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Wholesaler Crump Insurance promoted Kevin Hahn to executive vice president. As head of New York brokerage operations, Hahn will oversee Crump’s offices in Long Island and New York, and its environmental practice.

XL Insurance appointed Gary S. Kaplan to the newly created position of executive vice president and North America Construction leader. Kaplan, who will be based in New York, joins XL Insurance from Zurich, where he served as president of its Construction business unit. During his 15-year tenure with Zurich, he held several senior level positions in underwriting management, operational transformation and strategic planning.

Deana Lykins has been named president of the Insurance Council of New Jersey (ICNJ), a trade association for the state’s property/casualty insurance industry. As president, Lykins will oversee the operations of the organization and serve as primary spokesperson for New Jersey’s property/casualty insurance industry. Previously, Lykins was a principal in a Trenton lobbying firm.

New Jersey-based NIA Group, part of Marsh Agency, has hired three new insurance producers in its Mount Laurel, Paramus and Somerset offices.

Derek Kimmel, joins the Mount Laurel office with broad experience in employee benefits and property/casualty insurance. He most recently served as a risk reduction adviser for HUB International. Peter Rosky, based in Paramus, is an experienced employee benefits producer. Prior to joining NIA, he was vice president at USI. Scott Strenger joins the Paramus office as a property and casualty and employee benefits producer. Before joining NIA, he worked at Concover Insurance Group in Florida.

Mike Bertrand will be appointed insurance commissioner in Vermont, after Commissioner Paulette Thabault stepped down to take a position with CVS Caremark MinuteClinic. Bertrand, who currently serves as deputy commissioner, will be appointed commissioner this month, according to Gov. Jim Douglas. Bertrand is a long-time bureaucrat in Vermont, having served as deputy secretary of administration, commissioner of the department of Labor and Industry and as special assistant to Douglas.

Pennsylvania-based insurer Millers Capital Insurance Co. has named Tamrah Grae Thomas as vice president and chief marketing officer. She has more than 13 years experience in the property and casualty insurance industry, having most recently served in strategic development for the small business segment of The Hartford.

CNA has appointed Jamie Abercrombie as commercial underwriting officer. Abercrombie, who has more than 27 years of underwriting experience, will be based in Philadelphia. He most recently served as vice president of risk management for Chubb’s Mid-Atlantic region. He began his insurance career as an underwriting supervisor at Liberty Mutual.

Insurance agent David M. Gelia has been elected chairman of the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of New York (IIABNY). Gelia is executive vice-president of United Insurance Agency in Amherst.

Other officers elected to IIABNY’s executive committee for one-year terms were: Chair-Elect Christopher A. Brassard, executive vice-president of Ten Eyck Group in Albany, and Secretary-Treasurer Thomas J. Crowley, of Maran Corporate Risk Associates in Southampton. IIABNY members also elected as regional directors James F. Sutton, president of James F. Sutton Agency Ltd. in East Islip; Kevin R. Crossley, chief operating officer of the Club Agency Insurance Brokerage in Garden City; Kevin Delaney, vice president of Brown & Brown Empire State in Syracuse; Andrew J. Kaufman, president of Aurora Inc. in Albany; and John H. Smith Jr., executive vice president of William A. Smith & Son agency in Newburg. Neal L. Sullivan, vice president of Sullivan Insurance & Financial Services in Mahopac, won a two-year term as an at-large member representative on the Nominating Committee.

Topics New York Agencies New Jersey Property Market Property Casualty Employee Benefits Casualty