Henry M. Kayes, Jr.
Chief Operating Officer & Regional President
United Bank Inc.
MAGGIE MATSKO
Photo by Rick Lee.
HENRY KAYES, chief operating officer and regional president of
United Bank, is a man whose dedication to his customers and
loyalty to the companies he has served have propelled him to
the top of the banking industry.
His career began in 1986 when he was hired as a bank teller
for First Union National Bank in North Carolina. “From that
job, I learned to be on time and not waste others’ time,” he
says. “I also learned to be reliable, deliver on what I commit
to and not be all talk and no action.”
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WEST VIRGINIA EXECUTIVE
With those lessons in mind, Kayes began building a lifelong
career in the banking industry. He served as the senior vice
president and market president for BB&T in West Virginia’s
Eastern Panhandle, and in 2001, he became a co-founder of
Centra Bank-Martinsburg, where he went on to serve as presi-
dent from 2001-2012 and participate in the overall company
growth to $1.3 billion in assets. He joined United Bank in 2012,
and in his current role, he oversees the business operations of
79 offices in West Virginia; Pennsylvania; Hagerstown, MD;