def14a2010proxy.htm
UNITED
STATES
SECURITIES
AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington,
D.C. 20549
SCHEDULE
14A
Proxy
Statement Pursuant to Section 14(a) of the
Securities
Exchange Act of 1934
Filed by
the Registrant þ
Filed by
a Party other than the Registrant ¨
Check the
appropriate box:
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Preliminary
Proxy Statement
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Confidential,
for Use of the Commission Only (as permitted by Rule
14a-6(e)(2))
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Definitive
Proxy Statement
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Definitive
Additional Materials
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Soliciting
Material Pursuant to Section
240.14a-12
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OHIO
VALLEY BANC CORP.
(Exact
Name of Small Business Issuer as Specified in its Charter)
(Name
of person(s) filing proxy statement, if other than registrant)
Payment
of Filing Fee (Check the appropriate
box):
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þ
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No
fee required.
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Fee
computed on table below per Exchange Act Rules 14a-6(i)(1) and
0-11.
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(1) Title
of each class of securities to which transaction
applies:
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(2) Aggregate
number of securities to which transaction applies:
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(3) Per
unit price or other underlying value of transaction computed pursuant to
Exchange Act Rule 0-11 (set forth the
amount
on which the filing fee is calculated and state how it was
determined):
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(4) Proposed
maximum aggregate value of transaction:
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(5) Total
fee paid:
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Fee
paid previously with preliminary materials.
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Check
box if any part of the fee is offset as provided by Exchange Act Rule
0-11(a)(2) and identify the filing for which the offsetting fee was paid
previously. Identify the previous filing by registration statement number,
or the Form or Schedule and the date of its filing.
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(1) Amount
Previously Paid:
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(2) Form,
Schedule or Registration Statement No:
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(3) Filing
Party:
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(4) Date
Filed:
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ANNUAL
MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS
Wednesday,
May 12, 2010
TO
OUR SHAREHOLDERS:
We
take pleasure in inviting you to our Annual Meeting of Shareholders, which will
be held on Wednesday, May 12, 2010, at 5:00 p.m., Eastern Daylight Saving Time,
at the Morris and Dorothy Haskins Ariel Theatre, 426 Second Avenue, Gallipolis,
Ohio.
The
Annual Meeting will be held for the purpose of electing directors, amending the
Company’s Code of Regulations, ratifying the selection of the Company’s
independent registered public accounting firm, and transacting such other
business as may properly be brought before it. At the meeting, we
shall also report to you on our operations during the past year and plans for
the future.
The
close of business on March 25, 2010 has been fixed as the record date for
determination of shareholders entitled to notice of the Annual Meeting and to
vote at the Annual Meeting or any adjournment thereof.
The
formal Notice of Annual Meeting, the Proxy Statement and a proxy are
enclosed. After reading the Proxy Statement, please promptly fill in,
sign and return to us the enclosed proxy in the envelope provided. As
an alternative, you may submit your proxy electronically by going to the
Company’s website at www.ovbc.com
and following the instructions on that website. We urge you to submit
your proxy to insure that your shares are represented.
Last
year, more than 80% of the Company's shares were represented in person or by
proxy at the Annual Meeting. Please help us exceed last year’s
participation by signing and returning your proxy or submitting your proxy
electronically today.
We
hope to see many of you in person at the Annual Meeting. There will
be a social hour beginning at 4:00 p.m. Hors D'oeuvres and beverages
will be served, and we hope you will take this opportunity to become acquainted
with the officers and Directors of your Company.
Sincerely,
/s/Jeffrey E. Smith /s/Thomas E. Wiseman
Jeffrey E.
Smith
Thomas
E. Wiseman
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
President
and Chief Operating Officer
Dated: April 14, 2010
420
Third
Avenue P.O.
Box
240 Gallipolis,
Ohio
45631 740-446-2631 1-800-468-6682
OHIO
VALLEY BANC CORP.
P.O.
Box 240
Gallipolis,
Ohio 45631
1-800-468-6682
NOTICE
OF ANNUAL MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS
Wednesday,
May 12, 2010
5:00
p.m.
Gallipolis,
Ohio
April 14,
2010
To the
Shareholders of
Ohio
Valley Banc Corp.
Notice is hereby given that the Annual
Meeting of Shareholders (the “Annual Meeting”) of Ohio Valley Banc Corp. (the
“Company”) will be held at the Morris and Dorothy Haskins Ariel Theatre, 426
Second Avenue, Gallipolis, Ohio, on Wednesday, the 12th day of May, 2010, at
5:00 p.m., Eastern Daylight Saving Time, for the following
purposes:
1.
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To
elect three Directors of the Company, each to serve for a three-year
term;
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2.
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To
consider and vote upon a proposal to amend Section 6.01 of the Company’s
Code of Regulations to authorize the Board of Directors to amend the Code
of Regulations to the extent permitted by the Ohio General Corporation
law;
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3.
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To
consider and vote upon ratification of the selection of Crowe Horwath LLP
as the independent registered public accounting firm for fiscal year 2010;
and
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4.
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To
transact such other business as may properly come before the Annual
Meeting or any adjournment(s)
thereof.
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Only holders of common shares of the
Company of record at the close of business on March 25, 2010 will be entitled to
vote at the Annual Meeting and any adjournment.
You are
cordially
invited to attend the Annual Meeting. The vote of each
shareholder is important, whatever the number of common shares
held.
Whether
or not you plan to attend the Annual Meeting, please sign, date and return the
enclosed proxy promptly in the enclosed postage-paid, return-addressed
envelope. As an alternative, you may submit a proxy to vote your
shares electronically by going to the Company’s website at www.ovbc.com and
following the instructions on that website. If you attend the Annual
Meeting, you may revoke your proxy and vote in person if you are a registered
shareholder. Attendance at the
Annual Meeting will not, in and of itself, constitute revocation of your
proxy.
BY ORDER
OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
/s/Jeffrey E. Smith
Jeffrey
E. Smith
Chairman
and Chief Executive Officer
/s/Thomas E. Wiseman
Thomas E.
Wiseman
President
and Chief Operating Officer
OHIO
VALLEY BANC CORP.
P.O.
Box 240
Gallipolis,
Ohio 45631
1-800-468-6682
April 14,
2010
PROXY
STATEMENT
This proxy statement and the
accompanying proxy are first being mailed on or about April 14, 2010 to
shareholders of Ohio Valley Banc Corp. (the “Company”) regarding the Annual
Meeting of Shareholders to be held at the Morris and Dorothy Haskins Ariel
Theatre, 426 Second Avenue, Gallipolis, Ohio, on Wednesday, May 12, 2010, at
5:00 p.m., Eastern Daylight Saving Time (the
“Annual
Meeting”).
Voting
by Proxy
A proxy for use at the Annual Meeting
accompanies this proxy statement and is solicited by the Board of Directors of
the Company. You may ensure your representation by completing,
signing, dating and promptly returning the enclosed proxy in the envelope
provided. As an alternative, you may submit your proxy electronically
by going to the Company’s website at www.ovbc.com and
following the instructions on that website. The deadline for transmitting voting
instructions electronically via the Internet is 11:59 p.m. Eastern Daylight
Saving Time, on May 11, 2010. Shareholders who submit a proxy via the
Internet will incur only their usual Internet access charges, if
any. Without affecting any vote previously taken, you may revoke your
proxy at any time before it is voted at the Annual Meeting (1) by giving written
notice of revocation to the Secretary of the Company, at the address of the
Company set forth on the cover page of this proxy statement; (2) by executing a
later-dated proxy that is received by the Company prior to the Annual Meeting or
submitting a later-dated proxy via the Internet prior to the deadline for doing
so; or (3) if you are the registered owner of your common shares, by attending
the Annual Meeting and giving notice of revocation in person. If your
common shares are held in the name of your broker/dealer, financial institution
or other holder of record and you wish to revoke your proxy in person, you must
bring an account statement or letter from the broker/dealer, financial
institution or other holder of record indicating how many common shares you held
beneficially on March 25, 2010, the record date for voting. Attendance at the Annual Meeting will
not, by itself, constitute revocation of a proxy.
Shares
Held in “Street Name”
If you
hold your common shares in “street name” with a broker, financial institution or
other holder of record, you may be eligible to appoint your proxy electronically
via the Internet or telephonically and you may incur costs associated with the
electronic access. If you hold your common shares in street name, you
should review the information provided to you by the holder of
record. This information will describe the procedures to be followed
in instructing the holder of record how to vote the street name common shares
and how to revoke previously given instructions.
If you
hold your common shares in “street name” and wish to vote your shares in person
at the Annual Meeting, you must bring a letter or proxy from your broker/dealer,
financial institution or other nominee authorizing you to vote your shares on
behalf of such record holder.
Who
is Entitled to Vote
Only shareholders of record at the
close of business on March 25, 2010, are entitled to receive notice of and to
vote at the Annual Meeting and any adjournment. As of March 12, 2010,
3,984,009 common shares were outstanding and entitled to be voted at the Annual
Meeting. Each common share entitles the holder thereof to one vote on
each matter submitted to the shareholders at the Annual Meeting. A
quorum for the Annual Meeting is a majority of the outstanding common
shares.
Costs
of Proxy Solicitation
The
Company will bear the costs of preparing, printing and mailing this proxy
statement, the accompanying proxy and any other related materials, as well as
all other costs incurred in connection with the solicitation of proxies on
behalf of the Company’s Board of Directors other than the Internet access and
telephone usage charges a shareholder may incur if a proxy is appointed
electronically. Proxies will be solicited by mail and may be further
solicited, for no additional compensation, by officers, directors or employees
of the Company and its subsidiaries by further mailing, telephone, facsimile,
electronic mail or personal contact. The Company will also pay the
standard charges and expenses of brokers, voting trustees, financial
institutions and other custodians, nominees and fiduciaries, who are record
holders of common shares not beneficially owned by them, for forwarding
materials to the beneficial owners of common shares entitled to vote at the
Annual Meeting.
Employee
Stock Ownership Plan Participants
If you
are a participant in the Ohio Valley Banc Corp. Employee Stock Ownership Plan
(the “ESOP”) and common shares have been allocated to your account in the ESOP,
you will be entitled to instruct the trustee of the ESOP how to vote those
common shares and you will receive your voting instructions
separately. If you give no instructions to the trustee of the
ESOP, the trustee will vote the common shares allocated to your ESOP account in
its sole discretion.
Vote
Required
The
inspectors of election appointed for the Annual Meeting will tabulate the
results of shareholder voting. Common shares represented by properly
executed proxies returned to the Company prior to the Annual Meeting will be
counted toward the establishment of a quorum for the Annual Meeting even though
they are marked “WITHHOLD AUTHORITY TO VOTE FOR ALL NOMINEES”,
or “VOTE FOR ALL EXCEPT” or not at all. Brokers who
hold common shares in street name may, under the applicable rules of the
exchange and other self-regulatory organizations of which the brokers are
members, sign and submit proxies for such common shares and may vote such common
shares on certain matters. However, brokers who hold common shares in
street name may not vote such common shares on other matters without specific
instructions from the customer who owns the common shares. Proxies
that are signed and submitted by brokers that have not been voted on certain
matters are referred to as broker non-votes. Broker non-votes count
toward the establishment of a quorum for the Annual Meeting. The
three nominees receiving the greatest number of votes will be elected as
directors. The affirmative vote of a majority of the outstanding
common shares of the Company is required to approve the amendments to the Code
of Regulations. Abstentions and broker non-votes will have the effect
of votes against the approval of the amendment. The affirmative vote
of a majority of the shares participating in the voting is required to ratify
the selection of Crowe Horwath LLP as the independent registered public
accounting firm. Abstentions and broker non-votes will not be deemed
to be participating in the voting and therefore will have no effect on the
ratification of the selection of Crowe Horwath LLP.
Directions
to Annual Meeting Location
To obtain directions to attend the
Annual Meeting and vote in person, please call Deborah A. Carhart, Assistant
Vice President, Shareholder Relations, at 1-800-468-6682 or
1-740-446-2631.
Important
Notice Regarding the Availability of Proxy Materials for the
Shareholder
Meeting
to Be Held on May 12, 2010
This
proxy statement, a sample of the form of proxy card sent to shareholders by the
Company, and the Company’s 2009 Annual Report to Shareholders are available on
the Company’s website at www.ovbc.com/go/proxyinfo.
The
Annual Report of the Company for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2009,
including financial statements, is being delivered with this proxy
statement.
OWNERSHIP
OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT
The following table indicates, as of
March 25, 2010, certain information concerning the only shareholder known by the
Company to be the beneficial owner of more than five percent (5%) of the
outstanding common shares of the Company.
Name and Address
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No.
of Common Shares and
Nature of Beneficial
Ownership
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Percent
of
Class (1)
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Morris
and Dorothy Haskins Foundation, Inc.
1767
Chestnut Street
Bowling
Green, KY 42101
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265,972
(2)
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6.7%
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(footnotes
on next page)
(1)
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The
percent of class is based upon 3,984,009 common shares outstanding as of
March 25, 2010.
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(2)
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Based
on information contained in a Schedule 13G filing with the Securities and
Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), dated January 22, 2010. Carol
H. Wedge and Paul D. Wedge, Jr. share voting and dispositive power with
respect to the 265,972 common shares as the trustees of the
Foundation.
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The following table furnishes
information regarding the beneficial ownership of common shares of the Company,
as of March 12, 2010, for each current Director, each nominee for election to
the Board of Directors, each executive officer named in the Summary Compensation
Table and all current Directors and executive officers as a group.
Name
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No.
of Common Shares
and
Nature of
Beneficial
Ownership (1)
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Percent of Class (2)
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Anna
P. Barnitz
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1,793 (3)
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.05%
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Steven
B. Chapman
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1,940 (4)
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.05%
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Robert
E. Daniel
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483 (5)
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.01%
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Katrinka
V. Hart (6)
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11,773 (7)
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.30%
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Harold
A. Howe
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16,454 (8)
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.41%
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E.
Richard Mahan (6)
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8,499 (9)
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.21%
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Larry
E. Miller, II (6)
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9,303 (10)
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.23%
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Brent
A. Saunders
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6,399 (11)
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.16%
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Scott
W. Shockey (6)
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2,965 (12)
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.07%
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Jeffrey
E. Smith (6)
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19,703 (13)
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.49%
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David
W. Thomas
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2,434 (14)
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.06%
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Roger
D. Williams
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800 (15)
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.02%
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Lannes
C. Williamson
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5,293 (16)
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.13%
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Thomas
E. Wiseman (6)
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17,213 (17)
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.43%
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All
Directors and executive
officers
as a Group
(14
persons)
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105,052 (18)
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2.64%
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(1)
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Unless
otherwise indicated, the beneficial owner has sole voting and investment
power with respect to all of the common shares reflected in the
table. All fractional common shares have been rounded down to
the nearest whole common share. The Company has never granted
options to purchase its common shares. The mailing address for
each of the current Directors and executive officers of the Company is
P.O. Box 240, Gallipolis, Ohio
45631.
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(2)
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The
percent of class is based on 3,984,009 common shares outstanding on March
12, 2010.
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(3)
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Represents
1,727 common shares held jointly by Mrs. Barnitz and her spouse, as to
which she shares voting and investment power, and 66 common shares held by
Mrs. Barnitz as custodian for her
children.
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(4)
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Includes
1,830 common shares held jointly by Mr. Chapman and his spouse, as to
which he shares voting and investment power. The number shown
also includes 110 common shares held by a broker for Mr. Chapman’s spouse
in a self-directed individual retirement account, as to which she has sole
voting and investment power.
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(5)
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Represents
common shares held jointly by Mr. Daniel and his spouse, as to which he
shares voting and investment power.
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(6)
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Executive
officer of the Company.
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(7)
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Includes
7,685 common shares held for the account of Ms. Hart in the
ESOP.
