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Elizabeth Heck has been named president and chief operating officer of New York-based GNY Insurance Cos. She is a 20-year veteran of the insurance industry. She began her career with Ernst & Young, and worked in senior corporate accounting positions for several national insurance companies prior to joining GNY in 2001 as controller. She was promoted to chief financial officer in 2005 and, in 2008, to executive vice president.

Connecticut-based insurance agency Gowrie has hired two new agents and a controller. Daniel Smith has been named as a producer in Gowrie’s commercial insurance division. He will work with business owners and executives throughout Connecticut, New England, New York and New Jersey to customize property and casualty insurance programs. Smith has a decade of experience as a commercial lines agent. He began his career with Liberty Mutual and joined USI in 2009 when it acquired Liberty Mutual’s middle market book of business. John Owsianik has also joined the company as a producer and insurance adviser in its Westbrook, Connecticut office. He will focus on advising personal lines clients throughout New England. Prior to Gowrie, Owsianik served in various capacities for an independent agency in Fairfield and also at The Hartford. Yvonne Mansfield has joined Gowrie as the company’s controller. Prior to joining Gowrie, she served for 11 years as the controller and an officer at the Response Group of Cos.

Pennsylvania-based PMA Cos. has promoted Jack Aspen to vice president of Risk Control Services. In his new position, Aspen will lead the risk control functions for PMA and provide support and direction to Midlands Management Corp.’s risk control operations. Aspen joined PMA in 2007, and most recently served as assistant vice president of Risk Control Services. He has 23 years of experience in the risk control field

Eastern Insurance Holdings said founder and CEO Bruce M. Eckert will step down at the end of the year and President and Chief Operating Officer Michael L. Boguski will assume the role of president and chief executive officer for the Pennsylvania-based workers’ comp insurer. Eckert will remain as vice chairman of the company. Boguski was the first employee hired by the Eckert, and the two have worked closely the last 13 years.

K&K Insurance named Todd Bixler as president and CEO. Bixler joined K&K Insurance in 1986 as controller, responsible for financial reporting and accounting operations. His subsequent positions of increasing responsibility with K&K included chief financial officer, chief administrative officer, executive vice president and chief operating officer. K&K, a division of Aon, is a managing general underwriter offering insurance products and services to the sports, leisure and entertainment industries.

Risk modeling company Risk Management Solutions has appointed Dr. Elizabeth Xu to the role of senior vice president of software development. In this role, Xu will lead RMS’ global software initiatives. Xu has more than 10 years of scientific modeling experience. Xu has also held positions with Vitria technology and IBM.

Washington, D.C.-based specialty insurer Clements International has named Tarun Chopra as vice president of finance. Chopra has 17 years of experience in finance, accounting, strategy and mergers and acquisitions leadership with companies – including Fannie Mae, Whirlpool Corp. and Ernst & Young.

Markel Corp. announced that it has promoted John Latham to president of its wholesale division. Latham will continue to oversee Markel’s regional offices located in Virginia, Texas, Arizona, California, Illinois and New Jersey. He has 43 years of experience in the insurance industry, and most recently he served as managing director, regional wholesale operations, and he has also led the Southeast region’s operations since 2008. He has been with Markel for the past seven years. Prior to joining Markel, Latham was president and chief executive of Colony Insurance Cos.