People – Midwest

Heffernan Insurance Brokers promoted Brian Billhartz to senior vice president and branch manager in its St. Louis, Mo., office.

Billhartz has more than 22 years of experience in property/casualty underwriting, production and account management. He worked in the St. Louis insurance community for over 20 years in the wrap up and brokerage services area. Prior to that Billhartz was senior underwriter for one of the largest national property/casualty carriers located in Chicago.

Billhartz holds the Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) designation; an Associate of Risk Management (ARM) degree; and a Construction Risk and Insurance Specialist (CRIS) designation.

Sara Skirvin, client service manager at Toledo, Ohio-based Hylant, recently was named Risk Management Professional of the Year at the Region IV Conference of the International Association of Insurance Professionals.

The Risk Management Professional of the Year Award recognizes a risk management professional who has demonstrated superior knowledge of the risk management field, experienced professional advancement through educational pursuits, demonstrated leadership in the field, and is an active participant in association activities.

Skirvin has an MBA and holds the CRM, CIC, ACSR, CPIW professional designations.

Chicago-based Kemper Corp. announced that Andrea James has been named president, Kemper Preferred, the business focused on selling packaged private passenger auto and home policies through independent agents.

She joined Kemper Preferred in May 2012 as senior vice president, marketing and sales, responsibilities she will retain.

James brought with her more than 20 years of industry experience, having worked on the agency side as well as the insurance company side. Prior to joining Kemper, James worked at Fireman’s Fund. She also has held senior leadership roles at Bank of America and Allstate.

Super regional property and casualty insurance holding company, State Auto Financial Corp., named Matthew R. Pollak vice president, treasurer and chief accounting officer. Pollak also serves in these same positions with State Automobile Mutual Insurance Co. and State Auto Property & Casualty Insurance Co.