CHARLESTON -- After working for more than three decades in financial services, Charleston native Charles L. Capito Jr. has become executive vice president and director of business development for United Bank.

"I really am excited with the rooted West Virginia connection that United has and how it has grown and retained that identity," said Capito, who had worked for the brokerage firm Smith Barney since 1976.

"I'm not coming in with any restrictions," he continued. "I have spent a great deal of my career in wealth management, and I'll be learning now about the traditional banking sectors. I have the old and the new, and I'm equally excited about both."

Rick Adams, president of United Bank Inc., said Capito will work with senior management to help United achieve its strategic goals and build relationships for the company in its West Virginia, Ohio, Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C., markets.

"Our business model focuses on building long-term relationships with our customers," Adams said. "That's what Charlie Capito is about. That's how Charlie has approached his business."

Adams also noted Capito's loyalty to West Virginia and his expertise in the financial services industry.

"Charlie Capito is a great asset to United," Julie Gurtis, president of the Charleston market, said in a prepared release. "He offers a unique perspective of our area and the state. We are pleased to have him join our team."

While Capito served most of his career at Smith Barney in West Virginia, he had taken on duties in recent years to help the company develop its myFi financial services brand -- an assignment that took him out of state a great deal of the time.

Capito said he and his wife, U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., discussed the opportunity with United and saw the advantages of joining the West Virginia-based banking company.

Capito, 55, has a history of community involvement. He has served on numerous boards, including the Charleston Urban Renewal Authority, Charleston Rotary Club and the Business Industrial Development Council. He is a member of the advisory board for The Greater Kanawha Valley Foundation and is a trustee for the University of Charleston and his alma mater, Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia.

The Capitos are the parents of three adult children.