Virginia Bankers Association names new chair

Thomas F. Cherry, president and CEO of James City County-based C&F Bank and its parent company, has been named chairman of the Virginia Bankers Association, the organization announced Tuesday.

During its annual business meeting, the VBA announced newly elected officers for its 2025-26 board of directors, including Cherry as chairman and Select Bank CEO Sherri A. Sackett as chairman-elect.

Cherry, who is succeeding immediate past chairman Victor Branch, president of the Richmond market for Bank of America, began his career with C&F as chief accounting officer in 1996. He was named president of C&F Bank in 2014, appointed to the boards of directors of C&F Financial and C&F Bank in 2015, and became CEO in 2019.

He has a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Old Dominion University and an MBA from William & Mary.

Sackett, who is slated to become VBA chairman in June 2026, is a founding member of Bedford County-based Select Bank and has more than 25 years of experience in the banking industry. Before joining Select Bank, she was a senior executive at Community First Bank in Lynchburg before it was acquired by American National Bank, now Atlantic Union. Sackett was appointed to the boards of directors for Select Bank Financial and Select Bank in 2021 and became CEO in 2023.

Sackett has a degree from the University of North Carolina and graduated from both the Virginia Bankers School of Bank Management at the University of Virginia and the Graduate School of Banking at Louisiana State University, where she currently serves on the board of trustees.

The VBA was founded in 1893 and advocates for the state’s banking industry, composed of 110 small, regional and large banks operating 1,826 branches and offices. The VBA says the state banking industry employs approximately 58,105 people and safeguards $296 billion in deposits.

Last year, the VBA and the Maryland Bankers Association merged to create the Mid-Atlantic Bankers Association holding company, which is headquartered in Glen Allen. MBA and VBA operate as subsidiaries and continue to have their own state association boards.