Fulwider was inaugurated as the new chair of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (the Big “I”), with C. Brett Nilsson, and J. David Daniel assuming the offices of chair-elect and vice chair, respectively.
Fulwider is principal and president of the Ray Wuestenberg Agency Inc. in West Liberty, Iowa, and the Fulwider Agency Inc. in West Branch, Iowa. He also is president of Bob Fulwider and Associates, a life-and-health financial-planning agency in eastern Iowa.
Fulwider started his career as an independent agent in 1973. He is a past president of the Independent Insurance Agents of Iowa and currently sits on its Education Committee. He also is the only two-time Agent of the Year in IIAI history (1983, 1990) and was inducted into the Iowa Insurance Hall of Fame in 2003. Nationally, he is a past chairman of the Big “I” Government Affairs Committee and the association’s Crop Insurance Task Force.
Nilsson is senior vice president for The Buckner Co., based in Salt Lake City. Prior to being elected to the Executive Committee in 2003, Nilsson served as president of the Independent Insurance Agents of Utah from 1992-93. He also served as a director on the Big “I” national board for nine years. Nilsson is a past recipient of Utah’s Agent of the Year and Young Agent of the Year awards, and he received an IIABA Presidential Citation in 2001.
Daniel is president of Daniel & Eustis Insurance in Baton Rouge, La. Prior to being elected to the Executive Committee, Daniel served on the board of directors of the Independent Insurance Agents of Louisiana before becoming president in 1997. Daniel has received IIAL’s Lifetime Achievement Award as well as the Outstanding Committee Chairman Award. On the national level, Daniel has served on IIABA’s Technical Affairs Committee and was chairman of the Governance and Communication Task Force.
Robert P. Page of Houma, La., has been installed as president of the National Association of Professional Insurance Agents (PIA National).
Page, co-owner of Charles A. Page and Sons Insurance Agency in Houma, has served on the PIA of Louisiana Board of Directors since 1996. With the state association, he has held the offices of secretary/treasurer, president-elect, president and national director of PIA of Louisiana.
During the past several years, Page held a succession of officer positions with PIA National, culminating with his current position as president. In addition, Page has served as chair of the PIA National Natural Catastrophe Task Force.
Page was the recipient of the 1998 American Association of Managing General Agents (AAMGA) Award and was the 1996 and 1998 Louisiana Home Builders SIF Agent of the Year. Page is also the 2002 recipient of PIA of Louisiana’s Agent of the Year Award.
The Houma agent will serve on PIA National’s executive committee along with Donna L. Pile of Lexington, Ky., immediate past president; Kenneth R. Auerbach, Esq. of Eatontown, N.J., president-elect; Jon D. Spalding of Perry, Mich., vice president/treasurer; and Brian Marino of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., secretary/assistant treasurer.
Kyle Stevens has been elected the new president and chief executive officer of Western Security Surplus Insurance Brokers, a wholesale broker and managing general agency with offices in California and Texas.
Stevens has served as the chief operating officer since 2005, where he was responsible with overseeing all offices of the company, including overall production and progress of the WSS branches. Stevens will remain in the Texas office and assume his new duties from there.
Richard Polizzi will remain chairman and oversee the growth of the organization. Georgina Polizzi, senior vice president will continue to oversee the company human relations, IT and accounting departments.
Florida excess and surplus lines wholesaler John Handel & Associates Inc., has appointed Lorna W. Palmer as president and CEO.
After a 10-year stint with a Massachusetts agency, Palmer joined St. Petersburg-based JHA in 1998. Her background in commercial and personal lines business dates back to 1984.
Insurance brokerage and consulting firm Rosenfeld Einstein based in Greenville, S.C., opened a Charlotte, N.C., service office and hired Kathleen H. Thomas to manage the branch and to serve as employee benefits consultant.
Thomas joins Rosenfeld Einstein with 11 years of professional experience in the insurance industry, including nine years with Gallagher Benefit Services of Charlotte.
Phil Zelman will lead the Professional Insurance Agents of Florida as president. Zelman is the vice president and co-owner of NCF Insurance Associates in Coral Gables and has been an independent agent for more than 19 years.
Brian Samberg will serve as PIA of Florida’s president-elect. Carol Everhart, will serve as vice-president and Kym Godwin has been named secretary/treasurer.
Julie A. Rochman has been named to succeed Harvey G. Ryland as president and chief executive officer of the Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS).
Rochman, currently senior vice president of public affairs at The Glover Park Group (GPG), a Washington-based strategic communication consulting firm, will assume her new duties in mid-November. Ryland, who joined IBHS in 1996, will work with her during the leadership transition through year end, when he will retire from the organization.
Rochman has more than 20 years of public affairs and advocacy experience representing major corporations, research and safety organizations, and issue-based coalitions. At GPG, Rochman manages a portfolio primarily comprising financial services sector clients. She joined the firm from the American Insurance Association (AIA), a national public policy advocacy organization for property/casualty insurance companies, where she was senior vice president of public affairs and member of AIA’s management team.
From November 1996 until late 2000, Rochman was vice president of communications for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), where she managed media relations for the IIHS and the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI). Prior to joining IIHS, Rochman managed federal communications for the Alliance of American Insurers.
Based in Tampa, Fla., IBHS is a national nonprofit association funded by the insurance industry.
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