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Steve Crawford has been named president and chief executive officer at Grinnell Mutual Reinsurance Co., located in Grinnell, Iowa. For the past two years, Crawford has served as the company’s chief operating officer.

During Crawford’s 34-year career at Grinnell Mutual he has served in a variety of roles: West Central Illinois marketing representative; assistant marketing director; assistant vice president of reinsurance underwriting; regional vice president; and senior vice president of the Reinsurance Division. Crawford replaces Dan Agnew, who retired after 19 years as Grinnell Mutual’s president and CEO.

Grinnell Mutual also named Phyllis Steffen as vice president of the Direct Claims Division. Steffen’s promotion follows a 34-year career at Grinnell Mutual, where she most recently served as assistant vice president of Iowa/Wisconsin claims. She holds the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) designation, the Certified Professional Insurance Woman (CPIW) designation from the National Association of Insurance Women, and the Associate in Claims (AIC) designation and Supervisory Management (SM) certificate from the Insurance Institute of America.

Steffen replaces Mac McDonald, who retired as senior vice president after a 27-year career at Grinnell Mutual.

Grange Insurance, based in Columbus, Ohio, named Robert V. James president and CEO. Retiring president and CEO Phil Urban will serve in an advisory capacity until Feb. 26 to ensure a seamless transition.

James has more than 36 years of experience in property/casualty insurance with companies such as Allstate, AIG, MetLife and CNA. Most recently, he held the position of senior vice president of mortgage operations and insurance executive at Bank of America. Prior to joining Bank of America he was the vice chairman, president and CEO of Countrywide Insurance Group.

Scott R. Hudson joined Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. subsidiary Gallagher Bassett Services Inc. as its president and chief executive officer. He will serve on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s Executive Management Committee as a corporate vice president.

Hudson has more than 25 years of experience as a business consultant specializing in the insurance and financial services industries. Most recently, he served as director, Insurance Practice, at Bridge Strategy Group in Chicago.

Chicago-based Alper Services added three new insurance professionals to its staff. Jeff Cook is Alper’s new vice president of Employee Benefits; Randy C. Hester is the new managing director of Financial Services; and Kathy Subak is a new account manager.

Prior to joining Alper, Cook worked in sales for a wellness consulting practice and two major healthcare companies.

Hester, a personal and business financial planning advisor, formerly worked in life sales at AXA Advisors. He offers wealth protection, asset allocation and estate planning services and represents top-quality investment and insurance products from leading financial institutions.

Subak is an experienced commercial property/casualty insurance professional.

WRM America, a New York-based specialty insurance and alternative risk management company, reports that Jeffrey S. Johnson has joined WRM America Indemnity Co. (WRMAI) as regional marketing officer for the Midwest region.

Johnson’s region includes Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee and Wisconsin.

Prior to joining WRMAI, Johnson was a marketing manager at Indiana/Ohio Casualty Insurance for school districts across several states including Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.

National Specialty Underwriters Inc. has hired Kim Gooch as healthcare sales executive in its Chicago, Ill., branch office. Gooch has more than 16 years of experience in healthcare underwriting and production. She will be focused on healthcare facility-based business in the Midwest and Northeast.

Lockton promoted Peter Hall to the role of managing director of its 16-strong Cargo practice. He has 20 years of experience servicing clients in the global cargo insurance market, for the most part as a broker with Lockton. Hall replaces outgoing Managing Director Brian Murphy, who has become a consultant to Lockton.

Specialty construction insurer NationsBuilders Insurance Services Inc. named William (Bill) C. Tepe as chief financial officer. In his CFO role, Tepe will be responsible for directing the financial and accounting functions of the organization. In addition, he will manage the company’s Management Accountability Process (MAP) for continuous process improvements. As a senior member of the organization, he will collaborate with the leadership team.

He joins NBIS from American Safety Holdings Corp. where he held the role of CFO responsible for the accounting, treasury, actuarial and financial planning functions. Prior to this role, he held the position of vice president, global controller and CFO at GAB Robins Inc.

Minnesota Commerce Commissioner Glenn Wilson appointed Kenneth Morris of Woodbury, and Edward Priester of Burnsville, to the Minnesota Joint Underwriting Association.

The association provides liability insurance coverage for persons unable to obtain it through ordinary means where coverage is required by law or is necessary for the conduct of business and serves a public purpose.

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