PARKERSBURG - A Parkersburg bank was named one of the top 200 small banks in the United States, according to a banking trade magazine.

Community Bank was named one of the top banks, ranking at 31st in the nation, by U.S. Banker magazine.

The list was made of banks that avoided the enticements of subprime mortgages, controlled expenses and capitalizations, officials with U.S. Banker said. As a result, community banks on the list, based on three-year average return on equity, maintained remarkedly high returns on earnings, despite a financial-market tailspin in the second half of 2007, they added.

Randall E. Snider, president and chief executive officer of Community Bank, said many factors go into their continuing success, but it is really the people they have working for them and the knowledge they have of the banking industry. Their top three bank officers have a combined experience of 100 years in the banking business and all three were there through the S&L crisis of the 1980s.

''All three of us have seen prime rates at in excess of 20 percent and we have seen prime rates of two percent,'' Snider said. ''Beyond that, we have a lot of experienced people who, combined with our young people, have seen it all. We have quality people here, from top to bottom. Everyone of them has contributed to our success.''

Community Bank was the highest ranked bank from West Virginia on the list. Other West Virginia banks included First Nation Bankshares of Ronceverte (ranked 112), Potomac Bancshares of Charles Town (ranked 118) and Jefferson Security Bank of Shepherdstown (ranked 139).

In reading the new rules from the Fed that go into place next year on mortgage lending, Snider said one of the rules is that banks will be required to ascertain the ability of the borrower to pay back that loan.

''I thought 'really, that was stuff I was taught back in 1974' and that is stuff we do here on a regular basis,'' he said. ''We know our market and we know our customers.''

Community Bank's customer base has been loyal and stayed with them over the years.

''We know how to run a profitable bank that is safe and has the reputation that people enjoy banking with,'' Snider said.

While other financial institutions have been having trouble recently with the housing bust and the credit crunch, Community Bank does not take unreasonable chances.

''It is having knowledgeable people, but it is also not doing stupid stuff,'' Snider said. ''This is a changing world where things change a lot, but the more they change, the more they stay the same.

''The basics are, just like in your personal life, you do what you do best. As far as sound banking practices, I think you can go around this whole community and you see that. You are not seeing the troubled banks in West Virginia.''

The subprime lending that has been going on in other states had not really hit West Virginia.

''We really didn't get involved in that stuff,'' Snider said. ''If something is too good to be true, it probably is.

Mary Barnette, senior vice president, said the bank has maintained the same philosophies, basic techniques of knowing their customers and understanding their needs.

''Our customers are just not numbers,'' she said. ''Some banks have gotten into trouble by just looking at the numbers only.

''We look at the people and their character.''

Banking customers have a variety of information available to them online where they can check on how well their banks are doing and customers need to ask questions of their bankers when they don't understand something, he said.

Community Bank is going to continue what they have been doing, Snider said.

''We're always looking for ways to utilize technology,'' he said of continually expanding online options in banking. ''Outside of that, the basics stay the same, document what you are doing, don't stretch too much and you have a full understanding of risk.''

The bank has been apart of the community since 1917 and came through the Great Depression as well as the crises of the 1980s.

''We know our customers,'' Snider said. ''We are loaning as much as we ever have.

''We love this community and that is why we have remained local.''