People and Places
Chicago-based The Park Group, a wholesale insurance brokerage has announced the promotion of Peter Upjohn to the position of manager of the newly established Professional Liability Brokerage Department. Upjohn is responsible for the majority of the professional liability lines of coverage handled by AVRECO, including directors and officers, errors and omissions, employment practices, and fiduciary. Upjohn also handles general and umbrella liability coverage. He has been with AVRECO since 1998. The Park Group is a member of AVRECO.
Former State Representative Scott Hummel of DeWitt, Mich. has been named vice president of Governmental Affairs for the Michigan Association of Insurance Agents. Hummel was first elected to the 93rd District of the House of Representatives in a special election held in 2001 and was reelected in 2002 and 2004. During his legislative tenure, Representative Hummel served on the Education, Tax Policy, Transportation and Insurance Committees. He also served as chairman of the House Appropriations Committee from 2004-06.
The Michigan Association of Insurance Agents is a Lansing-based statewide trade group that represents approximately 10,000 Independent Agents and industry employees.
Mark Kidd has been named executive, small business accounts, at Westfield Insurance. His responsibilities include managing the growth and profitability of Westfield’s small business accounts in Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida.
Kidd previously served as regional underwriting manager. He began his career at Westfield in 1991 as a marketing trainee. Since that time, Kidd has served as a marketing manager in Cincinnati, Ohio, underwriting manager for Northern Ohio, regional marketing manager for Cleveland, Ohio, and regional underwriting manager for small business accounts.
Julie Abel joins Brown Smith Wallace as staff accountant in the insurance and reinsurance services group. Abel is responsible for carrying out audits of insurance companies as well as completing statutory financial statements. Prior to joining Brown Smith Wallace, Abel served as a credit assistant at Schutt Sports Group and a staff accountant at Patton & Company, P.C.
Brown Smith Wallace is a locally owned, independent full-service CPA and business consulting firm in Missouri with more than 150 employees throughout the Midwest with a network of offices in St. Louis, St. Charles and Chicago.
The board of directors of insurance agency Brown & Brown Inc. has elected Kenneth D. Kirk as regional president, responsible for the company’s retail and wholesale brokerage operations in the Western United States.
Also, Kenneth Masters was elected a regional executive vice president, and will assume responsibility for certain Program Division operations in California, Michigan, Wisconsin and Oklahoma.
Kirk has been responsible for operations in the Western states since 2002. He also serves in an executive officer capacity for several company subsidiaries.
Masters joined the company in 2002 when the current CalSurance subsidiary was acquired. He was president of CalSurance at that time and has continued to serve in that capacity. In addition, he provides leadership to the Programs Division and has led the acquisition efforts of several successful program business units.
David Sipprell was recently named senior vice president of marketing at Allianz Income Management Services (AIMS), a Minneapolis-based company formed this past August by Allianz of America to respond to the retirement income needs of retiring baby boomers.
Sipprell will be responsible for all marketing and distribution. This is a newly-created post. Sipprell joined AIMS from Allianz Life of North America, where he was an 18-year veteran and most recently served as president of Allianz Life’s largest product line — fixed and indexed annuities.
The Professional Insurance Agents Association of Ohio Inc. (PIA) recently announced its 2007 board of directors. The following individuals were named:
David C. Kotary, of Benchmark Insurance Agency, Inc., Westerville, is president. Terry Kelso, of Associated Insurance Agencies Inc. in Westerville, is president-elect.
Serving as secretary is Douglas Fox, of Diversified Insurance Service LLC, Elmore. Mike Grushon, of Thomas and Grushon Agency, Bellbrook, is serving his second term as treasurer.
The other board directors include John E. Burtch, American Agency, Columbus; Jeffery T. Lewis, Putnam White Lewis Insurance Agency, Columbus; Daniel T. Rabold, Thompson-Cunningham Agency, Columbus; Jean C. Schwierling, Schwierling Insurance Agency, Cincinnati; John A. Smith, Morgan Hubble Smith Insurance, Columbus; Timothy J. Stolly, Stolly Insurance, Lima; Mark E. Stolly, Stolly Insurance, Lima; Seth A. Zaremba, Alan Ross Insurance Agency, Seven Hills; Thomas F. Wagner, Wagner Insurance Agency, Cincinnati; Daniel M. Henery, (national director), Securance Service, Inc. , Gibsonburg.
The Professional Insurance Agents Association of Ohio represents approximately 1,300 independent insurance agencies, their employees and their customers.
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners named 2007 committee chairs and vice chairs. Several Midwestern regulators were name to vice chair positions:
Property and Casualty Insurance Committee: chair, Kevin McCarty, commissioner, Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, and vice chair, Michael McRaith, director, Illinois Division of Insurance; Financial Condition Committee: chair: Alfred Gross, commissioner, Virginia Bureau of Insurance, and vice chair, Susan Voss, commissioner, Iowa Division of Insurance; and, Life Insurance and Annuities Committee: chair, Julie McPeak, executive director, Kentucky Office of Insurance, and vice chair, Tim Wagner, director, Nebraska Department of Insurance.