BRUCETON MILLS -- Brian Thomas took the helm of two family businesses by hard work, not by birthright.

The 44-year-old Bruceton Mills native is now president and CEO of Clear Mountain Bank after working 20 years at the institution his family helped found in 1903 as Bruceton Bank.

Thomas is different in that he also is president of Insurance Centers Inc., which he purchased from his father in 1998.

He got his start working summers during college as a teller at Bruceton Bank's Kingwood branch, but graduation from the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business didn't mean an automatic promotion.

"My father was president of the bank at the time," Thomas said. "Here I am, a newly minted MBA, and my father says, 'Sorry, you have to start as a teller.' It was probably one of the best things that could've happened to me.

"It was a great way to get started. For one, it was a way to start learning all of the different roles and jobs in the bank. I think tellers have one of the most important jobs, maybe the most difficult job, in the bank."

He said he credits small-town and farm values in his background for shaping him into the businessman he is.

"I think the values that West Virginians hold have hopefully prepared me for what I do today," Thomas said.

"I think West Virginians work hard. There's a work ethic in West Virginia. They have an attitude of, 'Don't tell me I can't do something. I will find a way to make it work.' I think people in West Virginia are generally good, honest people who want to do the right thing.

"Work hard, do the right things, don't be afraid to get your hands dirty," he said. "I like to get my hands dirty. I don't like titles. I don't want people to think I'm unapproachable."

It was under Thomas' leadership that Clear Mountain Bank came about to reflect the combination of Bruceton Bank with The Terra Alta Bank.

"We put two banks together in 2005," Thomas explained. "We combined Bruceton Bank and Terra Alta Bank into a single company and rebranded it Clear Mountain Bank. What a lot of people don't know is, since 1987, both companies were co-owned. The Terra Alta Bank was part of our company since 1987.

"At the time, it was the right decision to operate two different banks. Over time, what we found was it was getting increasingly expensive to run two different banks so close together in proximity.

"If we had to prepare for a bank examination, we had to prepare for two bank examinations. If we had to have an accounting firm audit the bank, we had to audit two banks."

What's more, customers of one bank could not go to the other bank to make deposits.

"The name was probably the most challenging part of the process," Thomas said. "Terra Alta Bank was a proud bank in a proud community. Bruceton Bank was a proud bank in a proud community. As we've grown and opened branches in Oakland, Md., and Morgantown, it's been a bit of a challenge to have the name of the bank tied to a town or geographic area. Let's seek a name that talks about our region so everybody feels like this is their bank."

Clear Mountain Bank operates 11 branches in north-central West Virginia and western Maryland.

But, thanks to leading-edge technology, its reach goes even farther. It boasts customers in Charleston because of remote branch capture.

The businesses, just like each teller window in a Clear Mountain branch, have shoebox-size scanners that make a picture of a check or deposit slip or other transaction paper and transmit it. So businesses that deposit a lot of checks never have to actually visit a branch.

"It has allowed us to expand the hours we accept deposits for same-day credit to 6 p.m.," Thomas said.

"I think as a small community bank, we can act faster, we can move faster on new things that come available," he said. "We were one of the first banks to introduce banking by personal computer."

That was in the days of dial-up modems that called the bank directly, before the advent of the Internet.

To cement the 21st century bank with its community, Thomas collects and displays artifacts from its 100-year history.

The Regulator clock from the first bank office is in the lobby of the Bruceton Mills branch. A shotgun also belongs in the collection.

Thomas repeats the story of the gun's provenance -- mostly fact with a little legend.

"In the early 1920s, two gentlemen were on their way into town," he said. "Their goal was to rob the Bruceton Bank. They stopped along the way and robbed farmhouses. Word came to the town that a couple of gentlemen were on their way with the intent to rob the bank. When they got here, a group of men from town were ready to greet them.

"They had guns ready to protect the town from these gentlemen. One of the men shot at the group. Dr. Defoe had a shotgun. He shot and killed one of the guys," Thomas said, repeating the facts of the story.

Then he added the stuff of legend.

"When the doctor shot one, the other had his suspenders shot in two."

While it wasn't Thomas' ancestor who took out the would-be bank robber, his family has always had a stake in Bruceton Bank and in local business. His great-grandfather, Ira Thomas, and great-uncle, Jeremiah Thomas, were part of the group in 1903 that decided to start the bank.

"My family has always been engaged in business here in northern West Virginia. I've always enjoyed being part of that, part of West Virginia. I enjoy family business. I enjoy small business."

Strong ties to the community are what keep Clear Mountain's headquarters in Bruceton Mills, though sometimes the temptation is great to move to a larger city.

"We think there's a niche for a community bank that's really in touch with what's going on locally," Thomas said.

"While we see several larger banks having problems, we're happy to say we're very strong," he said. "We know our area. We know our customers and, as such, we're able to make better decisions. We don't do exotic types of lending. We didn't make subprime mortgage loans.

"We 'stick to the knitting.' We make good loan decisions, give good customer service, take care of our employees and support the community."