People – South Central

Arkansas Gov.-Elect Asa Hutchinson named state Rep. Allen Kerr to replace current Insurance Commissioner Jay Bradford.

Kerr has been an insurance agent for more than 30 years and along with his wife owns the Allen Kerr Agency in the Little Rock area. He has spent six years in the state legislature and because of term limits sat out the recent election cycle. He began his political career when he was elected to the 15-member Pulaski County Quorum Court.

Texas Insurance Commissioner Julia Rathgeber has been named deputy chief of staff for Gov.-Elect Gregg Abbott.

Rathgeber has been leading the Texas Department of Insurance for about a year and a half. She will resign her current position effective Jan. 20, according to the announcement naming Abbott’s picks for staff members in the governor’s office.

De Miller, principal of the Donald E. Miller Agency Ltd. in San Antonio, joined Houston-based Wortham L.L.C. as a managing director.

The Donald E. Miller Agency was founded in 1974 and specializes in property/casualty insurance, including surety and other services for the construction industry. The agency also answers the insurance challenges of high net worth individuals.

Miller is a member of the Society of Certified Insurance Counselors.

In addition to its headquarters in Houston, Wortham maintains offices in Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth and San Antonio.

Dawn Gourgues joined the Leavitt Group as vice president of benefits in its Houston office. Previously, she was a health and welfare consultant working with middle market energy-related accounts. Gourgues’ experience also includes financial projects and long-term strategic planning.

Leavitt Group added the Houston location to its existing offices in Shreveport and Alexandria, La., in 2014, and also recently started a benefits practice.

Lockton Dunning Benefits, the Dallas-based operation of Lockton Companies, added Kim Foerster as vice president in Lockton Dunning’s pharmacy consulting team, Excelsior Solutions.

Foerster brings six years of relevant industry experience to the position. Most recently, she worked as the director of managed market sales at Diplomat Specialty Pharmacy.

Elizabeth Raggio has been named compliance analyst at Texas-based Frost Insurance. Raggio will serve as a compliance consultant for the employee benefits practice statewide.

A Texas-licensed attorney with experience in administrative law and healthcare law, Raggio brings seven years of experience in the legal and healthcare fields.

NSM Insurance Group named Larry Mattiello director of Specialty Aviation Underwriters (SAU).

Mattiello began his aviation insurance career 35 years ago and has experience in general aviation insurance, safety and risk management. He has worked with several aviation insurance companies as an underwriter and broker. Most recently, he was president of AirSure Limited in Plano, Texas.

SAU, based in Addison, Texas, was acquired by NSM on Oct. 1, 2014.

ClearView Risk Holdings LLC, the holding company of Texas-based Southwest Risk LP, announced that Chad Thibodeaux has joined Southwest Risk as a property/inland marine broker.

Thibodeaux began his insurance career with State Farm Insurance where he worked as a catastrophe property claims adjuster for eight years. He subsequently transitioned from claims to property brokerage, serving as a property/inland marine broker for CRC in Houston.

Douglas R. Jones, senior vice president and principal at Texas-based Roach Howard Smith & Barton, was presented with the Cyber Risk Management Leadership Award 2014-15 at the annual Cyber Risk Management Boot Camp held in Atlanta, Ga., and hosted by INSUREtrust.

Jones leads RHSB’s Technology, Life Sciences & Media (TLM) practice. His expertise includes highly targeted insurance products such as directors and officers, errors and omissions, and cyber liability and he is frequently asked to speak on these topics.

Jones has 20 years of risk management experience with all types of technology companies.

Waldman Bros, a Dallas-based insurance and financial services firm, has promoted five employees to serve as vice presidents: Leigh Bennett; Eric Goldberg; Rita Rolf; Melanie Rasansky; and Tina Sparks.

Team members of the employee benefits division, Bennett and Rasansky previously served as advisors and Rolf served as an account executive.

As a part of the property/casualty team, Goldberg served as an advisor, while Sparks served as an account executive for the commercial insurance team.

Topics Texas