Benchmark Community Bank, parent announce next CEO

Kenbridge-based holding company Benchmark Bankshares and its bank, Benchmark Community Bank, will have a new leader at the start of the new year.

Jay A. Stafford, president and CEO of the holding company and CEO of Benchmark Community Bank, will retire Dec. 31. He will also retire from the bank’s and company’s boards of directors, according to the Nov. 21 announcement.

“It has been an honor to have spent my entire banking career at Benchmark Community Bank,” Stafford said in a statement. “I’ve had a truly fortunate and unique experience of working for one bank for over 35 years. I take pride in having been a part of Benchmark’s growth and consistently strong financial performance, while contributing to growing a bank from two branches with $30 million in assets to 17 branches with over $1 billion in assets.”

E. Neil Burke, currently executive vice president and chief financial officer of the bank and assistant secretary and treasurer of the company, will succeed Stafford on Jan. 1, 2024.

“I am so appreciative to the board of directors for this opportunity and to Jay for his mentorship over the years,” Burke said in a statement. “The banking industry has changed significantly in the past 20 years, and I look forward to working with our customers and employees to incorporate time-tested financial practices with innovative technology that allows us to better serve our markets while staying true to who we are as a traditional community bank.”

Burke, who joined Benchmark in 1999 as a branch officer, has been in his current role since April 2017. Before that, he served nine years as senior vice president and CFO.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Bridgewater College and an MBA from Syracuse University. Burke attended the American Bankers Association’s Stonier Graduate School of Banking in 2004 and the University of South Carolina’s Graduate School of Bank Investments and Financial Management program in 2006.

Burke has chaired the Virginia Bankers Association’s CFO Committee since 2021. He also serves on the GO Virginia Region 3 Project Review Committee.

Elizabeth T. “Beth” Beale joined Benchmark as executive vice president in September and will succeed Burke as CFO. She previously served as executive vice president and CFO for Hampton-based Old Point National Bank, beginning in July 2019. Before Old Point acquired Citizens National Bank in 2018, Beale was its executive vice president and CFO.m Beale has a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Elon University and is a member and past chair of the Virginia Bankers Association’s CFO Committee.

Founded in 1971, Benchmark Community Bank operates 17 banking offices in Southern Virginia and northern North Carolina. At the end of 2022, the bank reported $1.12 billion in assets and $13 million in net income.