People

Brady R. Kelley has been named the executive director of the National Association of Professional Surplus Lines Offices (NAPSLO).

Kelley replaces Richard M. Bouhan who will be retiring from the organization after 30 years of service.

Kelley most recently served as chief financial and business strategy officer for the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). Prior to that, Kelley served as chief financial officer, director of financial services, and financial services manager since joining the NAIC in 1998. He also served as a senior accountant for Price Waterhouse.

Bouhan will remain with NAPSLO through June 2012 working on the transition and also legislative and legal issues for NAPSLO. Bouhan joined NAPSLO in 1981 as legislative director and became executive director in 1988.

NAPSLO is a national trade association representing the surplus lines insurance industry.

Element22 Insurance Services has hired Reggie Langdon to lead its new office in Minnesota. Langdon has more than 20 years’ experience as a commercial underwriter/wholesale broker and in territorial marketing.

Langdon previously was president of Midwest Specialty and Twin Cities Special Risk. His industry experience includes service as a marketing manager for the Highlands Insurance Group, as broker and marketing vice president for the Robert A Schneider Agency, and as a broker for Swett Managers in Minneapolis.

Insurance broker Neace Lukens has promoted Tim Devine to northern region leader. In this new role, Devine will oversee the growth and expansion of Neace Lukens offices in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus and Dayton, Ohio; Northern Kentucky; Southfield, Mich.; and Indianapolis, Ind.

Devine also serves as president of Neace Lukens’ CORE Solutions, risk management consulting services designed to assist clients in mitigating risk management exposures and providing energy consulting services.

With more than 20 years of experience in the insurance industry, Devine has been with Neace Lukens for four years. Previous to Neace Lukens, Devine worked for Marsh Inc.

Neace Lukens, founded in 1991, is headquartered in Louisville, Ky.

Kansas City-based Lockton has added longtime Memphis risk management executive Ben Seward to its expanding Memphis office. Seward has been named senior vice president-account executive at Lockton where he will be responsible for property casualty insurance program development, negotiation, placement, and service for corporate clients.

Seward comes to Lockton from insurance broker Marsh where he was a senior vice president and senior client advisor for the past eight years. Previously, he provided risk management leadership for 26 years at Federal Express Corp., serving as managing director of risk management from 1994 to 2003. He has extensive experience in transportation and logistics risk and liability issues.

He also holds the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter designation.

Markel Corporation has promoted four in its wholesale division. Sarah Gavlick, Steve Girard and Susan Swanson have been promoted to the role of regional president and Wendy Houser has been promoted to managing director for wholesale marketing.

Gavlick is the regional president for the northeast region which is headquartered in Red Bank, N.J. She had been the executive vice president for the region since June 2010. Gavlick has 20 years of insurance experience. She joined Markel in 2004 as vice president for excess and umbrella, and later held the position of vice president and director of marketing. In September 2009, she was named to the role of director of underwriting and production for the Northeast region. Prior to joining Markel, she worked for General Reinsurance Corp.

Girard is the regional president for the Southeast region which is headquartered in Richmond, Va. He had served in the role of executive vice president for the region since August 2010. He joined Markel in 2008 as managing director of production and underwriting, southeast region. Prior to joining Markel, he held management positions for Willis Re and Berkley Underwriting Partners.

Swanson is the regional president for the Midwest region which is headquartered in Deerfield, Ill. She has served as executive vice president for the region since March 2011.

Swanson joined Markel in 1982 in the underwriting department. In 1993, she was promoted to vice president of underwriting administration and later to senior vice president. In 1998, she was named manager of a regional team, and in 2009, she was named managing director of underwriting for the Midwest region.

Houser was named managing director for wholesale marketing. She had been serving in the role of senior director, wholesale marketing since August 2010. Houser joined Markel in September 2008 as the marketing manager for Markel’s mid-south region in Dallas, Texas. She has more than 10 years’ experience in marketing and insurance.

Farmington Hills, Mich.-based Amerisure Mutual Insurance Co. honored its top performing employees during the company’s recent Champions Through Excellence event.

The 2010 Champions Through Excellence Winners in alphabetical order include:

• Henry Altheim, senior computer operator, Service & Support Professional of the Year, Sterling Heights, Mich.
• Dave Andrews, risk management specialist, Loss Control Consultant of the Year, Macomb, Mich.
• Diane Benci, production coordinator – SCO, Service & Support Professional of the Year, Farmington Hills, Mich.
• Janet Benesch, premium audit specialist, Premium Auditor of the Year, Arlington Heights, Ill.
• Jill Chesney, field claim specialist, Claim Adjuster of the Year, Tampa, Fla.
• Rachelle Curry, production coordinator – FMU, Service & Support Professional of the Year, Lawrenceville, Ga.
• Melissa Ostaszewski, organizational development and training specialist, Resource Professional of the Year, Royal Oak, Mich.
• Mandy Pitzer, voice communications and mail services manager, Service & Support Professional of the Year, Highland, Mich.
• Geetha Raghu, application development consultant, IT Professional of the Year, West Bloomfield, Mich.
• Christopher Spaude, financial analyst, Financial Services Professional of the Year, South Lyon, Mich.
• Joseph Webster, agency service representative, Service & Support Professional of the Year, Palm Harbor, Fla.
• Katrina Renee Wright, senior marketing underwriter, Marketing Underwriter of the Year, Palmetto, Fla.

To qualify for the honor, managers and colleagues nominate individuals for the Champions Through Excellence program who have achieved or exceeded departmental and individual goals, as well as performance objectives.

Joe Perkins, an employee benefits expert for Indianapolis, Ind.-based MJ Insurance, has been named to UnitedHealthcare’s National Advisory Council.

Perkins, who has worked for MJ Insurance for more than 27 years, will serve a three-year term on the National Advisory Council (NAC). The NAC meets three times a year.

UnitedHealthcare’s National Advisory Council is a committee of health care brokers and consultants who engage with other key agency leaders from across the country to establish best practices and new solutions in the ever-changing health care industry.

Topics Agencies Excess Surplus Underwriting Risk Management Human Resources