SOUTHERN MISSOURI BANCORP ANNOUNCES
EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP TRANSITION PLAN
Southern Missouri Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ: SMBC),
the parent corporation of Southern Bank, today announced an
executive leadership transition plan. On March 10, 2022, the Board
of Directors of Southern Missouri Bancorp, Inc. (the “Company”)
unanimously appointed Greg A. Steffens as Chairman of the Board, to
succeed L. Douglas Bagby, effective July 1, 2022. Mr. Steffens will
continue to serve as Chief Executive Officer of the Company, a role
he has held since 1999. Mr. Bagby will continue to serve as a
director, and he will also serve as Vice-Chairman and lead outside
director for the Company.
Additionally, the Board of Directors of Southern
Bank (the “Bank”) unanimously appointed Mr. Steffens as Chairman of
the Board, to succeed Sammy A. Schalk, also effective July 1, 2022.
Mr. Schalk will continue to serve as a director and will serve as
Vice-Chairman of the Bank.
The Board of Directors of the Company further
unanimously appointed Matthew T. Funke as President and Chief
Administrative Officer, and the Board of Directors of the Bank
unanimously appointed Mr. Funke as President and Chief Executive
Officer; both effective July 1, 2022. The Board of Directors of the
Bank also intends to appoint him as a director on that date. Mr.
Funke is currently an Executive Vice President and Chief Financial
Officer of the Company and the Bank. He has served as Chief
Financial Officer of the Bank since 2006 and was appointed as an
executive officer of the Company in that role in 2010. He first
joined the Bank in 2003 to establish an internal audit function and
was also assigned other risk management responsibilities.
The Board also unanimously appointed Lora L. Daves
as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, effective
July 1, 2022. Ms. Daves is currently an Executive Vice President
and Chief Risk Officer of the Company and the Bank, having served
in that role since 2017. Ms. Daves previously served as Chief
Credit Officer of the Bank from 2006 to 2016, and was appointed as
an executive officer of the Company in that role in 2010.
The Board further unanimously appointed Lance K.
Greunke as Executive Vice President effective March 10, 2022, and
as Chief Risk Officer, effective July 1, 2022. Mr. Greunke
previously served as Secretary, Treasurer, and Chief Financial
Officer of Fortune Financial Corporation (“Fortune”) and as
President and Chief Operations Officer of FortuneBank. Fortune
merged with and into the Company effective as of the close of
business on February 25, 2022. Prior to the July 1, 2022, effective
date, Mr. Greunke will serve in an executive role supervising
activities relating to the integration of FortuneBank’s operations
and in preparation for assumption of the duties of the Chief Risk
Officer.
In announcing this leadership transition plan, the
Board of Directors is intending to provide opportunity for Mr.
Steffens to focus his time and energies on the long-term strategic
direction and growth of the Company, merger and acquisition
activity, and shareholder relations. “In effect,” noted Mr. Bagby,
the Company’s current Chairman of the Board, “this transition only
more fully recognizes the leadership role that Greg already serves
for our Company. When we consider our growth over the 23 years that
Greg has served as CEO, we recognize that he has truly been key to
the Company’s excellent regulatory track record, our outstanding
financial performance, the expansion of our business development
lines, our successful merger and acquisition strategies, and the
development of a strong team at our executive and administrative
management level. We look forward both to his continued leadership
of our Company and to providing the opportunity for other leaders
to continue to grow within our organization.”
Mr. Steffens has more than 32 years of experience
in the banking industry, including service as Chief Financial
Officer for the Company and Bank; as Chief Financial Officer for
Sho-Me Financial Corp. (Mount Vernon, Missouri), prior to the sale
of that company to Union Planters Corporation; and as an examiner
with the Office of Thrift Supervision. Mr. Steffens holds a
Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration-Accounting
and Finance from the University of Central Missouri, Warrensburg,
Missouri.
Mr. Funke’s role with the Company will be
transitioning such that he will oversee day-to-day operations of
the Company’s subsidiary Bank and work with Mr. Steffens and the
Board to implement the Company’s strategic plan. “Matt joined our
team almost 19 years ago, and shortly after asking him to serve as
the Bank’s CFO, I began working with him to further his
professional development for the time when it would be appropriate
to ask the Board to appoint him to this new role, in order to help
me to better focus on key strategic initiatives,” said Mr.
Steffens. “I’m gratified that the Board has agreed that Matt has
the experience, knowledge, and judgment that we want to see
exemplified in the next CEO of Southern Bank. He has a foundational
knowledge of our operations, and he’s been a leader in developing
and executing our strategic plan. He’s played a key role in our
merger and acquisition strategies, in our regulatory relationships,
and of course in our strong financial performance. I look forward
to working with Matt to build the Company and Bank we want to
develop for the future as we expand his
responsibilities.”
Mr. Funke has more than 23 years of banking and
finance experience. In addition to his roles with the Company and
Bank, he previously was employed with Central Bancompany, Inc.
(Jefferson City, Missouri), where he advanced to the role of
internal audit manager. He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in
Accounting from Missouri State University, Springfield, Missouri,
and is a graduate of the Southwest Graduate School of Banking at
SMU, Dallas, Texas.
