United Bank is 186-years old and the largest publicly traded company based in West Virginia. (Photo Provided)

PARKERSBURG — United Bankshares’ growth benefits West Virginians and communities in many ways, the chief executive officer of the largest publicly traded company based in the state said.

“It means more jobs, more economic development, and greater investments in our communities. From families to small businesses, to nonprofits, a strong and growing United Bank is able to make a difference in West Virginia and the region,” Richard M. Adams Jr., United Bankshares CEO, said. “With our reach into other geographies, we have been able to bring business and new development back to West Virginia. We frequently finance activities here at home that originated outside of the state, and we are always connecting investors from the outside with local opportunities.”

United Bank is 186 years old.

“One of my favorite things about my job is the opportunity to tell the United story and what a great West Virginia success story it is. One hundred eighty-six years of successfully taking care of our customers and our communities is something we are very proud of,” Adams said. “I have the opportunity to travel all across the country, and people know and admire our story. The fact that no company has been serving West Virginia longer than United is a great source of pride. To be able to take the United brand to other markets beyond West Virginia is a special opportunity to represent the state in a positive way.”

Adams said people tell him about United Bank locations outside of West Virginia and it makes them proud.

United’s first acquisition outside of West Virginia was in the Washington, D.C., area 35 years ago. This site is on Connecticut Avenue in the nation’s capital. (Photo Provided)

“It’s kind of like when you are traveling and you hear ‘Country Roads’ on the radio,” Adams said.West Virginia is a good place to do business, he said. The economy is stable and not subject to the boom-and-bust economic cycles in other places, Adams said.

“The one thing that led us to expand outside of West Virginia was seeking new growth opportunities,” Adams said. “Looking for new growth markets is what has always driven our acquisition strategy.”

United is located in West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Washington, D.C. Adams called it the best banking franchise across the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast and its footprint “is a source of strength and one of our true competitive advantages,” he said.

“On one hand, we are in some of the best growth markets in the country like D.C., Charlotte, Raleigh and Atlanta, and on the other hand, we have more rural markets that are very stable and provide great sources of core funding, which is critical to healthy banks,” Adams said. “The great thing is that our approach to taking care of our customers and our communities works no matter what market we are in. The focus on service and relationships that we learned growing up in West Virginia works everywhere.”

United has about 240 locations throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast with 75 in and around West Virginia, about 60 in the Washington, D.C., area and more than 100 across the Southeast.

United Bank in Charlotte, S.C. (Photo Provided)

United’s first acquisition outside of West Virginia was in the D.C. area 35 years ago. For the next 25 years, the company continued to expand in that region through mergers and acquisitions, he said.

“Then, in 2017, after our last deal in D.C., we decided to focus our expansion efforts into the Southeast,” Adams said. “We have since built a franchise focused on two areas in the Southeast.”

The areas are along the Interstate 85 corridor, known as “The Boom Belt,” from Richmond through the North Carolina Research Triangle, Charlotte, the Upstate of South Carolina and Atlanta. The other is along the coasts of the Carolinas from the Outer Banks to Charleston, S.C.

The most recent acquisition was in the Greater Atlanta metro region in 2025, the largest metropolitan statistical area United is in, Adams said.

“Our focus for future geographic expansion continues to be on the Southeast. Our experience there has been positive and the demographics for the future are promising,” Adams said. “We have interest in building scale in our existing markets of North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, as well as expanding into new markets like Tennessee and Florida.”

United centralizes much of its back-office employees in West Virginia who serve in all areas such as compliance, audit, finance, accounting, risk management, operations and customer service.

“Our West Virginia operation employs more team members than any other region in our company,” he said.

Jess Mancini can be reached at jmancini@newsandsentinel.com.