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Gregg Effner has joined The Main Street America Group as assistant vice president of distribution management. Effner will be based at the headquarters in Jacksonville, Fla., and report to Doug Eden, senior vice president of field operations.

In this newly created position, Effner will develop a corporate distribution strategy that will include independent agency management best practices and a compensation strategy. Effner will also establish a strategy for aggregators and wholesalers, as well as large agents and brokers. Effner will work in conjunction with the company’s four regional presidents.

Prior to joining Main Street America, Effner was vice president, director of corporate analytics, at Zurich North America. Prior to joining Zurich, Effner was vice president, national broker relations and cross-sell, at CNA Financial Corp. He has also held management roles at Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co., USF&G Corp. and Northwestern National.

Hull & Co. Inc. announced the retirement of a long-time employee based at the Fort Lauderdale, Fla., branch. Ed Calabrese, president and chief operating officer, will retire after 32 years in the business. Calabrese began his career in New York City with the Continental Casualty Co.

Upon Calabrese’s departure, Mike Riordan will be named president and CEO of Hull and Co. Inc. Riordan will remain in the St. Petersburg office. Bob McGrew will assume the role of executive vice president and will take on the duties of the chief operating officer.

The Iroquois Group reports that Erin M. Marshall has joined the group as a regional manager to serve member agents in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. Marshall has 20 years experience in property and casualty insurance in the region. She previously worked in sales and marketing positions for The Hartford, Kemper and Aetna.

SAN Group Inc. has added Larry Rose as regional vice president of Eastern New York. His role will include recruiting member agents as well as servicing existing members in eastern New York. SAN Group Inc. is a Northeast network of independent insurance agencies with more than 200 agencies. Rose has held positions with Travelers, OneBeacon, Selective and CNA.

Wakefield, R.I., independent agency Babcock & Helliwell appointed Brad Asher as a producer. Asher, a graduate of the University of Rhode Island, joins Babcock & Helliwell with more than 15 years of experience in the insurance industry in southern Rhode Island. He will be responsible for new commercial and personal lines of business.

Lou Stanzione has joined the New York area wholesale broker The Demetriou Group as director of commercial lines. Stanzione brings a decade of wholesale brokerage experience from Zaloom Associates. He also worked at New Hampshire Insurance Co. and Aetna Life and Casualty.

New Hartford, New York insurance executive Stephen R. Zogby was inducted chair of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of New York Inc. board of directors last month during its 125th annual business meeting. The association received accolades for 125 years of service from Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., the state Senate and Assembly and the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America. Sen. Clinton wrote that the only match to IIABNY’s “impressive longevity” is its “commitment to strengthening and uplifting the communities which it serves.”

Zogby, who is also executive vice president of Scalzo, Zogby & Wittig Inc., was one of three officers elected.

Neal L. Sullivan, president of Sullivan Financial Group in Mahopac, was elected chair-elect and John G. Berger Jr. won election as secretary-treasurer.

Elected to two-year terms were three member-agents. David M. Gelia, executive vice president of United Insurance Agency Inc. in Amherst, and William J. Oliver, of The Partners Insurance & Financial Services Agency in Vestal. Gelia and Oliver will represent the West-Central region.

Also elected to a two-year term was Sean L. Hickey, senior vice president of Rose & Kiernan Inc. in East Greenbush. Hickey represents the East-North region.

Russell C. Vollmer, president of the Vollmer-Adair Agency Inc. in Greenlawn, and Russell B. Grant, of Pearl River’s Grant, Smith & Dassler Inc., were re-elected to second two-year terms. They will represent the Metro-Suburban region.

The board also re-elected three directors-at-large. Charles R. Daniels III, senior vice president of Rose & Kiernan Inc., in Pawling, and Robert Hartwig Ph.D., president and chief economist of the Insurance Information Institute, will each serve a third one-year term. Sharon A. Koches, marketing director of the American Institute for CPCU/Insurance Institute of America, was re-elected to a second term as an at-large director.

The board also elected Richard Longueira, vice president of Petrocelli Group Inc. in Flushing, to its Nominating Committee. Longueria, a past president of the Downstate Insurance Association Council, will serve a one-year term.

Kansas-based Brooke Franchise Corp. recently elected Kyle L. Garst as its chairman and chief executive officer, and Dane S. Devlin as its president and chief operating officer.

Garst was most recently national sales manager and senior vice president for franchise sales activities. Garst joined Brooke as a sales representative in 1994. He has served in various management positions.

Devlin was most recently national operations manager and senior vice president. Devlin joined Brooke in 1986 as its first employee. He was an operations officer from 1986 to 1996, then owned and operated a Brooke franchise from 1996 to 2000 before returning to Brooke in 2000. He served in various management positions and as a director since 2003.

Rhode Island workers’ compensation writer Beacon Mutual Insurance Co. has named Robert G. DeOrsey as vice president of underwriting and loss prevention. The former underwriting executive for the firm, David Clark, was indicted last year as part of a state investigation into questionable business practices at the company. He pleaded not guilty.

DeOrsey brings 22 years of industry experience. Since 2004, DeOrsey has overseen the daily operations of the commercial lines department of Belmont, Mass., agency, W.T. Phelan. DeOrsey also worked for the CNA Insurance in underwriting from 2001 to 2004. Previously, he was with CGU Insurance in Rhode Island.

Topics New York Agencies