Henrico’s Essex Bank to lay off 51 employees in merger

The Henrico County-based parent company of Essex Bank will lay off 51 employees as a result of its merger with Charleston, West Virginia-based United Bankshares Inc., the parent company of United Bank.

The company filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) notice with the Virginia Employment Commission on Friday, Oct. 29, notifying them of the closure at Essex parent Community Bankers Trust Corp.’s offices in the Deep Run III building. The layoffs are expected to occur from Dec. 28 to Jan. 31 and include executive team members: the chief operating officer, the chief financial officer, the chief risk officer, the chief internal auditor and general counsel.

On June 3, the companies announced the $303.3 million agreement. If approved by shareholders on Nov. 16, the deal would create the nation’s 38th largest banking company based on market capitalization, worth about $29 billion in assets, according to a news release. Community Bankers Trust President and CEO Rex L. Smith III will be retained as regional president responsible for the existing Essex Bank locations in Virginia.

Community Bankers Trust had about $1.77 billion in assets as of Sept. 30. It has 18 branch offices in Virginia and six in Maryland. United Bank and its subsidiaries have 223 branches, primarily on the East Coast and in West Virginia and Ohio.