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Golden Eagle Insurance, a Liberty Mutual Agency Corp. regional company, appointed Spencer J. Donkin president and CEO.

Donkin joins Golden Eagle Insurance from Liberty Mutual Agency Corp.’s Regional Companies Group, where he was senior vice president of Agency Management. In this capacity, his responsibilities included working with the regional companies to improve territory manager effectiveness and developing agency relationship programs. Donkin joined Liberty Mutual Group in 2008 with the company’s acquisition of Safeco Insurance. His insurance career spans more than 25 years, beginning with Safeco Insurance in 1985 as a commercial lines underwriter and rising to senior vice president of sales between 2006 and 2008.

Donkin will be based in Golden Eagle Insurance’s home office in San Diego.

Farmers Insurance appointed Rick Shriver senior vice president of field operations, Southwest Zone. The Zone includes Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas.

Shriver has more than 24 years of experience in a variety of operations, including marketing, sales, and executive director -Washington before assuming his current responsibilities. He joined Farmers in May 1986 as a sales management trainee out of the Colorado Springs, Colo., regional office. He has been vice president-commercial marketing since 2005.

Sierra Specialty of Clovis, Calif., added Jean Silberstein as a broker to expand the company’s presence in Hawaii.

Silberstein moved to Hawaii in 1978 and worked in the insurance wholesale business before spending 14 years with a retail agency in Hawaii. Then she moved back to wholesale in the late 1990s. Since then, she has worked as a wholesaler helping retail agents in Hawaii getting business bound. Her background includes property, casualty, professional, aviation and personal lines.

Ken Ross, president and CEO of Denver-based Pinnacol Assurance, was selected as the 2010 Denver Business Journal Power Book recipient in the Health Care Category. The Power Book recognizes top business leaders in 13 categories across Colorado who made news in the past year, and have thrived amid the unique economic and political challenges facing the nation. Ross was chosen from among 10 nominees.

“Last year was a challenging year for Pinnacol. We were highly scrutinized by lawmakers and the news media. Through it all we remained focused on meeting the needs of our policyholders and their injured workers and families,” said Ross. “We have an extraordinary vision at Pinnacol — to be the best workers’ compensation company in the nation — and we will not let external pressures deter us from achieving that vision”

Denver-based Pinnacol Assurance is Colorado’s leading provider of workers’ compensation insurance.

David Estrada was named managing director at Rainmaker Advisory LLC, based in Portland, Ore. Estrada has more than 25 years of experience in the retail insurance brokerage industry. He previously was president of USI Northern California.

Emergency Physicians Insurance Co. (EPIC), a Roseville, Calif.-based medical professional liability insurance provider, added Colleen Elkin as vice president of underwriting. Elkin will direct EPIC’s underwriting function by formulating and executing underwriting policy. She will also oversee day-to-day underwriting activities, such as developing risk profiles. Elkin was previously an underwriting supervisor for the medical malpractice and multi-line unit at St. Paul Companies. She has also worked as an underwriting analyst for Medical Corporate headquarters.

Keenan & Associates, a privately held brokerage and consulting firm in Torrance, Calif., announced that Bernard Colen joined the company as senior vice president in the public agencies property/casualty practice. Colen has nearly 40 years of experience in workers’ compensation, both as a consultant and as the co-founder and president of third-party administrator Colen and Lee. After he sold his interest in that firm, he became a workers’ compensation specialist for the law firm of Lister, Martin & Thompson, responsible for client relations, business development and retention, litigation file preparation, research, lien negotiations, and appearances at the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board. He is also certified by the state of California as a workers’ compensation claims administrator.

Bolton & Co., an employee-owned insurance broker, announced that Esther Ceballos joined the firm as assistant vice president in the OneSource Division. Ceballos started her insurance career in 1993 and prior to joining Bolton, she worked with a large trade association where gained experience and knowledge in their insurance services department for 16 years. As a producer in the OneSource Division, she will be providing a single solution for business and personal insurance, employee benefits and risk management support for small business owners.

Arrowhead Wholesale Insurance Services named Michelle Flores the company’s Worker’s Compensation Division leader and assistant vice president.

Topics Agencies Workers' Compensation Underwriting Hawaii Colorado