Donna Hunley Prize In Banking

In some very important ways, The Donna Hunley Prize in Banking is also the story of a friendship.

When Jones Foundation President & CEO Dr. Sonya Jones happened to mention the idea of offering prizes through the foundation to help generate energy and enthusiasm in Somerset’s business community, her friend Donna Hunley said without blinking, “I’ll do it.”

Known for her productivity in the banking industry, as well as her participation in the local chapter of Business & Professional Women, Donna Hunley exhibits both the strength of character and dedication to work that make women successful in a world of men. She was one of the few members of Somerset City Council who managed to retain her seat by withstanding the cry for change in the November 2006 elections.

No “banker’s hours” for Donna Hunley. She arrives at Somerset National Bank about 7:30 a.m., and even on certain Saturdays, she can be found chasing down delinquent loans on trucks, or working hard to exceed her quotas as senior loan officer. A veteran of more than 40 years in the industry, Donna Hunley elected to fund a prize through The Jones Foundation, she said in an October 22, 2006 article in The Somerset Commonwealth Journal, as a way of “giving back something to the community.”

The inaugural Donna Hunley Prize in Banking in the amount of $1,000, given through the auspices of The Jones Foundation, went to Walter Scott Broyles, assistant trust officer and assistant vice president of Monticello Banking Company (shown here with BB& T's Brenda Jones). The inaugural Donna Hunley Prize in Banking was designed to honor professionals who have served in the industry from two to five years.

The second annual Hunley Prize was designed to award seasoned professionals who have been in banking from ten to thirty years. For 2007, the prize was awarded to Brenda Jones, Relationship Banker at BB&T in Somerset. Jones has served the banking industry for about twenty-eight years, and it is unusual to see her without a customer. Congratulations to Brenda Jones and to BB&T, main office, Somerset.

Who introduced Dr. Sonya Jones and SNB Senior Vice President Donna Hunley?

A man who once taught his daughter how to balance her bank book said to her shortly after she arrived back in Somerset from Allegheny College to help with family matters, “you might want to meet Donna Hunley.” Reid Jones may have sensed that strength and intelligence often create energy and money and community service.