National Bankshares CEO to retire

Blacksburg-based National Bankshares announced that its chairman and CEO, F. Brad Denardo, will retire June 30 from his position as CEO of the community bank holding company and its banking subsidiary, The National Bank of Blacksburg, which does business as National Bank.

Denardo will also retire from his position as chairman, president and CEO of National Bankshares Financial Services, the company’s wholly owned financial services subsidiary.

Succeeding him as CEO on July 1 will be Lara Ramsey, president of the holding company and the bank.

Denardo, who will continue to act as a consultant to National Bankshares and National Bank, has been CEO since 2017 and was president from 2017 through 2024. He joined the bank as a vice president in 1983 and has been an executive with the bank since 1989. He will remain board chairman of the holding company and bank.

“I am also proud of our accomplishments and the positive impact we have made for our customers, our communities, and our shareholders,” Denardo said in a statement. “Our success would not be possible without their loyal support. It has been a great pleasure to work with so many talented and dedicated employees during my career, and I look forward to continuing to work alongside them as chairman of the board and as a consultant.”

Ramsey joined National Bankshares in 1996 and was promoted to senior vice president of administration in 2011. In 2022, she was promoted to executive vice president and chief operating officer and in January she was named president of the company and the bank. Ramsey has managed the company’s investment, human resources, marketing, training, corporate administration and strategic planning functions during her career.

She credited Denardo for playing a key role in National Bankshares’ success for over 40 years.

“It has been an honor and a pleasure to work with Brad for nearly 30 years, and we are delighted that he will continue to serve as chairman of the board and as a consultant to our organization after retiring,” she said in a statement. “I am also humbled to have the opportunity to succeed Brad, and I look forward to carrying on the tradition of community banking excellence he has fostered.”

Headquartered in Blacksburg, National Bankshares is the parent company of National Bank, a community bank operating 28 full-service offices, primarily in Southwestern, western and Central Virginia and one loan production office in Charlottesville.