About Us

Our Values

  • Solution-oriented service
    • Fortune believes in offering solution-oriented service. Our focus is on putting the customer’s needs first and on delivering service that is grounded in seeking options when faced with barriers.
  • Resourcefulness
    • Our team is highly trained, situationally savvy, and professional in our fields. We take pride in using our collective wisdom and experience while creating effective results for our customers.
  • Relationships
    • Fortune strives to build and maintain strong, productive relationships. Seeing customers as participants in a relationship with our Fortune team changes the way we do business. It makes conversations out of transactions and dependable advisors out of Fortune representatives.
  • Leadership
    • Fortune brings stable, skilled, and effective leadership ideals to work every day. We strive to make the right decisions, not always the easy decisions. The Fortune team is an active member and leader in the communities where we do business.

Our History 

Daniel (Dan) Jones left corporate America in 1993, seeking to borrow about $40,000 to start a business. He will always remember Lana Peterson, the woman at a small community bank, who believed in his vision and granted him the loan. The establishment of Fortune as a community bank in Jefferson County is Dan’s repayment in gratitude for that opportunity given to him in 1993.

Fortune opened its first location in Arnold, MO on December 1, 2005 with the goal of bringing a local bank with personality to the northern Jefferson County area. Prior to Fortune’s doors opening, the existing banking options in the region were run by large corporations. Dan sought to offer financial services provided to and by members of the Jefferson County community, and to play an influential role in the economic growth of Arnold, MO.

As founder and first sole investor, Dan worked to solicit additional investors from Jefferson County and south St. Louis County. Since its inception, Fortune has influenced the development of businesses in Arnold through support for these local development initiatives. Businesses in Arnold, such as the Dierbergs and Drury Inn near highway 55 and 141, did not exist prior to the formation of Fortune.

Fortune offers banking, insurance, investment, mortgage, and SBA Lending services. The Fortune mortgage division was established in July 2010, and the SBA Lending division was created four years later in March 2014. On February 10, 2016, Fortune expanded business into south St. Louis County when the Oakville branch location opened.

Fortune is committed to solution-oriented service, resourcefulness, relationships, and leadership. Fortune also values giving back to the local communities it serves. Fortune employees are required to regularly log volunteer hours to charitable causes. Fortune’s leadership believes you are either a giver or a taker in life – and Fortune employees take on the responsibility of being givers.

In fourteen years of business and counting, Fortune has overcome a myriad of obstacles, including the 2008 recession. Resiliency was the key to Fortune pushing forward and coming out on the other side with a healthy balance sheet. Today, Fortune is a $190 million business and strives to grow within the region and beyond. In the future, the Fortune team hopes to continue providing a personal touch to customers, while investing in building digital platforms and experiences to serve them well into the future.

 

Meet Our Team

Daniel Jones

Chairman and CEO

Daniel (Dan) Jones is the founder of Fortune, and serves as the chairman and CEO of FortuneBank.

Dan earned a Bachelors degree in Business Administration from Southeast Missouri State University, and started his career at KPMG in the community bank practice of the audit group. After leaving KPMG, Dan acquired a public accounting firm in Arnold, MO and served as a legal director for Eagle Bank & Trust Co. and Midwest Bank Centre. He practiced as a Certified Public Accountant for 20 years.

After decades in the financial field, Dan felt there was a need for a truly community-minded bank in northern Jefferson County. He wanted to create a bank with personality, one different from large corporate banks, with a goal of serving the local community.

In 2004, Dan started the process of founding Fortune. Dan is proud to have turned the idea of this community bank into a reality, and feels blessed to see it grow through the employees who share their talents here and the customers it serves. Dan believes that in life, you’re either a giver or a taker – and that it is our responsibility to be givers. That is why he prioritizes Fortune giving back to charitable organizations throughout our community.

Dan is very active in his community as a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Missouri Society of Certified Public Accountants. He has held board positions in the Rotary Club of Arnold, The Salvation Army of Jefferson County, The Jefferson County Growth and Development Commission of Arnold, and has served as the Chair for the first TIF Commission formed by the City Council of Arnold.

In addition to being an active citizen in his community, Dan also owns DLJ Properties, Inc., which owns and leases office/retail properties along I-55 from St. Louis to Cape Girardeau, MO. Dan is married to his wife Jennifer and has three children: Melissa, Andrew, and Ellie.