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(footnotes
continued on next page)
(8)
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Includes
9,089 common shares held jointly by Mr. Howe and his spouse, as to which
he shares voting and investment power; 6,902 common shares held in a
self-directed individual retirement account at Ohio Valley Bank, as to
which Ohio Valley Bank has voting power and Mr. Howe has investment power;
and 461 common shares held jointly by Mr. Howe and his children as to
which he shares voting and investment
power.
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(9)
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Includes
4,442 common shares held jointly by Mr. Mahan and his spouse, as to which
he shares voting and investment power; and 4,057 common shares held for
the account of Mr. Mahan in the
ESOP.
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(10)
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Includes
3,558 common shares held jointly by Mr. Miller and his spouse, as to which
he shares voting and investment power; and 5,745 common shares held for
the account of Mr. Miller in the
ESOP.
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(11)
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Includes
2,541 common shares held jointly by Mr. Saunders and his spouse, as to
which he shares voting and investment power; 737 common shares held by Mr.
Saunders as custodian for the benefit of his children; and 243 common
shares held by a broker in a self-directed individual retirement account,
as to which the broker has voting power and Mr. Saunders has investment
power.
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(12)
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Includes
2,505 common shares held for the account of Mr. Shockey in the
ESOP.
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(13)
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Includes
550 common shares held by Mr. Smith’s spouse, as to which she has sole
voting and investment power; 308 common shares held by Mr. Smith’s spouse
as custodian for the benefit of his daughter as to which Mr. Smith’s
spouse exercises sole voting and investment power; and 14,860 common
shares held for the account of Mr. Smith in the
ESOP.
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(14)
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Represents
common shares held jointly by Mr. Thomas and his spouse, as to which he
shares voting and investment power.
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(15)
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Represents
common shares held by Mr. Williams’ spouse, as to which she has sole
voting and investment power.
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(16)
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Includes
24 common shares held by Mr. Williamson’s spouse, as to which she has sole
voting and investment power; and 4,706 common shares held by a broker in a
self-directed individual retirement account, as to which the broker has
voting power and Mr. Williamson has investment
power.
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(17)
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Includes
16,036 common shares held jointly by Mr. Wiseman and his spouse, as to
which he shares voting and investment power; and 1,176 common shares held
by Mr. Wiseman as custodian for the benefit of his
children.
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(18)
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See
Notes (3) through (6) and (8) through (18)
above.
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SECTION
16(a) BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP REPORTING COMPLIANCE
The Company’s Directors and executive
officers, as well as any persons holding more than 10% of the Company’s
outstanding common shares, are required to report their initial ownership of
common shares and any subsequent changes in their ownership to the Securities
and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). Specific due dates have been
established by the SEC for such filings, and the Company is required to disclose
in this proxy statement any failure to file by those dates. Based on
its review of (1) Section 16(a) reports
filed on behalf of these individuals for their transactions during the Company’s
2009 fiscal year
and (2)
documentation received from one or more of these individuals that no annual Form
5 reports were required to be filed by them for the Company’s 2009 fiscal year,
the Company believes that all Section 16(a) reports were filed
timely.
PROXY
ITEM 1: ELECTION OF DIRECTORS
The Company’s Board of Directors
currently consists of ten members – three in the class whose terms expire at the
Annual Meeting, three in the class whose terms expire in 2011 and four in the
class whose terms expire in 2012. Section 2.02(C) of the Company’s
Regulations provides that the Directors may change the number of Directors and
fill any vacancy created by an increase in the number of Directors (provided
that the Directors may not increase the number of Directors to more than twelve
or reduce the number of Directors to less than five).
In 1980, the Board of Directors of
Ohio Valley Bank adopted a policy that each person becoming a Director of Ohio
Valley Bank after that date would be expected to retire at the next annual
meeting of shareholders of Ohio Valley Bank following the Director's 70th
birthday. Since the Company was formed as the holding company of Ohio
Valley Bank in 1992, the Directors of the Company have followed that same
practice, although neither the Company nor the Bank has ever provided such a
requirement in its articles of incorporation or regulations or included any such
provision in the charter of the Nominating and Corporate Governance
Committee.
The Board of Directors of the Company
has determined that all of the Directors except Messrs. Smith and Wiseman are
“independent” under the listing standards of The NASDAQ Stock Market, LLC
(“Nasdaq”). In determining independence, the Board of Directors
considered loan and deposit relationships with each director, fees paid to Mr.
Saunders for legal services, and notes issued to the Wiseman Agency (discussed
in this proxy statement under the heading “Certain Relationships and Related
Transactions”). The rules of Nasdaq do not deem such relationships to
disqualify a Director from being deemed independent. The Board of
Directors does not believe such relationships interfere with the Directors’
exercise of independent judgment in carrying out their responsibilities as
Directors.
The Board of Directors proposes that
each of the three nominees identified below be re-elected for a new three-year
term. Each nominee was recommended to the Board of Directors by the
Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. Each person elected as
a Director at the Annual Meeting will hold office for a term of three years and
until his successor is duly elected and qualified or until his earlier
resignation, removal from office or death. The three nominees for
election as Directors receiving the greatest number of votes will be
elected. Common shares represented by properly executed and returned
proxies will be voted FOR
the election of the Board of Directors’ nominees unless authority to vote for
one or more nominees is withheld. Common shares as to which the
authority to vote is withheld will be counted for quorum purposes, but will not
be counted toward the election of Directors or toward the election of the
individual nominees specified on the proxy.
The
following discussion provides certain information, as of March 12, 2010,
concerning each nominee for election as a Director of the Company.
Nominees
For Election For Terms Expiring In 2013
Steven B. Chapman, Age 63
Director of the Bank since 1999;
Director of the Company since 2001
Mr.
Chapman is a partner at Chapman & Burris CPA’s LLC. He has been a
certified public accountant for over 40 years, performing business advisory
services, and preparing taxes in all areas. Additionally, Mr. Chapman
has assisted in organizing various nonprofit organizations and has continued to
serve as advisor and tax preparer for the same. In addition, he has
developed and currently participates in the management of a commercial
manufacturing company with 36 employees as well as various real estate,
residential and commercial projects employing 7 people. Prior
to establishing his CPA firm, Mr. Chapman had over 5 years of “Big 8” experience
including industrial, commercial and bank audit expertise. He is a
member of the Company’s Executive Committee and Board Enterprise Risk
Committee. In addition, Mr. Chapman Chairs the Audit Committee and
the Investment and Advisory Committee for the Ohio Valley Banc Corp. Profit
Sharing Retirement Plan. Mr. Chapman is also a member of the Executive Committee
of Ohio Valley Bank. Mr. Chapman’s substantial financial experience qualifies
him as an “audit committee financial expert” for purposes of Item 401(h) of SEC
Regulation S-K based on his training and experience as a Certified Public
Accountant. He served as Chairman of the Board for the University of
Rio Grande for two years and has been a member of that board in excess of 10
years. Mr. Chapman is currently the Chairman of the Audit Committee
at the University of Rio Grande. He is the President of Holzer
Hospital and Holzer Hospital of Jackson, Ohio with over 1,500
employees.
Robert E. Daniel, Age 69
Director of the Bank since 2005;
Director of the Company since 2006
Mr.
Daniel served as the Administrator for Holzer Clinic, Inc., a multiple
discipline health care system of over 130 Board Certified physicians and 800
support staff at nine locations throughout southeastern Ohio and western West
Virginia, from 1971 until 2009. In his role as administrator, Mr.
Daniel has a high level of expertise, from a chief executive officer’s
perspective, in the areas of finance, legal, mentoring, personnel and wage
administration, recruiting and clinical operations. He is very knowledgeable of
the issues surrounding management succession and the importance management
succession plays in the success of the Company. Mr. Daniel’s
experience and business acumen is a source of insightful understanding of the
various issues essential to the Company’s success. Since 2009, Mr. Daniel has
been active as a management coach and project manager. Mr. Daniel
serves on the Trust Committee of Ohio Valley Bank.
Jeffrey E. Smith, Age 60
Director of the Bank since 1987;
Director of the Company since 1992
Mr. Smith
has served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Company since
January 2010. Between April 2000 and December 2009 he served as the
Company’s President and CEO. He has been employed in numerous
capacities with the Company since 1973. Mr. Smith is a member of the
Executive Committee of the Company. In addition, he is Chairman of
the Management Enterprise Risk Committee and is a member of the Executive,
Strategic Planning, Asset Liability and Large Loan Review Committees of Ohio
Valley Bank. Mr. Smith is a past Chairman of the University of Rio
Grande Board of Trustees and has served as a member of the University of Rio
Grande Board of Trustees for over 25 years. Presently, he is also a
member of the Finance and Investment Committee for the University of Rio
Grande. Throughout his career, Mr. Smith has served on the boards of
a number of community and nonprofit organizations.
The Board of Directors recommends that
shareholders vote FOR the election of
the above nominees.
While it is contemplated that all
nominees will stand for election, if one or more nominees at the time of the
Annual Meeting should be unavailable or unable to serve as a candidate for
election as a Director, the individuals designated as proxy holders reserve full
discretion to vote the common shares represented by the proxies they hold for
the election of the remaining nominees and for the election of any substitute
nominee or nominees designated by the Board of Directors. The Board
of Directors knows of no reason why any of the nominees named above will be
unavailable or unable to serve if elected to the Board.
The
following discussion provides certain information concerning the current
Directors who will continue to serve after the Annual Meeting. Unless
otherwise indicated, each individual has had the same principal occupation for
more than five years.
Directors
With Terms Expiring In 2011
Harold A. Howe, Age 59
Director of the Bank since 1998;
Director of the Company since 2005
Mr. Howe
is a self-employed businessman with an emphasis in real estate investment and
rental property. He also owns several small businesses in the
Jackson, Ohio area. As such he understands the demands and needs of
small businesses, which are a key constituent of the Company. Mr.
Howe has 30 years of banking experience with the former Jackson Savings Bank,
serving as president for 8 of those years. During his tenure at
Jackson Savings Bank, Mr. Howe presided over the Jackson Savings Bank’s
conversion to a stock company as well as the sale of Jackson Savings Bank to the
Company in December 1998 and its subsequent merger into the Company in November
2000. Because of Mr. Howe’s background and experience, he is very
familiar with the various challenges that must be overcome to be successful in
the financial services industry. Mr. Howe is a member of the
following committees of the Company: Executive, Compensation and Management
Succession, Nominating and Corporate Governance, and the Investment and Advisory
Committee for the Ohio Valley Banc Corp. Employee Stock Ownership
Plan. Mr. Howe is also a member of the Executive Committee and Trust
Committee of Ohio Valley Bank. He is very active in the community of
Jackson, Ohio serving as President of the Jackson Community Improvement
Corporation as well as being a member of the Metropolitan Housing
Board. Mr. Howe is a member of a number of community organizations
such as Rotary, Elks, Moose and the Jaycees.
Brent
A. Saunders, Age 52
Director
of the Bank since 2001; Director of the Company since 2003
Mr.
Saunders has been a partner with the law firm of Halliday, Sheets &
Saunders, since 1983. With over 25 years of experience as a
practicing attorney, Mr. Saunders’ fields of expertise include the following
areas of the law: contracts, deeds, mortgages, title searches, leasing,
foreclosures, corporations, partnerships and collections. He also
serves as the President and CEO of Holzer Consolidated Health Systems which is a
significant employer in the Company’s market. Mr. Saunders has also
served as the Prosecuting Attorney for Gallia County and as the City Solicitor
for the City of Gallipolis, Ohio. He is a member of the following committees of
the Company: Executive, Compensation and Management Succession, Board
Enterprise Risk and Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
(Chair). Mr. Saunders’s legal expertise, strong work ethic, ability
to analyze all sides of an issue and effective communication skills permit him
to make significant contributions to the Company.
David
W. Thomas, Age 54
Director
of the Bank and the Company since 2007
Mr.
Thomas is retired Chief Examiner for the Ohio Division of Financial Institutions
(ODFI). In his 30 years with the ODFI, Mr. Thomas gained extensive
knowledge in the areas of bank supervision and regulation. He is very
adept at interpreting banking laws, regulations and rules. Banking
regulation seems to be expanding exponentially, making Mr. Thomas’s expertise in
this area very valuable to the Company. Mr. Thomas has an excellent
grasp of the most challenging issues facing the financial services industry as
well as the risk management principles essential to profitably manage those
challenges. He is also skilled in analyzing corporate and bank
financial statements, which is key to effective cash flow
analysis. In January 2010, Mr. Thomas became the Company’s Lead
Independent Director. Mr. Thomas was appointed a member of the
following committees of the Company: Executive, Nominating and
Corporate Governance and Board Enterprise Risk (Chair). As
Independent Lead Director, he is also an Ex Officio member of all other standing
Board committees of the Company. Additionally, Mr. Thomas is a member
of the following committees of Ohio Valley Bank: Executive, Strategic
Planning (Ex Officio), and Trust (Ex Officio).
Directors
With Terms Expiring In 2012
Anna
P. Barnitz, Age 47
Director
of the Bank since 2001; Director of the Company since 2003
Mrs.
Barnitz has served since 1988 as the Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer at
Bob’s Market and Greenhouses, Inc., a multimillion dollar wholesale distributor
of horticultural products with retail landscaping stores. From
1985 until 1988 she served as a Senior Auditor for Charleston National Bank and
Key Centurion Bancshares. In the early 1990’s, she served on the
BankOne N.A. Point Pleasant, West Virginia Board. Since 1997 she has
been a member of Ohio Valley Bank’s West Virginia Advisory Board. She
is a member of the Company’s Executive and Audit Committees serving as Secretary
on the Audit Committee. In addition, she serves as Chair of the
Compensation and Management Succession Committee and is a member of the Board
Enterprise Risk Committee and is also a member of the Ohio Valley Bank’s
Executive Committee and Information Technology Steering
Committee. Mrs. Barnitz’s financial expertise coupled with her audit
and banking background makes her an ideal board member.
Roger
D. Williams, Age 59
Director
of the Bank since 2005; Director of the Company since 2006
Mr.
Williams is retired President, Bob Evans Restaurants, a division of Bob Evans
Farms, Inc., which owns and operates 713 full service restaurants and produces a
complete line of retail food products. Mr. Williams’ career at Bob
Evans Farms, Inc. spanned over 40 years. During Mr. Williams’ tenure
he served in a variety of positions, including restaurant employee; Unit
Manager; District Manager; Vice President, Regional Manager; Vice President,
Director of Marketing, Senior Vice President, Director of Marketing; Group Vice
President Marketing/Purchasing; Senior Group Vice President,
Marketing/Purchasing/Food Products; and Executive Vice
President, prior to assuming the role of President. He possesses
extensive management and marketing experience. Additionally, he is
known for his leadership, strategic thinking and business acumen. Mr.
Williams is a member of the Ohio Valley Bank’s Strategic Planning
Committee. He also serves on the Board of Directors of Lecere
Corporation, which develops and markets an integrated, web-based suite of
point-of-sale and restaurant management software tools. Mr. Williams
is past Chairman of the University of Rio Grande Board of Trustees and has
served as a member of the University of Rio Grande Board of Trustees for 31
years. He is past President of the Board of Trustees for the Columbus
Country Club and member of the Central Ohio Breathing Association.
Lannes
C. Williamson, Age 65
Director
of the Bank since 1997; Director of the Company since 2000
Mr.
