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Blue Ridge Bankshares hires industry vet as bank CEO

Blue Ridge Bankshares in Charlottesville, Va., has hired a veteran banker to serve as CEO of its bank.

The $2.9 billion-asset company said in a press release that Billy Beale will oversee Blue Ridge Bank, succeeding Brian Plum.

Beale was president and CEO of Community Bankers Bank from November 2018 to July 2020, where he remains on the board. Before that, he was CEO of Union Bank & Trust from 1991 to 2017.

Plum will continue to serve as the company’s president and CEO and will focus on broader strategy, technology and business line initiatives.

Blue Ridge “has grown from a small community bank to a leading Virginia bank with a robust deposit base, deep customer relationships and growing footprint,” Mensel Dean Jr., the company’s chairman, said in the release.

“As we considered the growth opportunities available to the bank, in addition to the increasing complexity and challenges in the banking industry, we believe it is important to add depth and experience to our team,” Dean added.

Last year, Blue Ridge entered into a written agreement with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency instructing the company to improve how it monitors fintech relationships. It recently hired Kirsten Muetzel, a former Fed executive, to serve as president of its fintech division.

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