banking experience and has served in senior level positions for much of this time.

A graduate of Fairmont State College, he started his banking career at Lowndes Bank in Clarksburg as administrative assistant to the president.

While there, he attended the Graduate School of Banking at University of Wisconsin. He rose within the ranks at Lowndes to become executive vice president and secretary of the board of directors before moving to Berkeley Springs in 1990 with his wife Sharon to work for CNB, then known as Citizens National Bank.

Rokisky was hired by CNB as executive vice president and chief operating officer. He was elected to the board of directors in 1993 and in 1996 was appointed the company’s president and CEO.

“He has provided strong and steady leadership for CNB for more than 20 years,” said board chairman Trump.

“Throughout his tenure as president and CEO of the company, he has led by example, setting high standards for ethics, integrity and hard work. His vision has been a key in the successes which CNB has enjoyed over the last two decades,” Trump said.

With Rokisky as its chief executive, the bank grew from $109 million in assets in 1996 to more than $280 million in assets today. Loans have grown by $91 million and deposits by $150 million while the book value of the company’s stock has increased by 182%, Trump said.

Much of this financial success has been attributed to Rokisky’s commitment to expanding bank services for customers. In 1993, he was instrumental in establishing the Trust/Investment Department, which now manages more than $35 million in assets.

Rokisky oversaw construction of each branch office location, including one in Morgan County and three in Berkeley County at Hedgesville, Martinsburg and Spring Mills.

He also oversaw acquisition of the Hancock, Md. branch office from Mercantile Bankshares in 2004.

The number of personnel now employed with the company stands at 93, double from when Rokisky first joined CNB. He considers the employees to be “the bank’s greatest asset.”

Rokisky has been active in community affairs. He is a member and past president and director of the Berkeley Springs-Morgan County Chamber of Commerce. He is a member of the Hancock Chamber of Commerce and the Town of Bath’s Economic Development Committee.

He is also a director of United Way of the Eastern Panhandle and Hospice of the Panhandle, as well as former president of the Berkeley Springs Rotary Club. He serves on the financial committee of St. Vincent DePaul Catholic Church in Berkeley Springs.

He previously served as a director of the Warm Springs Public Service District board, which oversees the Berkeley Springs sewer system.

Rokisky is well known in state banking circles and serves as chairman of the Personnel Committee of the Allegheny Retirement Plan, a retirement pension system for 13 community banks in West Virginia.

He was also an instructor of banking and finance courses at Fairmont State College. More recently, he became administrator for TopNet, a network of presidents and CEOs of independent community banks throughout West Virginia.

He is a member of the West Virginia Community Bankers Association and the West Virginia Bankers Association.

Rokisky said he has benefited during his CNB career from the guidance, support and confidence of the bank’s board of directors, and from friendships and good professional relationships with bank customers.

“I consider myself to be very fortunate to be associated with such an outstanding organization,” he said.
While the banking industry has seen numerous changes, Rokisky feels there will always be a need for a community bank.

The new president
Mark Harrell, the bank’s new president and CEO, joined CNB in January, bringing with him more than two decades of banking experience.

Harrell is a graduate of Towson University, where he earned a degree in finance and economics, and of the Pennsylvania Bankers Association School of Commercial Lending and the Maryland Bankers Association Advanced School of Executive Management.

He previously served as assistant vice president of First National Bank of Maryland and as vice president of Hagerstown Trust. More recently, he served as president of Centra Bank of Hagerstown, a position he held from 2007 until his appointment at CNB.

Harrell and his wife Patricia are now Berkeley Springs residents and plan to become active members of the local community.

“I look forward to working with the excellent team of directors and employees at CNB, and I am excited about the future of the bank,” he said.

Harrell said Rokisky has shown superb leadership during the transition.

For his part, Rokisky said he is confident that CNB, with Harrell in charge, will be prepared to meet the challenges ahead.