People and Places

The National Association of Professional Surplus Lines Offices selected officers and directors for the trade association’s 2007-2008 term.

The new officers are: President – Mary Ellen Rozzell, Continental/Marmorstein & Malone, Paramus, N.J.; Vice President – John F. Wood III, Specialty Risk Associates Inc., Shreveport, La.; Secretary – Dale H. Pilkington, Colony Insurance Company, Richmond, Va.; and Treasurer – Marshall P. Kath, Colemont Brokerage Group Inc., Dallas, Texas.

Kevin T. Westrope, Westrope, Kansas City, Mo., will serve a new three-year term on the board. Steven R. Gross, Metro Insurance Services Inc.; Marshall P. Kath, Colemont Brokerage Group Inc.; Tom Mulligan, Western World Insurance Group; and Gary Tiepelman, Scottsdale Insurance Co., were renominated for three-year terms.

Directors are elected for three-year terms on the NAPSLO board; officers serve a one-year term.

U.S. Risk Insurance Group Inc. named Monte Stringer executive vice president and national brokerage manager of U.S. Risk Brokers, the company’s wholesale excess and surplus lines insurance brokerage operations.

In this capacity, Stringer will have direct managerial responsibility for all of U.S. Risk Brokers’ branch offices and departments.

Most recently, Stringer was executive vice president of marketing and manager of the Dallas office of U.S. Risk Brokers. Stringer has worked in the insurance industry for 30 years, including experience at two national insurance carriers. He joined U.S. Risk Insurance Group in 1996 and has held positions of increasing responsibility, including chief information officer.

U.S. Risk also named Quinton Goss a broker and inland marine underwriter at U.S. Risk Brokers. He will be based in the company’s Dallas office.

As a broker, Goss will work in all lines of business for U.S. Risk, with a focus on inland marine, property and general liability for contractors and the energy and construction industries. As an underwriter for inland marine risks, he will have binding authority through Lloyd’s of London.

Goss most recently served as vice president for Construction Equipment Insurance Services in Dallas, where he focused on inland marine and property coverage. He has also held a position with Scottsdale Insurance Company.

U.S. Risk Brokers has offices in eight cities and employs more than 50 brokers, representing more than 100 companies nationwide.

FARA, based in Mandeville, La., appointed Todd Higley as vice president of sales and marketing.

In this position, Higley is responsible for nationwide business development with an emphasis on self-insured funds, risk retention groups and programs, as well as building partnerships with domestic and international brokers and carriers. He is based in Florida.

Higley recently served as vice president of Brown & Brown’s Public Risk Insurance Agency in Lake Mary, Fla. Public Risk Insurance Agency played a key role in the development and growth of one of the largest national public entity programs with more than $100 million in current annualized premium, according to the announcement.

Higley previously served as a producer with Heffernan Insurance Brokers Inc. and Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. where he specialized in large and complex risk retention clients. He began his insurance career with FARA managing sales and marketing operations in Texas.

Colemont Insurance Brokers promoted Bill Chadwick to vice president of Colemont – Texas.

Chadwick began his insurance career in 1994 working with Lloyd Thompson Ltd. in London, England, as a broker in their energy division. He enhanced his knowledge of the overseas marketplace by also spending one and one-half years with Grieg Insurance in Oslo, Norway, where he focused on oil and gas business along with U.S. and International reinsurance.

He moved back to the United States and joined Colemont in 1998 and now handles a diverse book of property and marine business.

The majority of Chadwick’s business consists of oil and gas/petrochemical, manufacturing and construction accounts, as well as hull and protection and indemnity, cargo, marinas and boat dealers, and other marine related risks.

Grass Valley, Calif.-based Networked Insurance Agents, a provider of markets, placement services and sales tools to insurance agents, appointed Stevan Feemster as territorial sales vice president in Northern Texas.

Feemster comes to Networked from Crump Insurance Services Inc. where he was a marketing specialist, working with brokers on developing new business opportunities. He also served five years as a retail property/casualty producer at Westland Insurance Brokers in southern California, where he built a profitable book of P/C business.

Crump Insurance Services Inc. added David Tuley as a property/casualty broker in its Houston office.

In addition to property and general liability risks, Tuley will work on excess and umbrella accounts.

Tuley began his insurance career in 2002 with Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in Spring, Texas.

His most recent three years have been in the wholesale brokerage arena as a property/casualty broker and program underwriter.

Texas Insurance Professionals (PIA Texas) elected new officers during its 2007 Annual Meeting, held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Austin on Aug. 24 and 25.

The members of the Executive Board of Directors for 2007-2008 are: President – Gordy Bunch, President-Elect – David Almany, Immediate Past President – Don Miller, Secretary Armando Cantu and Treasurer – Terrilyn Tarlton.

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