Buchanan-based Bank of Botetourt (OTCPK: BORT and BORTP) announced that Michelle R. Austin has been named the 7th President in its 124-year history and has been appointed to its Board of Directors, effective February 20, 2023. She will maintain her role as Chief Operating Officer, which she has held since 2021. Austin began her career in banking with Bank of Botetourt as a college intern in 1991 and joined the Bank full time in 1993 after earning her Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Roanoke College. She then graduated from the Virginia Bankers School of Bank Management at University of Virginia, and the Graduate School of Banking at Louisiana State University. In 2005 Austin graduated from Troy University with a Master of Business Administration and was appointed the Bank’s Chief Financial Officer, a position she held for 18 years. G. Lyn Hayth, III, the Bank’s top ranking Chief Executive Officer, said “Michelle has spent her entire 30-year career devoted to Bank of Botetourt and she is ready for the role of President & COO.”
Austin currently serves on the Region 2 GO Virginia Board to support programs that help create high-paying jobs through incentivized collaboration between business, education, and government in every region of the Commonwealth, Roanoke College President’s Advisory Council, Virginia Bankers Association Benefits Board, Mountain Gateway Community College Real Estate Foundation, and the Roanoke Valley Development Corporation. She currently teaches Financial Management at the Virginia Bankers School of Bank of Management at the University of Virginia.
The Bank’s Board of Directors also voted to appoint CEO G. Lyn Hayth, III as its Vice Chair. Hayth has been a member of the Board of Directors since 1990. Chairman of the Board Tommy L. Moore stated “Proper succession strategies have ensured the continuity of our Bank for almost 125 years. We welcome Michelle’s 30 years of banking experience to our Board of Directors and Lyn’s service to the Board for the past 33 years makes him an excellent selection for the Vice Chair leadership role.”
The Board of Directors promoted Dustin G. Bays to succeed Austin as the Bank’s Chief Financial Officer. Bays has been in banking and related industries since 2005 when he graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Emory & Henry College. Bays holds a Master of Business Administration from Union College of Kentucky. Bays joined Bank of Botetourt in 2011 and most recently served as its Chief Accounting Officer.
The individuals who have held the title of President since Bank of Botetourt was chartered in 1899 by the Virginia General Assembly are as follows: James Mundy 1899-1904; C.B. Johnson 1904-1942; Dr. E. W. Dodd 1942-1964; Darnell Brugh 1964-1984; H. Watts Steger, III 1984-2002; G. Lyn Hayth, III 2002-2023; Michelle R. Austin 2023-Present.
About Bank of Botetourt
Bank of Botetourt was chartered in 1899 and operates thirteen retail offices in Botetourt, Rockbridge, Roanoke, and Franklin counties, the City of Salem, and the Town of Vinton, all in Virginia. Bank of Botetourt also operates a mortgage division, Virginia Mountain Mortgage and a financial services division, Botetourt Wealth Management.