Williamson is the President of L. Williamson Pallets, Inc., a fully integrated
West Virginia hardwood sawmill and wood pallet manufacturing
business. Mr. Williamson has owned and operated this business for 40
years. Consistent with small business ownership, his responsibilities
have encompassed every aspect from procurement to sales; from equipment
selection to production; from efficiencies to human relations; from financial to
regulatory. Mr. Williamson has significant experience doing business
with the U.S. Government. His experience as a small business owner
and U.S. Government contractor enables him to make informed contributions
involving financial requests from small business customers, including
certification by and sales to the federal government. Mr. Williamson
has been and is involved in a myriad of forestry related organizations, such as
past president and multiple year executive board member, West Virginia Forestry
Association, Board of Directors of National Wooden Pallet and Container
Association, Chair Industry Advisory Board – Center for
Unit Load
Design-VT, Strategic Plan Development for West Virginia Forests, and citizen
member of the West Virginia Forest Management Review Commission. He
has also been active in the community, having served 25 years on the Mason
County Fair Board as well as being an immediate past board member of the Mason
County Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Williamson continues to serve on the
Mason County Development Authority Board, Route 35 Committee and the Executive
Board-Regional Contracting Assistance Center. He is a member of the
Pleasant Valley Hospital Board of Trustees and serves on its Finance
Committee. Mr. Williamson is a member of the Company’s Audit
Committee and Board Enterprise Risk Committee. Since 1997, he has
been a member of the Ohio Valley Bank’s West Virginia Advisory
Board.
Thomas
E. Wiseman, Age 51
Director
of the Bank and the Company since 1992
Mr.
Wiseman has been the President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the Company
since January 2010 and President of the Company’s subsidiary, Ohio Valley
Financial Services Agency, LLC, since March 2010. From 1980 until
becoming President and COO of the Company, Mr. Wiseman served as President of
The Wiseman Agency, Inc., a successful insurance and financial services company
and one of the largest independent insurance agencies by premium volume in
southern Ohio and northwestern West Virginia. The agency operates primarily in
the same footprint as does the Company, which gives Mr. Wiseman a unique
perspective of the Company’s market. Mr. Wiseman has 30 years of risk
management experience, working with a variety of businesses from small retail
stores to nationally recognized companies. He has extensive
experience in analyzing risk both on the balance sheet as well as the income
statement. Mr. Wiseman served as the Company’s Lead Independent
Director from 2005 until 2010. He is Chairman of the Company’s
Executive Committee and a member of the Management Enterprise Risk
Committee. Mr. Wiseman is also a member of the following Ohio Valley
Bank committees: Executive (Chair), Strategic Planning, Asset Liability and
Large Loan Review. Mr. Wiseman has served as the past president of
the Independent Insurance Agents of Ohio, Gallia County Area Chamber of
Commerce, Gallia County Community Improvement Corporation and the Gallipolis
Rotary Club. He has been a past director of the Independent Insurance
Agents and Brokers of America, Southeastern Ohio Regional Council, University of
Rio Grande (Emerson E. Evans School of Business), Century Surety Insurance
Company, French Art Colony and Holzer Vanguard. Mr. Wiseman has been
the past chairman of the United Way of Gallia County and the Care Committee for
new schools.
There are
no family relationships among any of the directors, nominees for election as
directors and executive officers of the Company.
Meetings
of and Communications with the Board of Directors
The Board
of Directors held a total of 13 meetings during 2009. Each incumbent
Director attended 75% or more of the aggregate of the total number of meetings
held by the Board of Directors and the total number of meetings held by all
committees of the Board of Directors on which the Director served, in each case
during the Director’s period of service in 2009. In accordance with
applicable Nasdaq Marketplace Rules, the independent directors meet in executive
session as appropriate matters for their consideration arise.
The Company encourages all incumbent
Directors and Director nominees to attend each annual meeting of
shareholders. All of the incumbent Directors and Director nominees
attended the Company’s last annual meeting of shareholders held on May 13,
2009.
The Company has an informal process by
which shareholders may communicate directly with Directors. Any
communication to the Board may be mailed to David W. Thomas, Lead Director, in
care of Investor Relations at the Company’s headquarters, P.O. Box 240,
Gallipolis, Ohio 45631. The mailing envelope should contain a clear
notation indicating that the enclosed letter is a “Shareholder-Board
Communication” or “Shareholder-Director Communication.” There is no
screening process, and all shareholder communications that are received for the
Board’s attention will be forwarded to all Directors.
Board
Leadership Structure
Leadership succession is vital to the
future health of the Company. In November 2009, the Independent
Directors of the Company, upon recommendation of the Compensation and Management
Succession Committee, named Jeffrey E. Smith Chairman of the Board and Chief
Executive Officer (CEO) of Ohio Valley Banc Corp. and The Ohio Valley Bank
Company; and named Thomas E. Wiseman President and Chief Operating Officer of
Ohio Valley Banc Corp. and The Ohio Valley Bank Company, effective January 1,
2010. In his role as President and Chief Operating Officer, Mr.
Wiseman is no longer considered to be independent. Desiring to
maintain and foster a strong independent presence on the Board of Directors, in
January 2010, the Independent Directors of the Company named David W. Thomas as
the Lead Independent Director of the Company.
The Lead Independent Director presides
at all meetings of the independent directors and is an ex-officio member of all
standing committees of the Company, including the Board Enterprise Risk
Committee. His duties include making recommendations regarding the
structure of the Board of Directors as well as committee meetings; assisting in
establishing agendas of the Board of Directors; overseeing evaluations and
performance of members of the Board of Directors; chairing executive sessions of
the independent directors; and overseeing the Company’s shareholder
communication policies and procedures. Additionally, he has the
authority to call meetings of the independent directors of the
Company.
The Board of Directors chose to combine
the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman positions at this time because the
Board believes that the CEO’s day-to-day management of the Company provides a
comprehensive understanding of the performance of the Company and its
most pressing issues which are crucial for leading Board
discussions. Furthermore, the Board believes the Lead Independent
Director has sufficient authority to provide the Board with independent
leadership when appropriate.
Committees
of the Board
The Board of Directors has five
standing committees: the Audit Committee, the Compensation and
Management Succession Committee, the Executive Committee, the Nominating and
Corporate Governance Committee, and the Board Enterprise Risk
Committee.
Audit
Committee
The Audit
Committee is comprised of Anna P. Barnitz, Steven B. Chapman (Chairman), David
W. Thomas and Lannes C. Williamson. The Board of Directors
has determined that each member of the Audit Committee qualifies as independent
under Nasdaq Marketplace Rules 4200(a)(15) and 4350(d)(2) as well as under Rule
10A-3 promulgated under the Exchange Act.
The Board
of Directors believes that each member of the Audit Committee has substantial
financial experience and is highly qualified to discharge such member’s duties.
Additionally, the
Board of Directors has determined that Steven B. Chapman qualifies as an
“audit committee financial expert” for purposes of Item 401(h) of SEC Regulation
S-K based on his training and experience as a Certified Public
Accountant. The Board of Directors has determined that Mr. Chapman is
capable of (i) understanding accounting principles generally accepted in the
United States (“US GAAP”) and financial statements, (ii) assessing the general
application of US GAAP in connection with the accounting for estimates, accruals
and reserves, (iii) analyzing and evaluating the Company’s consolidated
financial statements, (iv) understanding internal control over financial
reporting, and (v) understanding audit committee functions.
The Audit
Committee is organized and conducts its business pursuant to a written charter
adopted by the Board of Directors. A current copy of the charter of
the Audit Committee is posted on the Company’s website at www.ovbc.com under
“About Us” in the Ohio Valley Banc Corp. section. At least annually, the
Audit Committee reviews and reassesses the adequacy of its charter and
recommends changes to the full Board as necessary. The Audit
Committee is responsible for:
·
|
overseeing
the accounting and financial reporting process of the Company and audits
of the Company’s financial
statements;
|
·
|
monitoring
the Company’s financial reporting process and internal control
system;
|
·
|
overseeing
the certification process and other laws and regulations impacting the
Company’s quarterly and annual financial statements and related disclosure
controls;
|
·
|
reviewing
and evaluating the audit efforts of the Company’s independent registered
public accounting firm and the Company’s internal auditing
department;
|
·
|
providing
an open avenue of communication among the Company’s independent registered
public accounting firm, financial and senior management, internal auditing
department and the Board of
Directors;
|
·
|
appointing,
compensating and overseeing the independent registered public accounting
firm employed by the Company for the purpose of preparing or issuing an
audit report or performing related work;
and
|
·
|
establishing
procedures for the receipt, retention and treatment of complaints received
by the Company regarding accounting, internal accounting controls or
auditing matters.
|
In
addition, the Audit Committee reviews and pre-approves all audit and permitted
non-audit services provided by the Company’s independent registered public
accounting firm and ensures that the registered public accounting firm is not
engaged to perform the specific non-audit services prohibited by law, rule or
regulation. The Audit Committee will also carry out such other
responsibilities as may be delegated to the Audit Committee by the full
Board.
The Audit
Committee held twelve meetings during the 2009 fiscal year. The
Report of the Audit Committee for the 2009 fiscal year begins on page
29.
Compensation and Management
Succession Committee
The
Compensation and Management Succession Committee is comprised of Anna P. Barnitz
(Chairman), Harold A. Howe and Brent A. Saunders. The Board of
Directors has determined that each member of the Compensation and Management
Succession Committee qualifies as independent under Nasdaq Marketplace Rule
4200(a)(15). In addition, the Board of Directors has determined that
each member of the Compensation and Management Succession Committee qualifies as
an “outside director” for purposes of Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986, as amended, and as a “non-employee director” for purposes of Rule
16b-3 under the Exchange Act.
The
Compensation and Management Succession Committee is organized and conducts its
business pursuant to a written charter adopted by the Board of
Directors. A current copy of the charter of the Compensation and
Management Succession Committee is posted on the Company’s website at www.ovbc.com under
“About Us” in the Ohio Valley Banc Corp. section. The Compensation
and Management Succession Committee periodically reviews and reassesses the
adequacy of its charter and recommends changes to the full Board as
necessary. The charter was last revised by the Board of Directors on
February 26, 2008, upon recommendation of the Compensation and Management
Succession Committee.
The
purpose of the Compensation and Management Succession Committee is to discharge
the responsibilities of the Board of Directors relating to compensation of the
Company’s Directors and executive officers and to prepare an annual report on
executive compensation for inclusion in the proxy statement for the Company’s
annual meeting of shareholders. The Compensation and Management
Succession Committee will also carry out such other responsibilities as may be
delegated to it by the full Board.
The
Compensation and Management Succession Committee is responsible for reviewing
and approving goals and objectives relevant to the compensation of the Company’s
executive officers (including the Chief Executive Officer), evaluating such
executive officers’ performance in light of those goals and objectives and
determining compensation based on that evaluation. The Compensation
and Management Succession Committee is also responsible for reviewing the
Company’s incentive compensation programs and retirement plans, and recommending
changes to such programs and plans to the Board of Directors as
necessary. The Compensation and Management Succession Committee also
reviews any severance or other termination arrangements to be entered into with
the Company’s executive officers.
The
Compensation and Management Succession Committee held four meetings during the
2009 fiscal year. The Report of the Compensation and Management
Succession Committee on executive compensation relating to the 2009 fiscal year
begins on page 21.
Executive
Committee
The Executive Committee is comprised of
Anna P. Barnitz, Steven B. Chapman, Harold A. Howe, Brent A. Saunders, Jeffrey
E. Smith, David W. Thomas and Thomas E. Wiseman (Chairman). The
Executive Committee is authorized to act in the intervals between meetings of
the Directors on matters delegated by the full Board. There was one
meeting of the Executive Committee during the 2009 fiscal year.
Nominating and Corporate
Governance Committee
The
Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee consists of Harold A. Howe, Brent
A. Saunders (Chairman) and David W. Thomas. The Board of Directors
has determined that each member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance
Committee qualifies as independent under Nasdaq Marketplace Rule
4200(a)(15). The purposes of the Nominating and Corporate Governance
Committee are to:
·
|
identify
qualified candidates for election, nomination or appointment to the Board
and recommend to the full Board a slate of Director nominees for each
annual meeting of the shareholders of the
Company;
|
·
|
make
recommendations to the full Board regarding the Directors who shall serve
on committees of the Board; and
|
·
|
undertake
such other responsibilities as may be referred to the Nominating and
Corporate Governance Committee by the full
Board.
|
The
Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee is organized and conducts its
business pursuant to a written charter adopted by the Board of
Directors. A current copy of the charter of the Nominating and
Corporate Governance Committee is posted on the Company’s website at www.ovbc.com under
“About Us” in the Ohio Valley Banc Corp. section. The Nominating and
Corporate Governance Committee periodically reviews and reassesses the adequacy
of its charter and recommends changes to the full Board as
necessary. The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee held two
meetings during the 2009 fiscal year.
Board Enterprise Risk
Committee
The Board
Enterprise Risk Committee consists of Anna P. Barnitz, Steven B. Chapman, Brent
A. Saunders, David W. Thomas (Chairman) and Lannes C. Williamson.
The Board
Enterprise Risk Committee is organized and conducts its business pursuant to a
written charter adopted by the Board of Directors. At least annually,
the Board Enterprise Risk Committee reviews and reassesses the adequacy of its
charter and recommends changes to the full Board as necessary. The
Board Enterprise Risk Committee’s primary duties and responsibilities are
to:
·
|
oversee
the Company’s policies, procedures and practices relating to
OVBC’s enterprise-wide risks;
|
·
|
assess
current and emerging material risks and provide review and approval of
established risk tolerances;
|
·
|
oversee
the Company’s compliance with applicable laws and regulations;
and
|
·
|
oversee
material pending litigation in which the Company has been named a
defendant.
|
The
business of banking has been and will continue to be centered on the management
of risk. The Board of Directors proactively oversees management’s
implementation and enforcement of the Company’s risk management policies and
procedures. The Board’s risk oversight responsibility is primarily
administered through the Board Enterprise Risk Committee. The Board
Enterprise Risk Committee meets quarterly to ensure that the Company is taking
appropriate steps to identify, measure, monitor, and control risks as identified
in the Company’s Enterprise Risk Management Policy. This policy addresses the
composition and control of the Company’s overall risk management program and
establishes standards for liquidity, market, credit, operational, legal,
reputational, and strategic risks and for others that may emerge in the
future. The Enterprise Risk Management Policy is supplemented by
various other Company policies which further address the specific risk
categories to which they pertain. Additionally, the Enterprise Risk
Management Policy provides for proper reporting through senior management to the
Board Enterprise Risk Committee and/or the full Board of
Directors. Although the Senior Vice President and Risk Management
Officer reports administratively to the Chief Operating Officer, she does serve
as an ex-officio member of the Board Enterprise Risk Committee. The
committee routinely receives reports from the Risk Management Officer as well as
other Ohio Valley Bank personnel within the Risk Management Department. In
addition to the Risk Management Officer, the Chief Operating Officer, Chief
Executive Officer and the Internal Auditor also serve as ex-officio members of
the committee.
The Board
of Directors has established a Management Enterprise Risk Committee whose
members are the senior management team of the Company. It is the
responsibility of the Management Risk Committee, in conjunction with the Risk
Management Department, to implement and enforce the risk management policies of
the Company on a day-to-day basis. Actions of the Management Risk Committee are
routinely monitored and reported to the Board Enterprise Risk
Committee.
The Board
of Directors recognizes that no policy can anticipate all the conditions,
situations and opportunities that may arise during the normal course of
operations. Therefore, the Board of Directors expects management to
exercise prudent judgement in the day-to-day implementation of the Company’s
risk management policies.
Nominating
Procedures
As described above, the Company has a
standing Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee that has the
responsibility to identify and recommend individuals qualified to become
Directors. The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
evaluates the qualifications and performance of incumbent directors before
deciding to recommend them for re-election to the Board. The Nominating and
Corporate Governance Committee recommended the nominees for election as
Directors at the Annual Meeting. When considering potential
candidates for the Board, the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
strives to assure that the composition of the Board, as well as its practices
and operation, contribute to value creation and to the effective representation
of the Company’s shareholders. Although the Company does not have a
formal diversity policy, the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee is
guided by the Nominating and Corporate Governance Charter in fulfilling its
responsibility to identify and recommend individuals
qualified
to become Directors. The Nominating and Corporate
Governance Committee considers it essential that the Board, as a whole, should
be diverse with respect to skills, experience, perspective, age, background and
geography as these criteria relate to the Company’s market area and the
financial services industry. The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
may consider the above factors as it deems appropriate in evaluating
Director candidates. Depending upon the current needs of the
Board, certain factors may be weighed more or less heavily by the Nominating and
Corporate Governance Committee. From time to time, the Nominating and
Corporate Governance Committee may deem it prudent to recruit individuals with
education and expertise in a specific discipline, such as accounting, finance or
law.
