A formula for success: six decades after dashing a dream of being a research chemist, Martha Guy keeps her bank at the top of our periodic tables.

• Author: Murray, Arthur O.
• Position: Banking

When Martha Guy gets too old to run Avery County Bank, another banker is eager to buy it. That would be John Forlines, chairman of Bank of Granite in Granite Falls, who says, "She's got a great little bank." And Forlines may be the sort of buyer Guy is seeking. "I want to get somebody who'll run it like I run it," she says.

Considering that Avery County Bank had the best efficiency ratio in this year's BUSINESS NORTH CAROLINA ranking of the state's banks, thrifts and credit unions, and that Bank of Granite had the fifth-best, Forlines could get the call. That is, if he doesn't retire before she does. She's 80, but he's 83.

Forlines is confident he's the front-runner. Guy, for her part, isn't making any promises. She has long run her bank her way and isn't really interested in what other people think she should do. She was raised around the Newland bank, started by her father, Edwin Guy. As a teen, she did whatever needed doing -- verifying deposits, canceling checks, running the microfilm machine. But the middle of seven children wanted to be a research chemist.

She got a bachelor's in chemistry from UNC Chapel Hill in 1942 and started graduate school. World War TI changed her plans. In 1943, she came home. "Daddy needed someone to help out. I'd planned to just work a year and move on." She can't remember exactly when she became president, though she guesses it was about 20 years ago.

But in the nearly 60 years since her return, the would-be chemist has developed a formula that annually puts her bank near the top in some of BNC's rankings. She keeps expenses low, knows whom she's making loans to and makes sure they can repay them. Though small, with 2001 revenue of $4.6 million and assets of $66.8 million, Avery County Bank routinely posts some of the state's best numbers in three key measures of performance. Along with its 27.2% efficiency ratio, it ranks second in return on assets (3.24%) and 14th in return on equity (12.64%).

Avery was the last of North Carolina's 100 counties to be formed, and Newland is hard to find even when you have good directions. About 700 people live there, the best known being county planner/building inspector Tom Burleson, a former N.C. State basketball star. The town is south of Banner Elk and about 10 miles from the Tennessee line. The nearest Wal-Mart is 12 miles away. Many of the bank's customers are tree farmers and cabinet makers. Avery County Bank's only office, with 12 employees including Guy, is in the...