People & Places

Terry Cotter was named president of Republic Home Protectors, a new managing general agency created by the Republic Group of Companies. In joining forces with Republic, Cotter will develop a new line of personal lines property products designed to serve the lower valued property market in Texas. The focus of Republic Home Protectors is to provide insurance for those dwellings that do not qualify for coverage in mainstream markets.

Cotter was most recently president of Columbia Lloyds Insurance Company.

Higginbotham & Associates, based in Fort Worth, named brokers John Collins, Dana Jones and Tami Rodgers executive vice presidents. Collins and Jones are employee benefits brokers, and Rodgers is a commercial property and casualty broker.

With more than 17 years’ health care experience, Collins has held several related positions, including chief financial officer for Twin Oaks Medical Center and director of client services for the Harris Methodist Health Plan. He presently serves as a community member for the City of Fort Worth Benefits Advisory Council. Collins joined Higginbotham in 2000.

A University of Kentucky graduate, Jones began employment at Higginbotham in 1998 shortly after receiving his bachelor’s degree. He is active with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Fort Worth, spearheading renovation of the house where his “little brother” resides with six family members.

Rodgers, an Accredited Customer Service Representative, Certified Insurance Counselor and Professional Insurance Woman of Texas, has worked in the field for 25 years and joined Higginbotham in 2000. In 2002, Zurich North America nominated Rodgers to a three-year term on the National Advisory Council of its Enterprise Producer Program.

MaximInsurance recently added a new associate to its team of insurance professionals – Leticia Valenzuela. Valenzuela will serve the organization as a customer service representative for current policies in personal lines, while also writing quotes and new business. She also will take an active role in advising current clients on home, auto, umbrella and other coverage.

Prior to joining MaximInsurance, Valenzuela served as an insurance account representative for State Farm Insurance.

The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America honored Rep. Richard Baker of Louisiana with the Gerald Solomon-IIABA Legislator of the Year Award for 2004.

Baker, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance and Government Sponsored Enterprises, received the honor for his leadership on terrorism insurance and his central role in developing the State Modernization and Regulatory Transparency (SMART) Act with Financial Services Chairman Mike Oxley (R-Ohio). Oxley is a past recipient of the award.

The presentation occurred at the 29th annual Big “I” National Legislative Conference. The award was presented by Big “I” CEO Robert A. Rusbuldt, along with leaders of the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of Louisiana.

Dallas-based Pacific Wholesale Insurance of Texas announced that Frank Baker has joined the firm. He will broker new business to help accommodate the company’s rapid growth, according to Robin Stough, president and CEO of Pacific Wholesale.

Baker, who has more than 35 years’ experience in the field, previously was associated with other leading insurance organizations in the Southwest.

Pacific Wholesale is part of Insurance Specialty Group, a diversified insurance brokerage, agency and reinsurance organization with operations in Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas, Los Angeles, New Jersey and New York.

The National Alliance for Insurance Education & Research has selected 12 new members to serve on the 2005-2006 CIC, CISR, and Academy Boards.

The National Alliance relies on the three boards for determining policy and guiding the future of this not-for-profit organization. These industry professionals are now beginning their six-year terms.

Certified Insurance Counselors Board of Governors: Paul Burkett, Snoaspen Insurance Group Inc., Reno, Nev.; Lance Ewing, Caesars Entertainment Inc., Las Vegas, Nev; Gary Larson, Western Dakota Insurors Inc., Rapid City, S.D; Craig Stanovich, Austin & Stanovich Risk Managers LLC, Douglas, Mass; and Jack Watson, Collier Insurance Agency Inc., Blakely, Ga.

Certified Insurance Service Representatives Board of Governors: Betsi Corea, Bryden & Sullivan Insurance Agency Inc., North Truro, Mass; Carlos Figueroa, Bayamon, PR; Daniel Lawyer, Lawyer Insurance Agency, Hermitage, Pa; and Steven Pearson, ISU Insurance Services of San Francisco, San Francisco.

The National Alliance Research Academy Board of Directors: F. Scott Addis, The Addis Group, King of Prussia, Pa; Steven Holland, University of Arizona Risk Management Dept., Tucson, Ariz.; and Douglas Holtz, Harleysville Insurance Co., Carmel, Ind.

The Insurance Council of Texas recently awarded scholarships to 16 university students.

The University of North Texas scholarship recipients were Jeffrey Ambrose, Lauren Heger, Tracey Mallard and Wayne Moore, Jr. Dr. John Thornton, UNT Regents’ Professor of Insurance, said the majority of his scholarship recipients have maintained excellent grades while holding down full-time jobs.

The University of Texas at Austin scholarship recipients were Jeffrey Herbert, Melissa Hall, Nikhil Sharma, Roger Shen and Keyan Marashi. Patricia Arnold, of the UT McCombs School of Business, remarked that her scholarship recipients were the cream of the crop in her class.

Baylor University scholarship recipients were Jenny Head, Rosalinda Olivares-Scott, Holly Dunlap, Michelle Haas, Kristin Ray, Jack Starksand Dan Dubose. Dr. Jim Garven, Frank S. Groner Memorial Chair of Finance, said many of his students had held internships in the industry and had lined up jobs upon graduation.

ACE USA, the U.S.-based retail division of The ACE Group of Companies, named Larry Goanos senior vice president and Financial Services Industry practice leader.

Based in New York, Goanos will be responsible for coordinating the marketing and distribution of ACE USA’s financial services capabilities, as well as developing new product ideas and identifying opportunities to expand existing relationships in this important market segment. He also will work closely with law firms to create synergies and provide additional solutions to clients.

Goanos most recently served as senior vice president for ACE Professional Risk’s Management and Professional Liability Group, where he oversaw underwriting for financial institutions, as well as commercial accounts with annual revenues in excess of $1 billion.

Tim Madden joined GE Insurance Solutionscompany as leader of its North American brokered reinsurance business. Madden will report to Ken Brandt, business leader of North America and Asia Pacific reinsurance, and will be headquartered in the company’s Barrington, Ill. office.

Most recently, he served as managing partner at IAT Reinsurance Group, where played a key role in the startup of the business and was largely responsible for managing the firm’s relationships with reinsurance brokers.

Crawford & Company added Gary Barton and Judy McCormick to its Health Care Management Services sales team.

Barton will oversee bill review sales nationwide, while McCormick will manage the north central sales territory, which includes Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

Most recently, Barton was the proprietor of a product and sales management consulting company, which provided services to the workers’ compensation and property and casualty industry.

McCormick, who worked for Crawford in 1990 as a medical case manager, most recently served as a principal at McCormick and Associates, an independent contractor to insurance carriers and attorneys.

Jerry O’Neill was named NBIS’ vice president of underwriting.

O’Neill comes to NBIS with over 20 years of insurance experience in the brokerage and reinsurance community.

Having held multiple senior level executive positions over the years with such companies as AIG, Transamerica Insurance Group and Markel, O’Neill will be a significant part of the NBIS team, according to the company. He will be implementing a variety of programs designed by NBIS to service the general liability needs of contractors throughout the U. S. O’Neill will also work to develop a network of insurance agents and brokers in the contractors’ insurance market in the eastern U.S.