In considering candidates for the
Board, the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee evaluates the entirety
of each candidate’s credentials and does not have any specific minimum
qualifications that must be met by a Nominating and Corporate Governance
Committee-recommended nominee. However, the Nominating and Corporate
Governance Committee does believe that
all
members of the Board should have the highest character and integrity; a
reputation for working constructively with others; sufficient time to devote to
Board matters; and no conflict of interest that would interfere with performance
as a Director. Additionally, the Company is a highly-regulated
institution and all Director candidates are subject to the requirements of
applicable federal and state banking laws and regulations.
The Nominating and Corporate Governance
Committee considers candidates for the Board from any reasonable source,
including recommendations from shareholders and existing
Directors. The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee does not
evaluate candidates differently based on who has made the
recommendation. The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee has
the authority to hire and pay a fee to consultants or search firms to assist in
the process of identifying and evaluating candidates. No such
consultants or search firms have been used to date and, accordingly, no fees
have been paid to consultants or search firms.
Shareholders
may recommend Director candidates for consideration by the Nominating and
Corporate Governance Committee by writing to Brent A. Saunders, the Chairman of
the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, at the Company’s executive
offices, P.O. Box 240, Gallipolis, Ohio 45631. The recommendation
should give the candidate’s name, age, business address, residence address,
principal occupation or employment and number of common shares beneficially
owned. The recommendation should also describe the qualifications,
attributes, skills or other qualities of the recommended Director
candidate. A written statement from the candidate consenting to be
named as a Director candidate and, if nominated and elected, to serve as a
Director should accompany any such recommendation.
Shareholders who wish to nominate an
individual for election as a Director at an annual meeting of the shareholders
of the Company must comply with the Company’s Code of Regulations regarding
shareholder nominations. Shareholder nominations must be made in
writing and delivered or mailed to Brent A. Saunders, the Chairman of the
Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, at the Company’s executive
offices, P.O. Box 240, Gallipolis, Ohio 45631, not less than 14 days nor more
than 50 days prior to any meeting of shareholders called for the election of
Directors. However, if less than 21 days’ notice of the meeting is
given to the shareholders, the nomination must be mailed or delivered to the
Chairman of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee not later than the
close of business on the seventh day following the day on which the notice of
the meeting was mailed to the shareholders. Each nomination must
contain the following information to the extent known by the nominating
shareholder: (a) the name and address of each proposed nominee; (b)
the principal occupation of each proposed nominee; (c) the total number of
common shares of the Company that will be voted for each proposed nominee; (d)
the name and residence address of the nominating shareholder; (e) the number of
common shares of the Company beneficially owned by the nominating shareholder;
and (f) any other information required to be disclosed with respect to a nominee
for election as a Director under the proxy rules promulgated under the Exchange
Act. Nominations not made in accordance with the Company’s Code of
Regulations will not be considered.
COMPENSATION
OF EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS
Executive
Officers
The following are the executive
officers of the Company:
Name
|
Age
|
Position(s)
Held with the Company
and its Principal
Subsidiaries
|
|
|
|
Jeffrey
E. Smith
|
60
|
Chairman
and Chief Executive Officer of the Company and the Bank since January
2010. President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company and
the Bank from April 2000 until January 2010; employed by the Bank since
1973.
|
Thomas
E. Wiseman
|
51
|
President
and Chief Operating Officer of the Company and the Bank since January
2010; Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Company and the Bank
since January 2010; and President of the Company’s subsidiary, Ohio Valley
Financial Services Agency, LLC since March 2010. President of
The Wiseman Agency, Inc., from 1980 until January 2010.
|
Scott
W. Shockey
|
40
|
Vice
President and Chief Financial Officer of the Company and Senior Vice
President and Chief Financial Officer of the Bank since December 2004;
Assistant Treasurer of the Company from April 2001 to December 2004; and
Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the Bank from April 2001 to
December 2004.
|
Katrinka
V. Hart
|
51
|
Senior
Vice President and Risk Management Officer of the Company since 2004;
Executive Vice President and Risk Management Officer of the Bank since
2003.
|
E.
Richard Mahan
|
64
|
Senior
Vice President and Chief Credit Officer of the Company and Executive Vice
President and Chief Credit Officer of the Bank since December 2007; Senior
Vice President and Secretary of the Company from April 2000 to December
2007; and Executive Vice President and Secretary of the Bank from April
2000 to December 2007.
|
Larry
E. Miller, II
|
45
|
Senior
Vice President and Secretary of the Company and Executive Vice President
and Secretary of the Bank since December 2007; Senior Vice President and
Treasurer of the Company from April 2000 to December 2007; and Executive
Vice President and Treasurer of the Bank from April 2000 to December
2007.
|
Compensation
Discussion and Analysis
Overview
of Compensation Program
The executive officers of the Company
receive no compensation from the Company. Instead, they are paid by
the Bank for services rendered in their capacities as executive officers of the
Bank.
The Compensation and Management
Succession Committee (the “Compensation Committee”) is responsible for reviewing
and approving goals and objectives relevant to the compensation of the Company's
executive officers (including the named executive officers), evaluating such
executive officers' performance in light of those goals and objectives and
determining compensation based on that evaluation. As part of that
responsibility, the Compensation Committee reviews the Company's bonus program
as well as retirement plans and recommends changes to such programs and plans to
the Board of Directors as necessary. The Compensation Committee does
not believe the goals and objectives relevant to the compensation of the
Company’s executive officers incent excessive risk taking and are not reasonably
likely to create a material adverse effect on the Company. The
Company continues to face numerous risks, as do all institutions, which could
threaten its value. The most prominent of these risks are liquidity,
credit, interest rate, strategic and reputational risk. The
Compensation Committee believes the risk management controls currently in place
in conjunction with performance goals that properly balance earnings growth and
asset quality effectively address the risks inherent in the current economic
environment. Although the Compensation Committee also has
responsibility for reviewing any severance or other termination arrangements to
be entered into with the Company's executive officers, there are currently no
such arrangements.
Management's
Role in Compensation Decisions
While the Committee makes all
compensation decisions regarding the named executive officers, the Committee
utilizes data and reports as required by the wage and salary administration plan
described elsewhere in this Compensation Discussion and
Analysis. Some of this data is prepared or assembled by management
and includes, but is not limited to, peer analysis of comparable financial
industry job grades, cost of living adjustments, and total compensation
benchmarking primarily for Ohio and the Midwest Region of the United
States. Our Chief Executive Officer works with the Compensation
Committee Chair in establishing the agenda for Compensation Committee
meetings. The Chief Executive Officer regularly attends meetings
briefing the Committee on the Company’s overall performance. With
respect to developing compensation packages, annually the Chief Executive
Officer reviews the performance of each executive officer (excluding his own) by
comparing results achieved to established goals as well as the
overall performance of the Company as compared to Board approved corporate
performance goals. This data, along with salary data derived from the
Company’s wage and salary administration plan, are the bases for his
recommendations to the Committee with respect to the compensation of the other
executive officers, including base salary adjustments and annual bonus payments.
The Committee considers the Chief Executive Officer’s recommendations and uses
its own discretion in making the final compensation decisions. The
Committee regularly conducts executive sessions, without the presence of
management, in fulfilling its responsibilities pursuant to its
charter.
Compensation
Philosophy and Objectives
The objectives of the compensation
programs of the Company and the Bank are that:
·
|
compensation
of the Company's executive officers and non-executive officers should be
directly linked to corporate operating performance;
and
|
·
|
executive
officers and non-executive officers should receive fair and equitable
compensation for their respective levels of responsibility and supervisory
authority compared to their peers within the Company as well as their
peers within the financial services
industry.
|
In
1993, the Company adopted a comprehensive wage and salary administration plan
for the Company and its subsidiaries to be used for all employees, including
executive officers. That plan consists of a job grading process for
all jobs in the Company, a performance appraisal process, and a periodic total
compensation benchmarking process to determine compensation market ranges for
all job grades. The components of this plan apply to both executive
officers and non-executive officers. The Company believes that it is
essential to attracting and retaining qualified officers in its industry that
compensation be competitive with that of other companies within the
industry. Further, in order to motivate such individuals to perform
to the best of their abilities in furthering the Company's goals, the Company
also believes there must be an opportunity for such officers to benefit
personally from increased efforts and the Company's achievement of its
goals.
Over the
years, the Company has retained Crowe Horwath LLP (“Crowe Horwath”) to update
the benchmarking information. In 2007, the Company benchmarked the
pay range for base salary and bonus established for each position using the
services of Crowe Horwath. The 2007 Crowe Horwath Comprehensive and
Midwest Financial Institutions Surveys, the Economic Research Institute salary
database, the Watson Wyatt Financial Institutions Compensation Survey
(commercial banks category) and the 2006 proxy data from a peer group of ten
companies were used in the benchmarking analysis. The selection
criteria for inclusion in the peer group were as follows: total
assets between $675 and $850 million, located in the Midwest Region with
comparable performance metrics in return on assets, return on equity, net
interest margin and efficiency ratio. The companies which met the
aforementioned criterion were:
Ames
National
Corporation Team
Financial, Inc.
First
Financial Service
Corporation First
Citizens Banc Corp
Community
Bank Shares of Indiana,
Inc. MidWestOne
Financial Group, Inc.
First
Business Financial Services,
Inc. BNCCORP,
Inc.
Monroe
Bancorp
Northern States Financial Corporation
The
benchmarking analysis also included data gathered from the following employers
in the Company's immediate market area:
City
National Bank
Oak
Hill Financial, Inc.
Farmers
Bank and Savings Company
Holzer
Clinic
University
of Rio Grande
These
employers in the Company's immediate market area were chosen based on the
economic impact of the institution as well as the size of the employee base in
the Gallia and Jackson County, Ohio and Mason County, West Virginia market
areas. The Crowe Horwath Comprehensive survey included 63 financial
institutions with $500 million to $1 billion in assets located in twelve states
east of the Mississippi River. The Crowe Horwath Midwest survey is a
subset of the Comprehensive survey and included 28 financial institutions
located primarily in Ohio, Michigan, Indiana and Illinois. From the
Economic Research Institute salary database, which has information from a
collection of compensation surveys, Crowe Horwath used information designated by
the Economic Research Institute as reflecting individuals (administrative and
professional ) who had held their positions for three years at commercial banks
with a Huntington, West Virginia, database location. The 2007 Watson
Wyatt Financial Institutions Survey included commercial banks across the United
States. Except as noted above, the Compensation Committee did not
have access to the names of the companies included in any of these surveys, but
based its decision to use the survey data on the belief that institutions
meeting the survey criteria had similarities to the Company in terms of location
(Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin and West Virginia); size
(total assets greater than $500 million); and market populations (markets with
populations of less than 100,000), which made such institutions
appropriate for purposes of maintaining competitive compensation.
Range
midpoints from the surveys were averaged to determine a common midpoint for each
range. The Company adjusted its existing range midpoints to within
+/- 10% of the benchmark project output, thereby creating a new range for each
position for 2008 compensation. For 2009, the Compensation Committee
utilized the Crowe Horwath Midwest Regional Survey Report and the Ohio Survey
Report to update the ranges established for each job in 2008. The
Crowe Horwath Midwest Regional survey included 175 financial institutions of all
asset sizes located in Ohio, West Virginia, Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana,
Illinois and Iowa. The Crowe Horwath Ohio survey is a subset of the Midwest
Regional survey and included 27 financial institutions of all asset sizes
located in the State of Ohio. Then, the Compensation Committee used these two
Crowe Horwath surveys in combination with individual performance appraisals to
determine the base salaries to be paid to each named executive officer within
the established range. The Compensation Committee desires to have
total compensation for each officer in the range, rather than just the base
salary.
Finally,
the Company's base salaries for 2009 were determined based on the personal
performance evaluation of each employee and the position of the employee's
expected total salary and bonus compensation within the established
range.
Based on
the benchmarking and salary adjustment process, the following ranges of salary
and bonus for the named executive officers were established:
Name
|
|
Salary
Range
|
|
|
Bonus
Range
|
|
Jeffrey
E. Smith
|
|
$ |
163,072
– 338,166
|
|
|
$ |
16,048
– 62,417 |
|
Scott
W. Shockey
|
|
|
70,054
– 138,424 |
|
|
|
9,202
– 27,479 |
|
Katrinka
V. Hart
|
|
|
129,605
– 255,216 |
|
|
|
12,551
– 39,533 |
|
E.
Richard Mahan
|
|
|
129,605
– 255,216 |
|
|
|
12,551
– 39,533 |
|
Larry
E. Miller, II
|
|
|
129,605
– 255,216 |
|
|
|
12,551
– 39,533 |
|
The
Compensation Committee annually conducts a performance appraisal to evaluate the
performance of Mr. Smith and the other named executive officers in achieving the
expected requirements of their jobs based on the following 10 specific criteria
(the “Evaluation Criteria”): 1) job knowledge-information, 2) priority setting,
3) delegation of duties, 4) decisiveness, 5) creativity, 6) written and oral
communication, 7) initiative and adaptability, 8) teamwork and open-mindedness,
9) work efficiency and follow-through, and 10) goal setting. The
evaluation conducted by the Compensation Committee assesses the executive
officers' performance in each of the 10 criteria on a range from 1, the lowest,
to 5, the highest, in increments of .25. The higher an officers'
performance on the 10 criteria, the higher the officer will be paid within the
pay range established through the benchmarking process.
The
Compensation Committee seeks to utilize four components (a base salary, a bonus,
retirement plans, and insurance benefits) in the Company's compensation program
to insure that employees who are performing “as expected” will, over time, be
compensated in the middle one-third of the respective market range for similar
jobs in the financial services industry. An employee starting in the
lower one-third of a pay range who performs “better than expected” will move to
the middle one-third of the pay range faster than an employee who performs “as
expected.”
The
Company has no policy for allocating between long-term and short-term
compensation or allocating between cash and non-cash components, although the
bonus program does take into account both long-term and short-term goals and
performance of the Company.
Executive
Compensation Components and Analysis
The components of the compensation
program are: a base salary, a bonus, retirement plans and insurance
benefits. Other than the employee stock ownership plan, the Company
has no equity-based compensation plans.
Base
Salary
The objective of the base salary
component of the cash compensation plan is to provide predictable and reliable
cash compensation sufficient to attract and retain motivated officers and to
recognize and reward individual performance. In fulfilling that
objective the Compensation Committee desires that each employee, including the
named executive officers, who achieves an overall performance evaluation of “3”
(as expected), should receive base salaries within +/-10% of the midpoint of the
marketplace range.
In 2008,
the Compensation Committee recommended to the full Board of Directors, and the
full Board of Directors determined, to increase base salaries, effective in
January 2009, with an expectation that any bonus, if and when determined, would
constitute a smaller percentage of total compensation.
Using the survey information described
above, and based on their annual performance appraisal and the position of their
expected total compensation within the marketplace range, the base
salaries for the named executive officers were increased an average of 4.51%,
plus an amount necessary to be within +/-10% of the benchmark compared to
2008. Each of the named executive officers was, prior to such
adjustments, receiving total compensation in the lower one third of the
marketplace range established from the surveys.
