Peter D. Pruden III, a co-founder of The Smithfield Companies Inc., has been elected as a director of the Board of Farmers Bank, headquartered in Windsor.

Richard J. Holland Jr., president and CEO of the bank, made the announcement and added that he believes Pruden will be a valuable asset at the bank.

&uot;Mr. Pruden broadens and further strengthens our board of directors,&uot; said Holland. &uot;He is a former banker, and he’s a successful businessman in our community. He’s well respected and he has prior experience serving on bank boards. We are extremely pleased to add him to our board.&uot;

Robert C. Claude, chairman of the board of directors of Farmers Bank, echoed Holland’s statements, and added that Pruden’s vast business experience will bring a great deal to the bank.

Pruden, a 57-year old Suffolk native, works as a food marketing consultant. He began his career in banking, where he rose to senior vice president and trust officer of Citizens Trust Bank in Portsmouth. He left banking to co-found and serve as director and executive vice president of The Smithfield Companies until it was purchased by Smithfield Foods in 2001. During his tenure with the company, Pruden served as president of several of its subsidiaries, including the Smithfield Ham and Products Co., V.W. Joyner & Co., and Pruden Packing Co. Inc., a Suffolk-based meat packing firm founded by his late grandfather in 1917.

Pruden serves as a commissioner of the Virginia Port Authority, as a director of the Obici Foundation, as a director of Old Dominion Investor’s Trust, and as chairman of the managing board for the Suffolk Center for Cultural Arts.

He has also served on the boards of numerous charitable and civic organizations, including the Tidewater Heart Association, Western Tidewater Mental Health Clinic, the Suffolk Family YMCA, and the Children’s Hospital Foundation of Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters.

Pruden, a graduate of the University of Richmond continues to be actively involved as a member of several boards at the university. He and his wife, Pamela Taylor Pruden, are the parents of four grown children and two grandchildren.

He said he looks forward to helping Farmers Bank continue to provide quality personal service to its customers.

&uot;I am honored to be associated with such a fine group of folks such as those at Farmers Bank,&uot; said Pruden. &uot;The bank’s long tradition of serving western Tidewater attests to the respect the bank has earned in the community.&uot;

Farmers Bank is located on Route 460 in Windsor. In Suffolk, they serve customers from their location in the Holland Plaza Shopping Center, just across from the Suffolk Golf Course. The bank has also purchased a site on Godwin Boulevard and plans to establish a bank there, just past the new Obici Hospital on Route 10.