Tom Whaling has over 30 years of financial expertise and is a very active member of WVBA and numerous charitable organizations. He is the President and CEO of West Union Bank and is the 2023-2024 WVBA Chairman. We recently had a chance to sit down with Tom and get to know more about him. We would like to thank him for his time. The following are excerpts from our conversation. How did you start your banking career? In 1988, I was working as an internal auditor for the West Virginia Department of Highways and was going to school parttime at West Virginia University to get my MBA. After 13 months, I graduated and started looking for a job in the financial industry. I received and accepted a job offer from National Bank of Commerce Bank in Charleston, WV, and have been in banking ever since. I started out as an accounting officer and then became CFO of two banks. Then, in 2006, I became President of West Union Bank, overseeing all banking operations. I still have that job today. Are there any individuals who had a major impact on your career? When I worked at Commerce Bank, the CFO, Rick Wolford, took me under his wing. He gave me some good advice that has served me my entire career: Don’t let your job get in the way of your personal life. He believed in giving a hard day’s work, but when you leave work, you need to take care of your personal life. There has to be a balance between the two. At work, I try to be conscious and supportive of my employees’ needs. There are days when it is hard to leave home at home — children get sick or emergencies come up — we make due. We cannot hold our employees back from taking care of their families. I am proud of the caring and supportive atmosphere we have created in our bank. Do you have a favorite memory or experience of your career? Being elevated to the CEO position meant a lot to me. I have been able to build off of the work that my predecessors had done and grow our bank. We currently have five branches and have grown from $93,495,000 in Total Assets to over $253,000,000 since 2006. What advice would you give emerging leaders in the banking industry? Stay open to evolving career paths and wearing multiple hats, as they say. One day, you could be making a decision on a major expansion, and the next, you could be approving an overdraft. Banking is a great field with a lot of opportunities. There are so many things you learn and career paths that you can take that are rewarding both financially and professionally. Meet Your Chairman — Tom Whaling, West Union Bank 6 West Virginia Banker
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