“Beyond our agreement that Matt is the right
person to fill the role as CEO at the Bank level of our
organization, I also think it’s appropriate that we have a clearly
defined succession plan,” added Mr. Bagby. “For the vast majority
of our history as a public company, Greg has served as our CEO, and
we’ve achieved great success. As we continue to reach new
milestones in our development as an organization, it’s important
that our Board is transparent and deliberate about our preparations
for the future. In asking Matt to take new leadership
responsibilities, we’re also demonstrating confidence in him and in
the other members of our executive team to provide leadership for
our organization going forward.”
Ms. Daves brings extensive knowledge of the
Company’s balance sheet and business lines, and a strong finance
background to her new role as Chief Financial Officer. “I’ve worked
with Lora for more than 15 years in her current and prior role in
our organization, and I’ve always found her to be intelligent,
determined, and dedicated to achieving whatever strategic goal
we’ve asked her to take on,” said Mr. Steffens. “Lora’s wealth of
experience within and without our organization led me and the Board
to conclude that she is the right person to fill the critical CFO
role. We have great confidence in her abilities to step into this
role, and to work with the talented and experienced accounting and
finance team in place to ensure the Company does not miss a
beat.”
Ms. Daves has over 33 years of banking and finance
experience, including 11 years with institutions ultimately
acquired by US Bank, subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp (Minneapolis,
Minnesota), during her tenure. Her responsibilities there included
every facet of the credit process. She advanced to hold
responsibility for regional credit administration, loan review,
compliance, and problem credit management. She also served four
years as Chief Financial Officer of a southeast Missouri healthcare
provider which operated a critical access hospital, eight rural
health clinics, two retail pharmacies, an ambulatory surgery
center, and provided outpatient radiology and physical therapy
services. She also served four years with a national real estate
development and management firm, working in their St. Louis-based
Midwest regional office as a general accounting manager. Ms. Daves
holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business
Administration-Accounting from Southeast Missouri State University,
Cape Girardeau, Missouri.
Mr. Greunke is an experienced community bank
executive, having served at Fortune since 2012 and with 30 years of
accounting and finance experience in the industry. He most recently
oversaw all administrative functions of FortuneBank. He began his
tenure at FortuneBank as an Executive Vice President and Chief
Financial Officer. His background includes service within a
publicly traded bank holding company as a banking subsidiary
controller, and as CFO and interim president for a community bank.
“I’ve been very impressed with the quality of work that we see from
Lance as we’ve worked through the merger process with Fortune,”
said Mr. Steffens. “Our team members working with him through this
transition have consistently complimented not only his knowledge
and expertise, but also his communication skills, his leadership,
and his dedication to both the Fortune organization and to ensuring
that the merger process has gone smoothly. I’m excited to welcome
him to our team and look forward to the leadership he can provide
to our experienced audit, loan review, and compliance
professionals.”
Southern Missouri Bancorp, Inc., is a Missouri
corporation organized in 1994 to become the parent company of
Southern Bank. Southern Bank was originally chartered in 1887 as a
mutually-owned Missouri savings and loan association. In 2004, the
Bank converted from a Missouri-chartered stock savings bank to
become a Missouri-chartered trust company with banking powers.
Southern Bank operates 52 banking facilities in Missouri, Arkansas,
and Illinois, following its merger with FortuneBank. Following the
merger, the Company holds total assets of approximately $3.2
billion, including loans, net of the allowance for credit losses,
of $2.6 billion, and deposits of $2.8 billion. The Company’s common
stock is quoted under the ticker “SMBC” on the NASDAQ Global
Market.
Forward-Looking
Information:
Except for the historical information contained
herein, the matters discussed in this press release may be deemed
to be forward-looking statements that are subject to known and
unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause
the actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking
statements, including: potential adverse impacts to the economic
conditions in the Company’s local market areas, other markets where
the Company has lending relationships, or other aspects of the
Company’s business operations or financial markets, generally,
resulting from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and any governmental
or societal responses thereto; expected cost savings, synergies and
other benefits from our merger and acquisition activities might not
be realized to the extent anticipated, within the anticipated time
frames, or at all, and costs or difficulties relating to
integration matters, including but not limited to customer and
employee retention, might be greater than expected; the strength of
the United States economy in general and the strength of the local
economies in which we conduct operations; fluctuations in interest
rates and in real estate values; monetary and fiscal policies of
the FRB and the U.S. Government and other governmental initiatives
affecting the financial services industry; the risks of lending and
investing activities, including changes in the level and direction
of loan delinquencies and write-offs and changes in estimates of
the adequacy of the allowance for credit losses; our ability to
access cost-effective funding; the timely development of and
acceptance of our new products and services and the perceived
overall value of these products and services by users, including
the features, pricing and quality compared to competitors' products
and services; fluctuations in real estate values and both
residential and commercial real estate markets, as well as
agricultural business conditions; demand for loans and deposits;
legislative or regulatory changes that adversely affect our
business; changes in accounting principles, policies, or
guidelines; results of regulatory examinations, including the
possibility that a regulator may, among other things, require an
increase in our reserve for loan losses or write-down of assets;
the impact of technological changes; and our success at managing
the risks involved in the foregoing. Any forward-looking statements
are based upon management’s beliefs and assumptions at the time
they are made. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or
revise any forward-looking statements or to update the reasons why
actual results could differ from those contained in such
statements, whether as a result of new information, future events
or otherwise. In light of these risks, uncertainties and
assumptions, the forward-looking statements discussed might not
occur, and you should not put undue reliance on any forward-looking
statement.
Matt Funke
573-778-1800
Southern Missouri Bancorp (NASDAQ:SMBC)
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