Normally when two friends share a pipe dream, nothing ever happens and the dream remains just that—a dream. Every so often, though, they actually do something about it. That’s exactly what happened with 1st Advantage Bank.
1st Advantage Bank is a recently launched community bank that will celebrate its Grand Opening on July 19 from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. The 6,700-square-foot branch is located at the corner of Salt Lick and Janis Ann. The event is open to the public. In addition to free hotdogs, soda and popcorn, special CD and Money Market offers also will be available.
The bank was founded as result of an idle conversation between two friends—Steve Groeper and Chuck Brooks. Today, Groeper serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors and Brooks serves as President & CEO of 1st Advantage Bank. Groeper also owns several real estate holding companies that develop and manage residential and commercial real estate in St. Charles County. Brooks was formerly the St. Charles Regional President of First Bank. The bank has 73 area investors and is headed by a board of directors comprised entirely of prominent St. Charles County business leaders.
Brooks had been Groeper’s business banker at First Bank for years and the two became close friends. Groeper—a man with a knack for dreaming big and then seeing his dreams come to fruition—mentioned the idea of opening a bank to his friend and long-time business banker, Brooks, while helping him remodel his house in 1999. Neither took the idea very seriously—at least at its outset.
“While we were working on the house, we were talking about how there really wasn’t a true community bank in St. Charles County—one that really wanted to serve small businesses and residents. One that was 100% locally owned. It just seemed like most of the banks here really wanted to go after bigger accounts and that the little guys were left out in the cold,” said Brooks.
Five years after this initial discussion, Groeper and Brooks felt the time was right and took the plunge—recruiting investors and raising the then-record amount of $10,685,000 for a start-up bank in just nine days.
Groeper says they could have raised more, but wanted to provide a good return for initial investors and did not really need the additional capital.
“1st Advantage Bank is a full-service bank that has a true community focus,” said Brooks. “We are 100% locally owned. Everything stays right here in St. Charles County.”
Groeper says the bank’s key focus will be on providing uncommon expertise and service—two things that both retail and business banking customers in this area have not found in local abundance. He says 1st Advantage is especially interested in giving small businesses the kind of banking service advice and guidance that they deserve.
Prior to my introduction to Chuck Brooks, I never felt like I was on equal footing with my banker. But from the beginning of my relationship with him, he and his staff were always focused on going the extra mile for me. Once when I was out of town, Chuck personally saw to it that a check I had requested from my account was hand delivered to the recipient the day I called for help. And that was long before I was the chairman of anyone’s board. It’s that level of responsiveness and concern that we intend to show all of our customers at 1st Advantage Bank,” said Groeper.
1st Advantage will offer a complete line of consumer and business loan and deposit products. The bank is offering several Pre-Grand Opening Specials:
• CD specials include 18-month CDs at 4.00% Annual Percentage Yield (APY) and 8-month CDs at 3.50% APY. A $5,000 opening balance is required.
• Money Market specials rates up to 3.00% APY, depending on the balance.
• Free Checking, including a 50-pack of free variety checks is also available through July 19. Call 1st Advantage for details at 636-970-0440.
Although the official grand opening is July 19, the branch opened for business on June 27. The bank was built by St. Charles County contractor Blanton Construction. The architect was S. J. Hollander, also of St. Charles County. Additionally, several local artists have their work prominently displayed throughout the branch.
Bank officers include: Jill Starkey, Chief Financial Officer; Stank Rubbelke, Vice President of Operations and Lee Koch, Executive Vice President.
The Board of Directors consists entirely of prominent St. Charles County business leaders. Board members include Brooks and Groeper, along with Mark Baker, Chief Operating Officer of Warrenton Oil Company; Richard Francis, President of Bax Engineering Company; Jeffrey Kolb, President of Dave Kolb Grading, Inc.; Dolora Beckerle, President of Beckerle Preferred Properties; and Ted Dettmer, President of Vantage Homes, Inc. In addition to its seven-member board, 1st Advantage has an additional 66 investors, all with local ties.
1st Advantage Bank is located at 240 Salt Lick Road, directly south of Interstate 70, across from the new Dierbergs in St. Peters. To learn more, contact them at 636-970-0440.