Bonuses
The objectives of the bonus component
of the Company's compensation program are to: (a) motivate executive officers
and other employees and reward such persons for the accomplishment of both
annual and long range goals of the Company and its subsidiaries, (b) reinforce a
strong performance orientation with differentiation and variability in
individual awards based on contribution to long-range business results and (c)
provide a fully competitive compensation package which will attract, reward, and
retain individuals of the highest quality. All employees of the
Company's subsidiaries holding positions with a pay grade of 9 or above are
eligible to participate in the Bonus Program, including all subsidiaries'
executive officers.
Bonuses payable to participants in the
Bonus Program are based on (a) the performance of the Company and its
subsidiaries as measured against specific performance targets; (b) each
employee's individual performance; and (c) the marketplace range of compensation
for employees holding comparable positions. At the beginning of
each fiscal year, the Compensation Committee sets specific performance targets
for the Company and its subsidiaries based on a combination of some or all of a
number of performance criteria set forth in the Company’s strategic
plan. The Compensation Committee may establish two sets of targets,
one set of which is higher and less likely to be achieved, referred to as the
“annual bonus targets”. A second set, referred to as the “long range
bonus targets” is more likely to be achieved. The targets are based
on one or more of the following performance criteria: net income, net income per
share, return on assets, return on equity, asset quality (as measured by the
ratio of non-performing loans to total loans and non-performing assets to total
assets), and efficiency ratio. It is the objective of the
Compensation Committee to establish goals that are “reaching” but
“reachable”. The Committee may not consider the goals to be of equal
weight, but, in the aggregate, it considers them to be fundamental metrics which
are important to the long-term performance of the Company and which, at the same
time, do not expose the Company, nor incent the employees to undertake,
excessive risks which would threaten the Company’s long-term
value. At the end of the fiscal year, the aggregate amount available
for the payment of a bonus, if any at all, is determined by the Company’s Board
of Directors upon recommendation of its Compensation Committee based on an
evaluation of the accomplishment of the performance targets. A bonus
may be paid at the end of the year without targets having been established or
achieved. No officer or employee has any right to the payment of a
bonus until the Board of Directors has exercised its discretion to award one and
the amount to be paid to each person has been determined and
announced.
Once the aggregate amount of the bonus
pool is determined, individual bonus awards are determined through a formula
that applies each employee's performance evaluation score to a “bonus grid”,
reflecting the individual employee's job grade, the market place range of
compensation for that job grade, and individual job performance using the
Evaluation
Criteria
referenced above. Employees are evaluated by their supervisors,
except for the executive officers, who are evaluated by the Compensation
Committee of the Company’s Board of Directors. The Company’s Board of
Directors approves the bonuses payable to the executive officers under the Bonus
Program based upon the recommendation of the Compensation
Committee.
At the end of 2009, the
Compensation Committee recommended to the full Board of Directors, and the full
Board of Directors determined, to award essentially the same bonuses in 2009 as
were awarded in 2008, adjusted to reflect the Board’s prior decision to
re-allocate a portion of the bonus into base salary. As a result,
total bonuses paid in 2009 declined 42.16%. The decision to
re-allocate a portion of the bonus into base salary was predicated on the
Committee and the Board’s desire to align base compensation more closely with
industry norms without increasing overall expense. As
stated earlier in this discussion, the Compensation Committee may not consider
the performance goals of equal weight. In late 2009, when the
Committee considered the overall performance of the Company, it evaluated the
following:
|
|
Goal
|
|
|
Actual
|
|
|
Change
from 2008
|
|
Earnings
|
|
$ |
7,556,300 |
|
|
$ |
6,645,200 |
|
|
|
-6.77 |
% |
Earnings
per share
|
|
|
1.90 |
|
|
|
1.67 |
|
|
|
-5.6 |
% |
Return
on assets
|
|
|
.98 |
% |
|
|
.81 |
% |
|
|
-11.0 |
% |
Return
on equity
|
|
|
12.00 |
% |
|
|
10.23 |
% |
|
|
-12.0 |
% |
Non-performing
loans/total loans
|
|
|
.80 |
% |
|
|
.81 |
% |
|
|
-3.6 |
% |
Non-performing
assets/total assets
|
|
|
.80 |
% |
|
|
1.31 |
% |
|
|
+2.3 |
% |
Efficiency
ratio
|
|
|
65.00 |
% |
|
|
67.77 |
% |
|
|
+8.4 |
% |
The
economy and the financial services industry continued to face significant
challenges in 2009 that some have referred to as “The Great
Recession”. These unusual circumstances prompted the FDIC to increase
insurance premiums on all FDIC insured financial institutions. The
higher insurance premiums had a dramatic effect on the financial results of the
Company. None of the seven performance targets were
achieved. The Committee acknowledged that the 2009 performance
targets were very aggressive, particularly in consideration of the
aforementioned historic increases in FDIC assessments. Although the
five performance metrics associated with earnings retreated from 2008 levels,
the Committee deemed the level of profitability as
reasonable. Considering that unemployment levels reached double digit
territory in 2009, the Committee was especially pleased with asset quality, even
though asset quality goals , as measured by non-performing loans as a percentage
of total loans and non-performing assets as a percentage of total assets were
not achieved. Non-performing loans as a percentage of total loans
actually improved slightly despite difficult economic conditions while
non-performing assets as a percentage of total assets experienced a slight
deterioration from 2008 levels. The Committee deemed asset quality as enviable,
when compared to the Company’s peers. Given the stable asset quality
and the reasonable level of profitability generated in less than desirable
circumstances, the Committee decided to maintain the aggregate bonus pool at the
same level as was approved in 2008, adjusted for the aforementioned
re-allocation. The named executive officers' respective performance
appraisals and position in the marketplace range as described above determined
each officer's share of the bonus pool for 2009 as reported in the Summary
Compensation Table on Page 22.
Again in
late 2009, the Compensation Committee assessed the size of the annual
performance bonus relative to total compensation and recommended to the full
Board of Directors that base salaries, effective in January 2010, be increased
with an expectation that any bonus declared at the end of 2010 would constitute
a smaller percentage of total compensation. The full Board of Directors approved
this action in order to align base compensation more closely with industry
norms, thereby making it easier to attract and recruit talented
employees.
Executive Retirement
Plans
The Board of Directors has established
several retirement plans, in order to both provide competitive compensation
arrangements to attract talented employees, and also to provide a valuable
incentive to retain talented employees once employed. Management
expects that the plans not funded by annual contributions will be funded by bank
owned life insurance policies previously purchased on the lives of all directors
and certain officers of the Company. The Board of Directors decided
in 1996 to invest in life insurance contracts as a means to offer supplemental
executive retirement plans for certain of its officers, including the named
executive officers. These nonqualified plans, described below, offer
an additional level of confidence that the executive officers, including the
named executive officers, can focus exclusively on their responsibilities as
executive officers during their working lives and can maintain a reasonable
standard of living in retirement.
Executive Deferred
Compensation Plan. The Company maintains a nonqualified
executive deferred compensation plan for all the Company's executive officers
and certain other officers. The deferred compensation plan is
strictly voluntary and participants in the plan, upon reaching age 65, are
eligible to receive a distribution of their contributions, plus accrued interest
earned at a designated rate on reinvestment of the contributions. In
2009, the rate paid was 5%. If a participant dies before reaching age
65 and the participant qualifies, the distribution will be made to the
participant's designated beneficiary in an amount equal to what the participant
would have accumulated if the participant had reached age 65 and had
continued
to make contributions to the plan. The Company believes that the cost
of providing the benefit will be offset by earnings on and/or proceeds from life
insurance contracts associated with the benefit.
Supplemental Executive
Retirement Plan. The Company maintains a nonqualified
supplemental executive retirement plan (the “SERP”), titled “Salary Continuation
Agreement”, for certain of its executive officers. Participation in
the SERP is at the discretion of the Board and is designed to supplement the
retirement benefits of such participants. Currently, Jeffrey E. Smith
is the only executive officer who participates in the SERP. The
amount of Mr. Smith's annual benefit is $117,100 if Mr. Smith's employment is
terminated on or after age 65 for any reason other than termination for
“cause”. Cause consists of gross negligence, gross neglect of duty,
commission of a felony or gross misdemeanor involving moral turpitude, or fraud,
disloyalty, dishonesty or willful violation of any law or significant Company
policy committed in connection with Mr. Smith's employment and resulting in an
adverse effect on the Company.
If Mr. Smith's employment is terminated
other than for cause, or other involuntary non-disability early termination
before normal retirement age (because Mr. Smith is eligible for early
retirement), the Company will pay Mr. Smith an amount determined by calculating
a 20-year fixed annuity from the Company's accrued liability, crediting interest
on the unpaid balance at an annual rate of 6%, compounded
monthly. The payments would be made monthly for 20
years.
In the event of Mr. Smith's involuntary
termination other than after normal retirement age or due to death, disability
or cause, the amount payable is the accrued liability based on Mr. Smith's
compensation for the plan year ending immediately prior to the date in which
termination occurs, which is determined calculating a 20-year fixed annuity from
the accrual balance, crediting interest on the unpaid balance at an annual rate
of 6 percent, compounded monthly. Payments would be made monthly for
20 years.
As
referenced above, the Board of Directors elected to offer the plan to permit the
Chief Executive Officer's exclusive focus on the day-to-day job responsibilities
of being a CEO with an expectation of a reasonable standard of living at
retirement.
Director Retirement
Plan. Participants in the Director Retirement Plan, upon
reaching age 70, are eligible to receive the greater of 50% of the Director’s
three prior years average total annual or monthly fees or 50% of any consecutive
three prior years average total annual or monthly fees. The benefit
is payable for 120 months for Directors with 10 years of service or
less. The benefit is payable for 240 months for Directors with more
than 10 years of service. If a Director dies during active service,
payment will be made to the Director's designated beneficiary in an amount equal
to what the Director would have received had the Director reached age 70, except
the benefit term will be reduced to 60 months. If the Director dies
during the payment of benefits, payment will be made to the Director's
designated beneficiary for the lesser of the remaining term or 60 additional
months. The Company believes that the cost of providing the benefit
will be offset by earnings on and/or proceeds from life insurance contracts
associated with the benefit. As a Director, Jeffrey E. Smith is a
participant in the Director Retirement Plan. If Mr. Smith had retired
at December 31, 2009, his monthly payment would have been $806 for 240
months. If he had died on that date, his monthly benefit would have
been $806 for 60 months. The Board of Directors began the Director
Retirement Plan in 1996 to encourage an age certain retirement date for Board
members as a method of planning Director succession.
Executive Life
Insurance. In addition to optional life insurance that the
Company makes available to all employees, the Company maintains life insurance
on each of the named executive officers of the Company on which the Company paid
the entire premium upon purchase. The Company is the sole owner of
each policy, but the Company has entered into an agreement with each named
executive officer agreeing to provide to such officer's designated beneficiary
from the proceeds of the policy an amount equal to the lesser of (a) two times
the officer's highest total annual compensation during any calendar year,
including the year of the officer's death, or (b) the face amount of the life
insurance policy. The Company agrees not to sell, surrender or
transfer the policy without giving the officer the option to purchase the policy
for the cash surrender value of the policy.
The
following table sets forth the amount that would have been payable for each
named executive officer covered by Executive Life Insurance at December 31,
2009:
Name
|
|
Benefit
at
December
31, 2009
|
|
Jeffrey
E. Smith
|
|
$ |
530,790 |
|
Katrinka
V. Hart
|
|
|
329,536 |
|
E.
Richard Mahan
|
|
|
280,000 |
|
Larry
E. Miller, II
|
|
|
329,536 |
|
Scott
W. Shockey
|
|
|
258,498 |
|
Director Life
Insurance. The Company maintains a life insurance policy for
all Directors, with a death benefit of two times annual Director fees at time of
death reduced by 35% at age 65 and 50% at age 70. The life insurance
policies terminate upon retirement. Mr. Smith as an employee of a
subsidiary of the Company, is excluded from this benefit under the terms of the
Company's group term life insurance program.
Retirement Plans for All
Employees
Profit Sharing Retirement
Plan. The Company sponsors a qualified Profit Sharing
Retirement Plan for all of its employees, including the named executive
officers. Each employee who is at least 21 years of age, has
completed 1,000 hours and one year of service to the Company and its
subsidiaries, and is employed on the last day of the plan year is qualified to
participate in the Profit Sharing Retirement Plan. The Board of
Directors determines the amount to contribute to the Profit Sharing Retirement
Plan each December in its discretion based on the performance and financial
condition of the Company. The Compensation Committee has
traditionally considered 1.75% of total Company payroll as a reasonable
contribution rate for the Profit Sharing Retirement Plan. In December
2009, the Board of Directors voted to use that same rate to contribute $196,622
to the Plan. Each participant received a pro rata share of this
contribution as well as a pro rata share of reallocated forfeitures (such pro
rata share, in each case, based upon such participant's eligible
compensation). The named executive officers' share of the 2009
contribution and reallocated forfeitures is reported in the Summary Compensation
Table on page 22.
401(k) Retirement
Plan. The Company sponsors a qualified 401(k) Plan under the
Profit Sharing Retirement Plan. Participants' qualifications are
identical to those of the Profit Sharing Retirement Plan. In cases
where participants made deferrals to the 401(k) Plan, the Company made a
matching contribution equal to 25% of the amount deferred by each employee, up
to a maximum deferral amount of 6% not to exceed 1.50% of the participant's
eligible plan compensation under the 401(k) Plan. The named executive
officers' share of the 2009 contribution and reallocated forfeitures is reported
in the Summary Compensation Table on page 22.
Employee Stock Ownership
Plan. The Company sponsors an Employee Stock Ownership Plan
(the “ESOP”) for all of its employees, including the named executive
officers. Participant qualifications are identical to those of the
Profit Sharing Retirement Plan. The Board of Directors determines the
amount to contribute to the ESOP each December in its discretion based on the
performance and financial condition of the Company. The Compensation
Committee has traditionally considered 3.50% of total company payroll as a
reasonable contribution rate for the Employee Stock Ownership
Plan. In December 2009, the Board of Directors voted to use that same
rate to contribute $393,244 to the ESOP. Each participant's share of
contributions and reallocated forfeitures is also identical to those of the
Profit Sharing Retirement Plan. The named executive officers' share
of the 2009 contributions and reallocated forfeitures is reported in the Summary
Compensation Table on page 22.
Other
Benefits
Executive officers of the Company also
receive benefits available to all employees, including group term life
insurance, health insurance, short- and long-term disability, flexible
benefits/cafeteria plan and optional life insurance.
The decision-making process and
compensation philosophy of the Company and the Bank were considered by the
Compensation Committee when determining 2009 compensation for the named
executive officers of the Company and the Bank. The Compensation
Committee believes that the compensation earned by the named executive officers
in 2009 was fair and reasonable when compared with executive compensation levels
in the banking industry as reported in the marketplace range
developed.
Tax
Deductibility of Compensation
Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue
Code generally disallows a tax deduction to public corporations for
non-qualifying compensation in excess of $1 million paid to covered persons in
any fiscal year. Neither the Company nor the Bank has a policy
requiring that all compensation in 2009 and thereafter to the covered officers
be deductible under Section 162(m). The Boards of Directors of both
companies do, however, consider carefully the after-tax cost and value to the
Company and the Bank of all compensation. The Board of Directors
believes that all compensation paid to covered persons in 2009 was fully
deductible.
Compensation
Committee Report
The Compensation and Management
Succession Committee has reviewed and discussed the Compensation Discussion and
Analysis above with the Company's management. Based on this review
and discussion, the committee recommends to the Board of Directors that the
Compensation Discussion and Analysis be included in the Company's proxy
statement and Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Submitted
by:
Compensation
and Management Succession Committee Members
Anna P.
Barnitz, Chairman
Harold A.
Howe
Brent A.