Lance Greunke

President and Chief Financial Officer

Lance Greunke joined Fortune in 2012. As Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer, and Secretary of Fortune Financial Corporation, and President and Chief Financial Officer of FortuneBank, Lance is dedicated to ensuring Fortune continues offering trusted financial guidance in an ever-changing environment. Lance believes Fortune’s core values help team members break through the noise and clutter and connect with customers to provide solid financial advice.

Lance has over thirty years of financial banking experience under his belt. His career began at Southern Commercial Bank where he worked as a part-time teller. After working for them during his college years, he transitioned into roles at Central West End Bank, ultimately helping lead the bank as part of the executive management team as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Lance went on to work as a Vice President, and Controller for Reliance Bancshares Inc., a billion-dollar bank holding company, and its subsidiaries. Prior to joining the Fortune team, Lance was Interim President for Concord Bank and was Section 32 qualified by the FDIC and Federal Reserve Bank as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Concord Bank Bancshares, Inc. and Concord Bank. He received his BSBA degree, with an emphasis in Accounting, and cum laude honors from the University of Missouri – St. Louis.

Lance is active in the community. He has spent many hours coaching youth baseball, basketball and soccer teams. Lance volunteers for events at his parish. He also serves on the Board of Directors and as Treasurer for Nurses for Newborns.

In addition to his community activity, Lance is married to his wife Stacy and has 6 children: Ben, Keara, Hannah, Nathan, Logan, and Connor.

Gerard J. “Jerry” Geen

Vice Chairman

Gerard J. "Jerry" Geen is truly proud of helping start a financial corporation from the ground up, remaining resilient during the 2008 economic crisis, and continuing to improve systems and platforms throughout Fortune’s history.

Jerry began his financial career with Boatmen’s National Bank of St. Louis progressing over 11 years until he became a Vice President, manager of a commercial loan group, and manager of three St. Louis county branches. In 1992 he was named the Senior Vice President and Senior Loan Officer for Southside National Bank of St. Louis.

In 1995, Jerry met Dan Jones when he joined Eagle Bank as Vice President and recruited Dan to join the bank’s Board of Directors. In 2000, Jerry joined Midwest Bank Centre as the company’s Regional President for South County and Jefferson County and Dan joined the bank’s Board of Directors. With more than twenty years of increasing responsibility at various financial institutions in the region, Jerry worked closely with Dan to assemble 150 investors and start Fortune in 2005.

Looking forward, Jerry hopes that Fortune will continue to increase its electronic presence to create a digital financial experience for current and future Fortune customers. Jerry earned two degrees from St. Louis University, a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration and a Master of Business Administration.

Robert Binsbacher

Executive Vice President and Chief Risk Officer

Robert (Bob) Binsbacher brings more than 23 years of financial experience to his role as Executive Vice President and Chief Risk Officer for Fortune. His career began in 1995 when he worked as a mortgage loan assistant for a summer internship at Roosevelt Bank. After graduating from Truman State University with a Bachelor of Arts in English, he joined Bank of America as a Credit Officer and Loan Administration Officer. Bob went on to obtain a Masters degree, and work as an Assistant Vice President and Commercial Lending Officer for Midwest BankCentre and as Enterprise Risk & Portfolio Manager, Senior Lending Officer, and Vice President at several other financial institutions. In 2009, Bob became a Bank Examiner and Loan Review Specialist for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). The FDIC promoted him to work as a leader in Risk Management and Strategic Operations for the Midwest region in Chicago. It was during his tenure that he received two “Mission Achievement Awards” for his contributions in helping the FDIC meet the tremendous challenges of the financial crisis. The experience and knowledge gained in these roles, both in banks and with the FDIC, give Bob a unique perspective on the financial industry that shapes how he leads his team at Fortune.

Now in his sixth year with Fortune, Bob is proud of the way the company navigated the recent financial crisis. When he joined the team more than halfway through the recession, he did so because Fortune was making smart decisions and standing on solid ground. Bob values the relationships he is able to build with Fortune customers, and is pleased to work for a company that sees people holistically - not as just a transaction. He looks forward to growing with Fortune in the years to come.