People & Places

Portland, Ore.-based Heffernan Insurance Brokers announced the appointment of Tom Weigley as assistant vice president of its Portland office. Weigley will specialize in development of large accounts within the hospitality and trucking industries, with a focus on alternative risk solutions. Prior to joining Heffernan, he worked at Brown & Brown and Acordia, both in Tampa. He started his insurance career with Prudential Insurance, where he had production experience in all lines of coverage.

San Mateo, Calif-based MacCorkle Insurance Services, an independent, multi-line insurance broker, announced the selection of Bradford J. Wall as director of operations. Wall has over 32 years of experience in the insurance industry and previously served as a principal at InsPro Agents & Brokers in Sunnyvale, Calif. He is a past president of both the CPCU Society of Santa Clara County and the Independent Agent & Brokers Association of Santa Clara County. Wall has also been an insurance educator for eight years, having taught classes for the Insurance Educational Association.

Edward R. Hernandez has joined Glendale, Calif.-based Guardian General Insurance Services as assistant vice president for sales and marketing. Hernandez began his career in 1996 with Farmers Insurance. He was promoted to district manager after two years in the industry. Hernandez previously worked for a Los Angeles-based wholesaler specializing in international insurance. He represented AIG-Mexico and ING-Seguros Comercial America and was promoted to national marketing manager for the U.S., Canada and Mexico before joining Guardian General.

The National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies has promoted Roger Schmelzer, David Winston and Gregg Dykstra to senior vice president from vice president.

Schmelzer heads NAMIC’s state and regulatory affairs department. Already responsible for the state affairs division and the legal & regulatory affairs division, Schmelzer now supervises the recently added public policy division. Schmelzer’s department is the focus of NAMIC’s state advocacy and public policy efforts. Schmelzer has worked at NAMIC headquarters since May 1999.

Winston heads NAMIC’s federal affairs department, leading the association’s federal lobbying efforts from NAMIC’s Washington, D.C. office. Winston leads NAMIC’s grassroots efforts as well as the association’s political action committee. As senior vice president, Winston’s role will expand to include an increased emphasis on development of the PAC. Winston joined NAMIC in December 2003.

Dykstra heads NAMIC’s internal operations department. Already responsible for human resources, finance, and building services, Dykstra will now also supervise the vice president of the information technology department. A claims arbitration function was also added to the IT department. Dykstra will continue to serve as general counsel. He has worked at NAMIC headquarters since July 1997.

Woodruff-Sawyer & Co. announced that Charles Rosson has joined its firm as senior vice president. In this role, Rosson will lead the Benefits Practice to develop business opportunities and provide consulting services to Woodruff-Sawyer’s clients. Most recently, Rosson was senior vice president-benefits practice leader for Marsh Inc. in its Newport Beach office. Prior to that, Rosson held positions in San Francisco with Marsh and Sedgwick.

Seattle-based Safeco has appointed Myron Hendry as its new senior vice president of service. Hendry joins Safeco following 32 years at CNA. Early in his career, he worked as a field service manager, establishing policy and procedures for all field accounting, policy and claims processing functions. In a more recent role, he was senior vice president of Worldwide Operations, which processed and serviced all of CNA’s property/casualty business.

Jill E. Paterson has been promoted to executive vice president and chief financial officer for Novato, Calif.-based Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company. Paterson has also been nominated to serve as a member of the Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company board of directors. Her responsibilities include the direction and performance of the controller’s office, treasury department, financial services, supply management and the company’s compliance under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. She previously served as senior vice president and controller. Prior to joining Fireman’s Fund, Paterson served for 14 years at Allianz Canada, and held the position of senior vice president and CFO. Paterson’s background includes management experience in accounting, audit, controls, taxation, financial/regulatory/board reporting, strategic planning, analysis and treasury. Her insurance industry experience began when she served at Deloitte Haskins & Sells in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Lockton Insurance Brokers Inc., with offices in Irvine and Los Angeles, has hired Mark Carlin as executive vice president. Carlin specializes in insurance and risk management of healthcare providers in equity funds and turnaround firms.

Richard Roderick has been promoted to executive vice president at Lockton. He joined Lockton in 1996 and represents Fortune 500 and middle market corporations with domestic and international exposure to risk.

Torrance, Calif.-based ABD Insurance and Financial Services announced that Thomas Dreyer has joined ABD’s Sacramento office as a vice president. Dreyer will concentrate on the acquisition of medium to large manufacturing service and construction industry accounts. Dreyer joins ABD from Acordia, where he acquired accounts in a variety of industries, including manufacturing, technology, transportation and service.

Andrea Utley has joined ABD’s Torrance office as vice president, employee benefits. Utley will be responsible for running one of ABD’s large group client books of business as team leader. She has 24 years of experience developing and implementing strategic plans for domestic and international clients. Utley is a specialist in all areas of employee benefits and a generalist in the area of human resources.