Saunders
Summary
Compensation Table for 2009
The
following table summarizes the total compensation paid to or earned by each of
the named executive officers for the three fiscal years ended December 31,
2009:
Name
and
Principal Position
|
|
Year
|
|
|
Salary
($)
(1)
|
|
|
Bonus
($)
(2)
|
|
|
Stock
Awards
($)
|
|
|
Option
Awards
($)
|
|
|
Non-Equity
Incentive Plan Compensation
($)
|
|
|
Change
in Pension Value and
Nonqualified
Deferred Compensation Earnings
($)
(3)
|
|
|
All
Other Compensation ($) (4)
|
|
|
Total
($)
|
|
(a)
|
|
(b)
|
|
|
(c)
|
|
|
(d)
|
|
|
(e)
|
|
|
(f)
|
|
|
(g)
|
|
|
(h)
|
|
|
(i)
|
|
|
(j)
|
|
Jeffrey
E. Smith
Chairman and
Chief Executive Officer
|
|
|
2009
2008
2007
|
|
|
$ |
196,734(5)
178,260(5)
170,802(5)
|
|
|
$ |
61,227
73,228
55,553
|
|
|
|
--
--
--
|
|
|
|
--
--
--
|
|
|
|
--
--
--
|
|
|
$ |
110,657
104,229
97,766
|
|
|
$ |
21,949
21,345
19,344
|
|
|
$ |
390,567
377,062
343,465
|
|
Scott
W. Shockey
Vice President and
Chief Financial Officer
|
|
|
2009
2008
2007
|
|
|
|
98,505
61,012
58,340
|
|
|
|
26,955
42,347
36,131
|
|
|
|
--
--
--
|
|
|
|
--
--
--
|
|
|
|
--
--
--
|
|
|
|
--
--
--
|
|
|
|
11,363
8,745
8,145
|
|
|
|
136,823
112,104
102,616
|
|
Katrinka
V. Hart
Senior Vice President and
Risk Management Officer
|
|
|
2009
2008
2007
|
|
|
|
121,321
100,969
89,658
|
|
|
|
38,781
48,947
41,054
|
|
|
|
--
--
--
|
|
|
|
--
--
--
|
|
|
|
--
--
--
|
|
|
|
--
--
--
|
|
|
|
14,830
12,812
10,993
|
|
|
|
174,932
162,728
141,705
|
|
E.
Richard Mahan
Senior Vice President and Chief Credit Officer
|
|
|
2009
2008
2007
|
|
|
|
121,268
100,790
89,658
|
|
|
|
39,157
49,421
41,452
|
|
|
|
--
--
--
|
|
|
|
--
--
--
|
|
|
|
--
--
--
|
|
|
|
--
--
--
|
|
|
|
14,181
12,825
11,017
|
|
|
|
174,606
163,036
142,127
|
|
Larry
E. Miller, II
Senior Vice President and Secretary
|
|
|
2009
2008
2007
|
|
|
|
121,321
100,969
89,658
|
|
|
|
38,781
48,947
41,054
|
|
|
|
--
--
--
|
|
|
|
--
--
--
|
|
|
|
--
--
--
|
|
|
|
--
--
--
|
|
|
|
14,779
13,434
11,601
|
|
|
|
174,881
163,350
142,313
|
|
(1)
|
Base
salaries for the named executive officers are described on page
17.
|
(2)
|
Bonuses
for the named executive officers are described on page
17.
|
(3)
|
The
amounts in column (h) reflect the change in the actuarial present value of
Mr. Smith’s benefits under the Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan and
the Director Retirement Plan, each of which is described on page 19, as
follows:
|
|
|
Increase
in
Actuarial
Present Value of
SERP
|
|
|
Increase
in
Actuarial
Present Value of
Director
Retirement Plan
|
|
2009
|
|
$ |
107,219 |
|
|
$ |
3,438 |
|
2008
|
|
|
100,991 |
|
|
|
3,238 |
|
2007
|
|
|
95,124 |
|
|
|
2,642 |
|
(4)
|
The
amount shown in column (i) reflects for each named executive
officer:
|
·
|
Company
contributions and reallocated forfeitures under the Profit Sharing
Retirement Plan, which is described on page
20.
|
·
|
Company
contributions and reallocated forfeitures under the 401(k) Plan, which is
provided for under the Profit Sharing Retirement Plan and is described on
page 20.
|
·
|
Company
contributions and reallocated forfeitures under the Employee Stock
Ownership Plan, which is described on page
20.
|
·
|
Board
designated Christmas Gift paid to all employees in December of each year
in an amount equal to two weeks of the base salary of the
employee.
|
·
|
Instructor
Fees for teaching a class to employees, and Service Awards for being
employed by the Bank for a certain number of
years.
|
(5)
|
Includes
Director’s fees received by Mr. Smith totaling $18,900 in each of 2009,
2008 and 2007.
|
Pension
Benefits for 2009
The following table shows the present
value of accumulated benefits payable to the only named executive officer who
received pension benefits in 2009:
Name
|
Plan
Name
|
|
Number
of Years
Credited
Service
(#)
(1)
|
|
|
Present
Value of
Accumulated
Benefit
($)
|
|
|
Payments
During Last
Fiscal
Year
($)
|
|
(a)
|
(b)
|
|
(c)
|
|
|
(d)
|
|
|
(e)
|
|
Jeffrey
E. Smith
|
SERP
Director
Retirement Plan
|
|
|
13
13
|
|
|
$ |
730,623
25,622
|
|
|
|
--
--
|
|
(1)
|
Mr.
Smith has actually been employed by the Company for 37
years.
|
Descriptions of the SERP and the
Director Retirement Plan are set forth under the headings “Compensation
Discussion and Analysis – Executive Retirement Plans – Supplemental Executive
Retirement Plan” and “Compensation Discussion and Analysis – Executive
Retirement Plans – Director Retirement Plan” on page 19. The present
value of accumulated benefits under the two plans is calculated based upon the
discounted present value of payments for 20 years discounted by 6% per
year.
If Mr. Smith were to retire during
2010, he would be eligible to receive early retirement benefits under the SERP
in the amount of $62,500 annually. This benefit would be payable in
equal monthly installments over 240 months.
Nonqualified
Deferred Compensation for 2009
The following table describes the
nonqualified deferred compensation for the named executive officers who
participated. A description of the Executive Deferred Compensation
Plan is set forth under the headings “Compensation Discussion and Analysis –
Executive Retirement Plans – Executive Deferred Compensation Plan” on page
18.
Name
(a)
|
|
Executive
Contributions in Last FY
($)
(b)
(1)
|
|
|
Registrant
Contributions in Last FY
($)
(c)
|
|
|
Aggregate
Earnings in Last FY
($)
(d)
|
|
|
Aggregate
Withdrawals/ Distributions
($)
(e)
|
|
|
Aggregate
Balance
at
Last FYE
($)
(f)
|
|
Jeffrey
E. Smith
|
|
$ |
10,000 |
|
|
|
-- |
|
|
$ |
9,953 |
|
|
|
-- |
|
|
$ |
218,172 |
|
Scott
W. Shockey
|
|
|
5,000 |
|
|
|
-- |
|
|
|
1,117 |
|
|
|
-- |
|
|
|
28,030 |
|
Katrinka
V. Hart
|
|
|
10,000 |
|
|
|
-- |
|
|
|
5,368 |
|
|
|
-- |
|
|
|
121,898 |
|
E.
Richard Mahan
|
|
|
10,000 |
|
|
|
-- |
|
|
|
9,117 |
|
|
|
-- |
|
|
|
200,629 |
|
(1)
|
Amounts represented in column (b)
are included in column (c) of the Summary Compensation Table on page
22.
|
Post-termination
or Change in Control Compensation
Neither
the Company nor any of its subsidiaries has executed a separate employment,
severance or change in control agreement with any of the executive officers of
the Company.
Certain
compensation plans provide benefits payable upon
termination. Benefits payable to the named executive officers upon
termination under the Executive Deferred Compensation Plan are described under
the heading “Compensation Discussion and Analysis – Executive Retirement Plans –
Executive Deferred Compensation Plan” and in the Nonqualified Deferred
Compensation Plan table on page 23. Benefits payable to Mr. Smith
under the SERP and the Director Retirement Plan are described under the heading
“Compensation Discussion and Analysis – Executive Retirement Plans –
Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan” on page 19 and under the heading
“Compensation Discussion and Analysis – Executive Retirement Plans – Director
Retirement Plan” on page 19 and are set forth in the Pension Benefits table on
page 23. Benefits payable to named executive officers under executive
and director life insurance policies are described under the heading
“Compensation Discussion and Analysis – Executive Life Insurance” and
“Compensation Discussion and Analysis – Director Life Insurance” on page
20.
Regardless
of the manner in which a named executive officer's employment terminates, the
officer will be entitled to receive amounts earned during his or her employment
under the Profit Sharing Retirement Plan, the 401(k) Plan and the
ESOP. Named executive officers will also be entitled to benefits upon
death or disability under group plans available to all employees of the Company
or the Bank.
Director
Compensation
All of the Directors of the Company
also serve as Directors of the Bank. Members of the Board of
Directors of the Company receive compensation for their services rendered as
Directors of the Bank, not the Company. In 2009, each Director who
was not an employee of the Company or any of its subsidiaries received $550 per
month for his or her service as a member of the Board of Directors of the
Bank. Directors who were employees of one of the subsidiaries of the
Company (only Mr. Smith in 2009) received $350 per month in 2009 for their
services. In addition, each Director of the Bank received an annual
retainer of $14,700 in 2009. The retainer was pro-rated for time
served for new Directors of the Bank.
In
January 2010, the Independent Directors appointed David W. Thomas as Lead
Director. The Lead Director’s responsibilities are to chair Board and
committee meetings in the absence of the Chief Executive Officer as well as
chair the monthly meetings of the independent Directors. In addition
to the fees outlined above, Mr. Thomas will receive $18,000 for his services as
Lead Director in 2010.
Each
non-employee Director who was a member of the Executive Committee of the Bank
(Anna P. Barnitz, Steven B. Chapman, Harold A. Howe, Brent A. Saunders, David W.
Thomas and Thomas E. Wiseman) received fees of $40,695 in 2009. This
figure is pro-rated for time served for new members. Executive
Committee members who are employees of the Bank receive no compensation for
serving on the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee of the
Bank met 39 times in 2009.
The
Company maintains a life insurance policy for all Directors with a death benefit
of two times annual Director fees at time of death, reduced by 35% at age 65 and
50% at age 70. The life insurance policies terminate upon
retirement.
In December 1996, life insurance
contracts were purchased by the Company for all Directors and certain officers,
and additional contracts have been purchased as new Directors and officers have
joined the Company. The Company is the owner of the
contracts. The purpose of these contracts was to replace a current
group life insurance program for executive officers, implement a deferred
compensation plan for Directors and executive officers, implement a Director
retirement plan, and implement a supplemental retirement plan for certain
officers.
Participants in the deferred
compensation plan, upon reaching age 70, are eligible to receive a distribution
of their contributions, plus accrued interest earned at a rate on reinvestment
of the contributions that is not an above-market preferential
rate. In 2009 the rate paid was 5%. If a participant dies
before reaching age 70 and the participant qualifies, the distribution will be
made to the participant's designated beneficiary in an amount equal to what the
participant would have accumulated if the participant had reached age 70 and had
continued to make contributions to the plan.
Participants in the Director retirement
plan, upon reaching age 70, are eligible to receive 50% of the three (3) prior
years’ average total Directors’ compensation. The benefit is payable
for 120 months for Directors with 10 years of service or less. The
benefit is payable for 240 months for Directors with more than 10 years of
service. If a Director dies during active service, payment will be
made to the Director’s designated beneficiary in an amount equal to what the
Director would have received had the Director reached age 70, except the benefit
term will be reduced to 60 months. If the Director dies during the
payment of benefits, payment will be made to the Director’s designated
beneficiary for the lesser of the remaining term or 60 additional
months.
The following table summarizes the
compensation paid to non-employee Directors for the fiscal year ended December
31, 2009:
Director
Compensation for 2009
Name
(a)
|
|
Fees
Earned
or
Paid
in Cash
($)
(b)
|
|
|
Stock
Awards
($)
(c)
|
|
|
Option
Awards
($)
(d)
|
|
|
Non-Equity
Incentive
Plan
Compensation
($)
(e)
|
|
|
Change
in Pension
Value
and Nonqualified
Deferred
Compensation
Earnings
($)
(f)
(1)
|
|
|
All
Other Compensation
($)
(g)
(2)
|
|
|
Total
($)
(h)
|
|
Anna
P. Barnitz
|
|
$ |
34,809 |
|
|
|
-- |
|
|
|
-- |
|
|
|
-- |
|
|
$ |
1,377 |
|
|
$ |
185 |
|
|
$ |
36,371 |
|
Steven
B. Chapman
|
|
|
61,995 |
|
|
|
-- |
|
|
|
-- |
|
|
|
-- |
|
|
|
5,729 |
|
|
|
527 |
|
|
|
68,251 |
|
Robert
E. Daniel
|
|
|
21,300 |
|
|
|
-- |
|
|
|
-- |
|
|
|
-- |
|
|
|
16,459 |
|
|
|
74 |
|
|
|
37,833 |
|
Harold
A. Howe
|
|
|
61,995 |
|
|
|
-- |
|
|
|
-- |
|
|
|
-- |
|
|
|
3,734 |
|
|
|
327 |
|
|
|
66,056 |
|
Brent
A. Saunders
|
|
|
61,995 |
|
|
|
-- |
|
|
|
-- |
|
|
|
-- |
|
|
|
1,090 |
|
|
|
327 |
|
|
|
63,412 |
|
David
W. Thomas
|
|
|
61,995 |
|
|
|
-- |
|
|
|
-- |
|
|
|
-- |
|
|
|
3,330 |
|
|
|
327 |
|
|
|
65,652 |
|
Roger
D. Williams
|
|
|
21,300 |
|
|
|
-- |
|
|
|
-- |
|
|
|
-- |
|
|
|
6,411 |
|
|
|
114 |
|
|
|
27,825 |
|
Lannes
C. Williamson
|
|
|
21,300 |
|
|
|
-- |
|
|
|
-- |
|
|
|
-- |
|
|
|
7,546 |
|
|
|
100 |
|
|
|
28,946 |
|
Thomas
E. Wiseman
|
|
|
79,995 |
|
|
|
-- |
|
|
|
-- |
|
|
|
-- |
|
|
|
956 |
|
|
|
422 |
|
|
|
81,373 |
|
(1)
|
Consists
of the change during 2009 in the actuarial present value of the Director’s
accumulated benefit under the Director retirement
plan.
|
(2)
|
Consists
of the incremental cost of group term life insurance coverage on the lives
of the Directors and Service Awards for serving as a Director for a
certain number of years.
|
Compensation
Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation
Those who
served as members of the Company’s Compensation and Management Succession
Committee at any time during 2009 were: Mrs. Barnitz, Mr. Chapman,
Mr. Howe, Mr. Saunders and Mr. Wiseman. From time to time, the
Company accepts loans from various persons to raise funds for ongoing operations
and to fund the growth of the Company and its subsidiaries. These
loans are evidenced by promissory notes which are sold by the Company in private
placements to accredited investors without registration under the Securities Act
of 1933, as amended.
Since the
beginning of the last fiscal year, the Company had outstanding at various times
9 separate promissory notes to The Wiseman Agency, Inc., (the “Wiseman Agency”)
of which Thomas E. Wiseman was the President until December 31, 2009 and of
which he is presently a partial owner, along with other members of his
family. Of the 9 notes outstanding to The Wiseman Agency at any time
since the beginning of 2009, 1 was partially renewed with principal of $150,000
paid to the Wiseman Agency in February 2010; and 6 were merely renewals of those
same loans as they repeatedly matured during 2009 and 2010. The notes
had terms ranging from one month to two months, so essentially the same 2 loans
matured and were renewed several times during 2009, with one loan in the amount
of $730,000 being paid off in January 2009. Of those 9 notes, 1
remained outstanding at March 25, 2010. Principal paid to The Wiseman
Agency since the beginning of 2009 was $880,000; interest was paid and new notes
for the same principal amount were executed upon maturity of notes issued
earlier.
