Cathy Hawkins joined First Bank & Trust Company‘s commercial lending team. She has more than 40 years of experience in banking, most recently from BB&T in Wise, VA, where she served as a small business specialist. In her new role at First Bank & Trust Company, Hawkins will continue to serve small businesses and commercial entities in Wise County and the entire southwest Virginia region.
Hawkins received an honorable recognition from the State of Tennessee’s Women & Industry in 2002. She completed the Forward Wise County Leadership Development in 2005, originated and co-facilitated the Forward Dickenson County Leadership Program from 2007 to 2010, and was recognized as a top lender in southwest Virginia in 2018.
In addition to Hawkins’ hiring, First Bank & Trust Company appointed Melissa Coffey assistant vice president and branch manager of the Wise and Norton, VA offices. Coffey has 14 years of banking experience, and has been with First Bank & Trust Company for nine years. Coffey began her work with First Bank & Trust Company in Norton, VA, as a lender, and in 2017 assumed the role of branch manager of the Norton, VA, office where she spent much of her lending focus on residential real estate and consumer lending. She will now assume the responsibility for managing both the Norton and Wise offices, and will conduct many of the same day-to-day duties, including managing customer and employee relations as well as overseeing deposit and loan operations. Coffey is a member of the Wise County Chamber of Commerce and serves on the executive board.
“It’s important to have qualified people in place to serve the southwest Virginia community,” Brent Dyson, senior vice president and commercial lender for First Bank & Trust Company, said. “Our office in Wise is at the heart of the Appalachian Mountains and home to an experienced workforce with diverse skills. Having capable and experienced lenders is the key to economic development, and it’s our way of supporting the communities we serve.”
First Bank & Trust Company is a community bank with office locations in southwest Virginia, northeast Tennessee, and the New River and Shenandoah Valleys in Virginia.