The
following table sets forth certain information regarding the notes issued by the
Company to The Wiseman Agency that were outstanding at any time since the
beginning of 2009:
Name
|
|
Largest
Aggregate Outstanding Balance since January 1, 2009
|
|
|
Amount
Outstanding at
March
25, 2010
|
|
|
Interest
Paid
Since
January
1, 2009
|
|
Interest
Rates
|
The
Wiseman Agency, Inc.
|
|
$ |
730,000 |
|
|
$ |
400,000 |
|
|
$ |
8,796 |
|
1.75%
to 2.40%
|
CERTAIN
RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS
The Bank has had and expects to
have in the future banking transactions in the ordinary course of the Bank's
business with some of the Directors, officers and principal shareholders of the
Company and entities with which they are associated. The Board of
Directors has determined that all of the directors except Mr. Smith and Mr.
Wiseman are “independent” under the listing standards of Nasdaq. In
determining independence, the Board of Directors considered loan and deposit
relationships with each Director. The rules of Nasdaq do not deem
such relationships to disqualify a Director from being deemed
independent. In addition, all loans and other extensions of credit
were made and deposits accepted in the ordinary course of business and were made
on substantially the same terms (including interest rates and collateral) as
those prevailing at the time for comparable transactions with other
persons. Further, in management’s opinion, the loans did not involve
more than normal risk of collectability or present other unfavorable
features. As of the date of this Proxy Statement, all of such loans
were performing loans. The Board of Directors does not believe such
relationships interfere with the Directors’ exercise of independent judgment in
carrying out their responsibilities as Directors.
The Board of Directors also considered
the transactions described in “Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider
Participation” and insurance premiums paid to The Wiseman Agency, Inc., and
determined that such relationships, which do not disqualify a Director form
being deemed independent, do not interfere with the Directors’ exercise of
independent judgment in carrying out their responsibilities as
Directors.
Brent A. Saunders rendered legal
services to the Company and its subsidiaries during the Company’s 2009 fiscal
year and is expected to render legal services to the Company and its
subsidiaries during the Company’s 2010 fiscal year. The Board of
Directors determined that such relationship does not interfere with Mr.
Saunders’ exercise of independent judgment in carrying out his responsibilities
as a Director.
Mr. Howe
recently resigned as President of the Company’s subsidiary, Ohio Valley
Financial Services Agency, LLC (“OVFS”). Since September 30, 2002, when
The Wiseman Agency disassociated from OVFS, Mr. Howe has received no
compensation for service of any kind with respect to OVFS, OVFS has not been
actively engaged in business, and OVFS has done nothing more than receive
commissions for the purchase of Vendors Single Interest Coverage by borrowers
from Ohio Valley Bank, which requires such insurance to be purchased by every
borrower securing a loan with a vehicle. Mr. Howe has actually performed
no services whatsoever in connection with OVFS for more than three years.
The Board of Directors determined that Mr. Howe’s former position with
OVFS does not interfere with Mr. Howe’s exercise of independent judgment in
carrying out his responsibilities as a Director.
Any
proposed loan between the Bank and a Director or executive officer of the
Company is approved by the full Board of Directors. The Executive
Committee approved the payment of insurance premiums to the Wiseman
Agency. The Chief Executive Officer approved the issuance of
promissory notes from the Company to the Wiseman Agency. All of such
related party transactions entered into since January 1, 2009, have been
ratified by the Audit Committee.
The Board
of Directors adopted a written policy in March 2007 requiring transactions over
$120,000 involving the Company or a subsidiary of the Company and a “related
party” with a direct or indirect material interest to be approved or ratified by
the Audit Committee. The Audit Committee's approval must be
based on its determination that the transaction, first, is in or not
inconsistent with the best interests of the Company, and second, is on terms
comparable to those that could be obtained in arm's length dealings with an
unrelated third party, or is for products or services from a related party of a
nature, quantity or quality, or on other terms, that are not readily available
from other sources. “Related parties” include directors, executive officers,
beneficial holders of more than 5% of the outstanding common shares of the
Company, their immediate family members, and firms, corporations and other
entities in which any of them have certain relationships.
PROXY
ITEM 2: AMENDMENT TO THE CODE OF REGULATIONS
The Board of Directors unanimously
recommends that the shareholders approve and adopt the amendment to Section 6.01
of our Code of Regulations (“Regulations”) described below.
In March 2010, the Board of Directors
unanimously recommended that our shareholders approve and adopt an amendment to
our Regulations that, if approved and adopted by our shareholders, would permit
the Board of Directors to adopt amendments to our Regulations to the extent
permitted by Ohio law.
In 2006, the Ohio Revised Code was
revised to allow boards of directors of Ohio corporations to make certain
amendments to their regulations without shareholder approval, if such authority
is provided in or permitted by the articles or regulations, so long as such
amendments do not divest or limit the shareholders’ power to adopt, amend or
repeal the regulations of the corporation. Our Regulations currently require
that all amendments be approved and adopted by our shareholders. Other states,
such as Delaware, have historically allowed the board of directors of a
corporation to amend that corporation’s bylaws without shareholder approval.
After the 2006 amendment, the Ohio Revised Code provided Ohio corporations with
similar flexibility, subject to statutory limitations that prohibit directors
from amending the regulations to effect certain changes in certain areas deemed
by the Ohio legislature to be important substantive rights that are reserved to
the shareholders.
Below is a list of some of the rights
that the Ohio legislature reserved to the shareholders. The proposed amendment
to our Regulations will prohibit our directors from taking any of these actions
without the approval of our shareholders:
·
|
specifying
the percentage of shares a shareholder must hold in order to call a
special meeting;
|
·
|
specifying
the length of time required for notice of a shareholders’
meeting;
|
·
|
specifying
that shares that have not yet been fully paid will not have voting
rights;
|
·
|
specifying
requirements for a quorum at a shareholders’
meeting;
|
·
|
prohibiting
shareholder or director actions from being authorized or taken without a
meeting;
|
·
|
defining
terms of office for directors or providing for classification of
directors;
|
·
|
requiring
greater than a majority vote of shareholders to remove directors without
cause;
|
·
|
establishing
requirements for a quorum at directors’ meetings, or specifying the
required vote for an action of the
directors; and
|
·
|
removing
the requirement that a control share acquisition of the Company be
approved by the shareholders.
|
In addition, if the proposed amendment
to our Regulations is approved and adopted by our shareholders, the Board of
Directors will not be permitted to delegate its authority to adopt, amend or
repeal our Regulations to a committee of the Board of Directors. Shareholders
will also have the ability to override amendments made by the Board of Directors
by making subsequent amendments of their own, and no amendment may divest the
shareholders of the right to adopt, amend or repeal the
Regulations.
If this proposal is approved and
adopted, Section 6.01 of our Regulations would reflect this change by
allowing the Board of Directors to amend our Regulations in the future to the
extent permitted by Ohio law. Accordingly, the Board of Directors would be able
to make changes to our Regulations without the time-consuming and expensive
process of seeking shareholder approval, which would otherwise continue to be
required if this proposal is not approved. If this proposal is approved and
adopted, we will be required to promptly notify our shareholders of any
amendments that the Board of Directors makes to our Regulations by sending a
notice to shareholders of record as of the date of the adoption of the
amendment, or by filing a report with the Securities and Exchange
Commission.
Section 6.01 currently reads as
follows:
Section
6.01. Amendments. The Regulations may be amended,
or new regulations may be adopted, only at a meeting of shareholders held for
such purpose, by the affirmative vote of the holders of shares entitling them to
exercise not less than a majority of the voting power of the corporation on such
proposal, except as may be otherwise provided in the Articles.
The Board of Directors recommends that
current Section 6.01 be deleted in its entirety and substituted with the
following Section 6.01:
Section
6.01. Amendments. Except as may be otherwise
provided in the Articles, the shareholders may amend the Regulations, or adopt
new Regulations, at a meeting of the shareholders by the affirmative vote of the
holders of shares entitling them to exercise not less than a majority of the
voting power of the corporation on such proposal. The Regulations may
also be amended by the Board of Directors to the extent permitted by the Ohio
General Corporation Law.
The Board of Directors recommends that
shareholders vote FOR the amendment of
the Regulations.
AUDIT
COMMITTEE MATTERS
|
Report
of the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors for the Fiscal Year Ended
December 31, 2009
|
The
Audit Committee has submitted the following report for inclusion in this proxy
statement:
Role of the Audit Committee,
the Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm and
Management
The Audit
Committee consists of four Directors who qualify as independent under Nasdaq
Marketplace Rules 4200(a)(15) and 4350(d)(2) as well as under Rule 10A-3
promulgated under the Exchange Act. The Audit Committee operates under a written
charter adopted by the Board of Directors.
The Audit
Committee appoints the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm
and oversees the Company’s financial and reporting processes on behalf of the
Board of Directors. Management is responsible for the Company’s
consolidated financial statements and its accounting and financial reporting
processes, including the establishment and maintenance of an adequate system of
internal control over financial reporting. Management is also
responsible for preparing its report on the establishment and maintenance of,
and assessment of the effectiveness of, the Company’s internal control over
financial reporting. Crowe Horwath LLP (“Crowe Horwath”), the
independent registered public accounting firm employed by the Company for the
2009 fiscal year, is responsible for auditing the Company’s consolidated
financial statements in accordance with the standards of the Public Company
Accounting Oversight Board (United States) and issuing its report thereon based
on such audit, for issuing an attestation report on the Company’s
internal control over financial reporting and for reviewing the Company’s
unaudited interim consolidated financial statements. The Audit
Committee’s responsibility is to provide independent, objective oversight of
these processes.
Review and Discussion with
Management and the Independent Registered Public Accounting
Firm
As part
of its oversight responsibilities, the Audit Committee reviewed and discussed
with management the audited consolidated financial statements of the Company for
the year ended December 31, 2009, including a discussion of the quality, and not
just the acceptability, of the accounting principles applied, the reasonableness
of significant judgments and the clarity of disclosures in the audited financial
statements. The Audit Committee also discussed with management and
Crowe Horwath the adequacy and effectiveness of the Company’s internal control
over financial reporting and related accounting and financial
controls. The Audit Committee also discussed with management and
Crowe Horwath the interim financial and other information contained in the
Company’s earnings releases and SEC filings.
The Audit
Committee discussed with Crowe Horwath the matters required by the standards of
the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), including those
described in Statement on Auditing Standard No. 61, as amended, as adopted by
the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board in Rule 3200T, and, with and
without management present, reviewed and discussed the results of Crowe
Horwath’s examination of the Company’s consolidated financial
statements.
The Audit
Committee also discussed with Crowe Horwath that firm’s independence from the
Company and its management. The Audit Committee obtained from Crowe
Horwath the written disclosures and the letter from the Public Company
Accounting Oversight Board regarding the independent accountant’s communication
with the Audit Committee concerning independence. The Audit Committee
discussed with Crowe Horwath any relationships or services that might affect
that firm’s objectivity and satisfied itself as to Crowe Horwath’s
independence.
Management’s Representations
and Audit Committee Recommendations
Management
has represented to the Audit Committee that the Company’s audited consolidated
financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2009 were prepared in
accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United
States. The Audit Committee has reviewed and discussed with
management and Crowe Horwath the audited consolidated financial statements, and
management’s report on the establishment and maintenance of, and assessments of
the effectiveness of, the Company’s internal control over financial
reporting. Based on the reviews and discussions outlined above, the
Audit Committee recommended to the
Board of
Directors that the audited consolidated financial statements be included in the
Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31,
2009.
Submitted
by:
Audit
Committee Members
Steven B.
Chapman, CPA; Chairman
Anna P.
Barnitz
David W.
Thomas
Lannes C.
Williamson
Pre-Approval
of Services Performed by Independent Registered Public Accounting
Firm
Under
applicable SEC rules, the Audit Committee is required to pre-approve
the audit and non-audit services performed by the independent registered public
accounting firm in order to assure that they do not impair that firm’s
independence from the Company. The SEC’s rules specify the types of
non-audit services that an independent registered public accounting firm may not
provide to its audit client and establish the Audit Committee’s responsibility
for administration of the engagement of the independent registered public
accounting firm. Accordingly, the Audit Committee has adopted, and
the Board of Directors has ratified, an Audit and Non-Audit Services
Pre-Approval Policy (the “Pre-Approval Policy”), which sets forth the procedures
and the conditions pursuant to which services proposed to be performed by the
Company’s independent registered public accounting firm may be
pre-approved.
The
purpose of the Pre-Approval Policy is to set forth the procedures by which the
Audit Committee intends to fulfill its responsibilities. It does not
delegate the Audit Committee’s responsibilities to pre-approve services
performed by the independent registered public accounting firm to
management.
Consistent
with the SEC’s rules, the Pre-Approval Policy provides two different approaches
to pre-approving services. Proposed services may either be
pre-approved without consideration of specific case-by-case services by the
Audit Committee (“general pre-approval”) or require the specific pre-approval of
the Audit Committee (“specific pre-approval”). The combination of
these two approaches in the Pre-Approval Policy results in an effective and
efficient procedure to pre-approve services performed by the independent
registered public accounting firm. As set forth in the Pre-Approval
Policy, unless a type of service has received general pre-approval, it will
require specific pre-approval by the Audit Committee if it is to be provided by
the independent registered public accounting firm. Any proposed
services exceeding pre-approved cost levels or budgeted amounts will also
require specific pre-approval by the Audit Committee.
The Audit
Committee may delegate either type of pre-approval authority to one or more of
its members. The member to whom such authority is delegated must
report, for informational purposes only, any pre-approval decisions to the Audit
Committee at its next scheduled meeting.
Appendices
to the Pre-Approval Policy describe the services that have the general
pre-approval of the Audit Committee. The term of any general
pre-approval is 12 months from the date of pre-approval, unless the Audit
Committee considers a different period and states otherwise. The
Audit Committee will annually review and pre-approve the services that may be
provided by the independent registered public accounting firm without obtaining
specific pre-approval from the Audit Committee. The Audit Committee
will add to or subtract from the list of general pre-approved services from time
to time, based on subsequent determinations.
All
requests or applications for services to be provided by the independent
registered public accounting firm that do not require specific approval by the
Audit Committee will be submitted to the Company’s internal auditor and must
include a detailed description of the services to be rendered. The
internal auditor will determine whether such services are included within the
list of services that have received the general pre-approval of the Audit
Committee. The Audit Committee will be informed on a timely basis of
any such services rendered by the independent registered public accounting
firm.
Requests
or applications to provide services that require specific approval by the Audit
Committee will be submitted to the Audit Committee by both the independent
registered public accounting firm and the internal auditor, and must include a
joint statement as to whether, in their view, the request or application is
consistent with the SEC’s rules on auditor independence.
The Audit
Committee has designated the internal auditor to monitor the performance of all
services provided by the independent registered public accounting firm and to
determine whether such services are in compliance with the Pre-Approval
Policy. The internal auditor will report to the Audit Committee on a
periodic basis on the results of this monitoring. Both the internal
auditor and management will immediately report to the chairman of the Audit
Committee any breach of the Pre-Approval Policy that comes to the attention of
the internal auditor or any member of management.
Services
Rendered by Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
In November 2007, the Audit Committee
approved the rehiring of Crowe Horwath for a three year-term for fiscal years
2008, 2009 and 2010. All of the services rendered by Crowe Horwath to
the Company during 2009 and 2008 were pre-approved by the Audit
Committee. Fees billed for services rendered by Crowe Horwath for
each of 2009 and 2008 were:
Audit Services. The
aggregate fees billed by Crowe Horwath for the audit of the financial statements
included in the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the review of the
financial statements included in our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and for
professional services related to providing a consent included in a registration
statement and preparation of a comfort letter for our fiscal years ended
December 31, 2009 and 2008, were $231,630 and $175,000,
respectively.
Audit-Related
Fees. Audit related fees billed in 2009 and 2008 totaled
$2,669 and consisted of an annual database software license.
Tax Fees. The
aggregate fees billed in each of 2009 and 2008 for professional services
rendered by Crowe Horwath for tax preparation, tax compliance, tax advice and
tax planning were $18,500 and $15,000, respectively.
All Other
Fees. There were no other fees or expenses billed by Crowe
Horwath for 2009 or 2008.
PROXY
ITEM 3: RATIFICATION OF THE SELECTION OF CROWE HORWATH LLP AS THE
INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
The Audit Committee has selected Crowe
Horwath as independent registered public accounting firm for fiscal year
2010. Crowe Horwath has served as the Company's independent
registered public accounting firm since 1992. Although not required,
shareholders are being asked to ratify the appointment of Crowe Horwath as the
Company's independent registered public accounting firm for fiscal year 2010 as
good corporate practice. The vote will not be binding on the Audit
Committee. If the selection of Crowe Horwath is not ratified, the
Audit Committee will reconsider but may decide to maintain the appointment of
Crowe Horwath. Even if the selection is ratified by the shareholders,
the Audit Committee may, in its discretion, retain a different independent
registered public accounting firm at any time if such change would be in the
best interests of the Company and its shareholders.
Management of the Company expects that
a representative of Crowe Horwath will be present at the Annual Meeting, will
have the opportunity to make a statement if he or she so desires and will be
available to respond to appropriate questions.
The
board of directors recommends a vote "FOR" the ratification of the selection of
Crowe Horwath LLP as the independent registered public accounting firm for
fiscal year 2010.
ANNUAL
REPORT – FORM 10-K
The Company will provide without charge
to any shareholder of record on March 25, 2010, on the written request of any
such shareholder, a copy of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K, including
financial statements and schedules thereto, required to be filed under the
Exchange Act for the Company's fiscal year ended December 31,
2009. Such written request should be directed to Larry E. Miller, II,
Secretary, Ohio Valley Banc Corp., P.O. Box 240, Gallipolis, Ohio 45631,
telephone number 1-800-468-6682 or 1-740-446-2631.
PROXY
STATEMENT PROPOSALS
Any proposals of shareholders
intended to be included in the Company’s proxy statement for the 2011 Annual
Meeting of Shareholders should be sent to the Company by certified mail and must
be received not later than December 14, 2010. In addition, if a
shareholder intends to present a proposal at the 2011 Annual Meeting without
including the proposal in the proxy materials related to that meeting, and if
the proposal is not received by February 28, 2011, then the proxies designated
by the Board of Directors of the Company for the 2011 Annual Meeting of
Shareholders of the Company may vote in their discretion on any such proposal
any shares for which they have been appointed proxies without mention of such
matter in the proxy statement or on the proxy card for such
meeting.
Shareholders
desiring to nominate candidates for election as directors at the 2011 Annual
Meeting must follow the procedures described in “ELECTION OF DIRECTORS –
Nominating Procedures.”
DELIVERY
OF PROXY MATERIALS TO HOUSEHOLDS
Pursuant
to notice delivered to eligible shareholders who share the same address, the
Company and a number of brokers send only one proxy statement and the 2009
Annual Report to shareholders residing at the same address, unless different
instructions have been received from the affected
shareholder. Accordingly, those registered and beneficial
shareholders who share an address will receive only one copy of the 2009 Annual
Report and this proxy statement. A separate proxy and Notice of
Annual Meeting will continue to be included for each shareholder at the shared
address.
Registered shareholders who share an
address and would like to receive a separate 2009 Annual Report and/or a
separate proxy statement, or have questions regarding the householding process,
may contact Deborah A. Carhart, Assistant Vice President, Shareholder
Relations, by calling 1-800-468-6682 or 1-740-446-2631; or by a
written request addressed to Ms. Carhart at The Ohio Valley Bank Company, P.O.
Box 240, Gallipolis, Ohio 45631; or by an e-mail to InvestorRelations@ovbc.com. Promptly
upon request, a separate 2009 Annual Report and/or a separate proxy statement
will be sent. By contacting Ms. Carhart, registered shareholders
sharing an address can also (i) notify the Company that the registered
shareholders wish to receive separate annual reports and proxy statements in the
future or (ii) request delivery of a single copy of annual reports or proxy
statements in the future if they are receiving multiple
copies. Beneficial shareholders should contact their broker/dealers,
financial institution, or other record holders for specific information on the
householding process as it applies to those beneficial
shareholders.
OTHER
MATTERS
The only business which the Company’s
management intends to present at the Annual Meeting consists of the matters set
forth in this proxy statement. The Company’s management knows of no
other matters to be brought before the Annual Meeting by any other person or
group.
If any other matters should properly
come before the Annual Meeting, the proxy holders will vote on those matters in
their discretion.
All duly executed proxies received will
be voted.
Please sign and date the enclosed proxy
and mail it promptly in the enclosed envelope. As an alternative, you
may submit your proxy electronically by going to the Company’s website at www.ovbc.com and
following the instructions on that website.
BY ORDER
OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
/s/Jeffrey E. Smith
Jeffrey
E. Smith
Chairman
and Chief Executive Officer
/s/Thomas E. Wiseman
Thomas E.
Wiseman
President
and Chief Operating Officer
OHIO
VALLEY BANC CORP.
420
Third Avenue
P.O.
Box 240
Gallipolis,
OH 45631
No. of OVBC Shares: Account No.
Please
indicate any address change above.
PROXY
VOTING INSTRUCTIONS
Shareholders
of record have two ways to vote by proxy:
By Mail
Sign and
date this proxy on the reverse side and return in the enclosed
envelope.
Internet
§
|
Go
to www.ovbc.com
and click on the “Proxy Voting”
button.
|
§
|
Enter
your unique “Control Number” shown in the box
above.
|
§
|
Follow
the instructions on your screen.
|
You will
incur only your usual Internet access charges.
Available
until 11:59 p.m. Eastern Daylight Saving Time on May 11, 2010.
Please
note that the last instruction received, whether by mail or Internet, will be
the instruction counted.
Important
Notice Regarding the Availability of Proxy Materials
for
the Shareholder Meeting to be held on May 12, 2010
The Proxy
Statement, sample proxy card and Annual Report to Shareholders for the 2010
Annual Meeting are available on the Company’s website at www.ovbc.com/go/proxyinfo.
To obtain
directions to attend the Annual Meeting and vote in person, please call Deborah
A. Carhart, Assistant Vice President, Shareholder Relations, at 1-800-468-6682
or 1-740-446-2631.
OHIO
VALLEY BANC CORP.
PROXY
FOR ANNUAL MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS
TO
BE HELD ON MAY 12, 2010
THIS
PROXY IS SOLICITED ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The
undersigned holder(s) of common shares of Ohio Valley Banc Corp. (the “Company”)
hereby appoints Thomas E. Wiseman, David W. Thomas and Larry E. Miller, II, and
each of them with full power of substitution to each, the true and lawful
attorneys and proxies of the undersigned to vote all of the common shares of the
Company which the undersigned is entitled to vote at the Annual Meeting of
Shareholders of the Company, to be held at the Morris and Dorothy Haskins Ariel
Theatre, 426 Second Avenue, Gallipolis, Ohio, on Wednesday, May 12, 2010 at 5:00
p.m., Eastern Daylight Saving Time, and at any adjournment(s) thereof, as
follows:
1.
|
To
elect the following three (3) directors to the Board of Directors for a
term of three years each:
|
Steven B. Chapman
Robert E. Daniel
Jeffrey E. Smith
□ Vote
For
All □ Withhold
Authority to Vote For all
Nominees □ Vote for all
except ____________________
|
THE
BOARD OF DIRECTORS RECOMMENDS A VOTE “FOR” ALL OF THE
NOMINEES.
|
FOR AGAINST ABSTAIN
2.
|
To approve the amendment to
Section 6.01 of the Company's Code of
Regulations.
□ □ □
|
THE
BOARD OF DIRECTORS RECOMMENDS A VOTE “FOR” THE AMENDMENT.
3.
|
To
ratify the selection of Crowe Horwath LLP as the Company’s
independent □ □
□
|
registered
public accounting firm for fiscal year 2010.
THE
BOARD OF DIRECTORS RECOMMENDS A VOTE “FOR” THE RATIFICATION.
4.
|
The
individuals designated to vote this proxy are authorized to vote in their
discretion upon any other matter which properly comes before the Annual
Meeting or any adjournment thereof.
|
WHERE
A CHOICE IS INDICATED, THE SHARES REPRESENTED BY THIS PROXY WILL BE VOTED OR NOT
VOTED AS SPECIFIED. UNLESS INSTRUCTIONS TO THE CONTRARY ARE GIVEN,
THE COMMON SHARES REPRESENTED BY THIS PROXY WILL BE VOTED “FOR” THE ELECTION OF
THE NOMINEES LISTED ABOVE AS DIRECTORS OF THE COMPANY, “FOR” THE AMENDMENT TO
THE CODE OF REGULATIONS AND “FOR” THE RATIFICATION OF THE SELECTION OF CROWE
HORWATH LLP. IF ANY OTHER MATTERS ARE PROPERLY BROUGHT BEFORE THE
ANNUAL MEETING OR ANY ADJOURNMENT THEREOF OR IF A NOMINEE FOR ELECTION AS A
DIRECTOR NAMED IN THE PROXY STATEMENT IS UNABLE TO SERVE OR FOR GOOD CAUSE WILL
NOT SERVE, THE COMMON SHARES REPRESENTED BY THIS PROXY WILL BE VOTED IN THE
DISCRETION OF THE INDIVIDUALS DESIGNATED TO VOTE THIS PROXY, TO THE EXTENT
PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, ON SUCH MATTERS OR FOR SUCH SUBSTITUTE NOMINEE(S)
AS THE DIRECTORS MAY RECOMMEND.
ALL
PROXIES PREVIOUSLY GIVEN BY THE UNDERSIGNED ARE HEREBY REVOKED. THE
UNDERSIGNED HEREBY ACKNOWLEDGES RECEIPT OF THE ACCOMPANYING ANNUAL REPORT,
NOTICE OF ANNUAL MEETING, AND PROXY STATEMENT FOR THE MAY 12, 2010
MEETING.
Please
sign exactly as your name appears hereon. All joint owners should
sign. When signing as Attorney, Executor, Administrator, Trustee, or
Guardian, please give full title as such. If the shareholder is a
corporation, please sign the full corporate name by authorized
officer. If the shareholder is a partnership, please sign in
partnership name by authorized person.
______________________________ _______ _______________________________ _______
Shareholder
Signature Date Shareholder Signature (Joint
Owners)
Date
IF
YOU WISH TO PROVIDE YOUR INSTRUCTIONS TO VOTE VIA THE INTERNET, PLEASE READ THE
INSTRUCTIONS ON THE REVERSE SIDE
TO: PARTICIPANTS
IN THE OHIO VALLEY BANC CORP.
EMPLOYEES’
STOCK OWNERSHIP PLAN AND TRUST
FROM: MELISSA
P. MASON
DATE: APRIL
14, 2010
SUBJECT: VOTING
WHOLE COMMON SHARES BY PARTICIPANTS
ANNUAL
SHAREHOLDERS’ MEETING MAY 12, 2010
As a
participant in the Ohio Valley Banc Corp. Employees’ Stock Ownership Plan and
Trust, you have the right to direct The Ohio Valley Bank Company, as Trustee,
with respect to the exercise of voting rights of whole shares allocated to your
account.
To the
extent shares are not voted by the Plan participant, the Trustee will vote those
shares in its sole and absolute discretion in the best interest of the Plan
participants.
After
reading the enclosed Notice of Annual Meeting, Proxy Statement and Annual Report
to Shareholders, please promptly fill in, sign and return the enclosed Proxy to
me. Your completed Proxy will serve as instruction to The Ohio Valley
Bank Company with respect to voting your Plan shares.
Sincerely,
/s/Missy
Mason
Melissa P. Mason
Assistant Vice President
Trust Officer
OHIO
VALLEY BANC CORP.
420
Third Avenue
P.O.
Box 240
Gallipolis,
OH 45631
No. of Trust
Shares:
Please
indicate any address change above.
ESOP
VOTING INSTRUCTIONS
Please
fill in, sign, and return this instruction form. Please sign exactly
as your name appears hereon.
_____________________________ _______
Shareholder
Signature Date
Important
Notice Regarding the Availability of Proxy Materials
for
the Shareholder Meeting to be held on May 12, 2010
The Proxy
Statement, sample proxy card and Annual Report to Shareholders for the 2010
Annual Meeting are available on the Company’s website at www.ovbc.com/go/proxyinfo.
OHIO
VALLEY BANC CORP.
PROXY
FOR ANNUAL MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS
TO
BE HELD ON MAY 12, 2010
THIS
INSTRUCTION IS SOLICITED ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The
undersigned holder(s) of common shares of Ohio Valley Banc Corp. (the “Company”)
allocated to the account of the undersigned under the Ohio Valley Banc Corp.
Employee Stock Ownership Plan (“ESOP”) hereby instructs and directs the trustee
of the ESOP to vote all of the common shares of the Company allocated to the
account of the undersigned and entitled to be voted at the Annual Meeting of
Shareholders of the Company, to be held at the Morris and Dorothy Haskins Ariel
Theatre, 426 Second Avenue, Gallipolis, Ohio, on Wednesday, May 12, 2010 at 5:00
p.m., Eastern Daylight Saving Time, and at any adjournment(s) thereof, as
follows:
1.
|
To
elect the following three (3) directors to the Board of Directors for a
term of three years each:
|
Steven B. Chapman
Robert E. Daniel
Jeffrey E. Smith
□ Vote
For
All □ Withhold
Authority to Vote For all
Nominees □ Vote for all
except ____________________
|
THE
BOARD OF DIRECTORS RECOMMENDS A VOTE “FOR” ALL OF THE
NOMINEES.
|
FOR AGAINST ABSTAIN
2.
|
To approve the amendment to
Section 6.01 of the Company's Code of
Regulations.
□ □ □
|
THE
BOARD OF DIRECTORS RECOMMENDS A VOTE “FOR” THE AMENDMENT.
3.
|
To
ratify the selection of Crowe Horwath LLP as the Company’s
independent
□ □ □
|
registered
public accounting firm for fiscal year 2010.
THE
BOARD OF DIRECTORS RECOMMENDS A VOTE “FOR” THE RATIFICATION.
WHERE
A CHOICE IS INDICATED, THE SHARES ALLOCATED TO THE ACCOUNT OF THE UNDERSIGNED
WILL BE VOTED AS SPECIFIED. IF NO CHOICE IS INDICATED OR IF ANY OTHER
MATTERS ARE PROPERLY BROUGHT BEFORE THE ANNUAL MEETING OR ANY ADJOURNMENT
THEREOF OR IF A NOMINEE FOR ELECTION AS A DIRECTOR NAMED IN THE PROXY STATEMENT
IS UNABLE TO SERVE OR FOR GOOD CAUSE WILL NOT SERVE, THE COMMON SHARES
REPRESENTED BY THIS INSTRUCTION WILL BE VOTED IN THE DISCRETION OF THE TRUSTEE
OF THE ESOP, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, ON SUCH MATTERS OR FOR
SUCH SUBSTITUTE NOMINEE(S) AS THE DIRECTORS MAY RECOMMEND.
ALL
INSTRUCTIONS PREVIOUSLY GIVEN BY THE UNDERSIGNED ARE HEREBY
REVOKED. THE UNDERSIGNED HEREBY ACKNOWLEDGES RECEIPT OF THE
ACCOMPANYING ANNUAL REPORT, NOTICE OF ANNUAL MEETING, AND PROXY STATEMENT FOR
THE MAY 12, 2010 MEETING.