People – Midwest

Jeff Menary has been named as vice president of direct underwriting and production at Iowa-based Grinnell Mutual.

During Menary’s 32-year career at Grinnell Mutual he has served in a variety of roles including marketing representative, marketing and reinsurance services manager, and director of underwriting and production. He was twice recognized as Grinnell Mutual’s Marketing Representative of the Year. For the past 10 years, Menary has served as an assistant vice president of underwriting and production.

He currently serves the insurance industry as a member of the Insurance Service Office CGL Advisory Panel and as a member of the Iowa Auto Insurance Plan Governing Committee.

Great American Insurance Group, based in Cincinnati, Ohio, recently promoted Sarah Berger and Stephanie Hoboth. Berger is now divisional vice president of Great American’s alternative markets division; Hoboth was promoted to divisional vice president of its fidelity and crime division.

Berger joined the company in 1999. During the past 13 years, she has held various positions of increasing responsibility and has been instrumental in building the division’s agency captive book of business and promoting corporate cross-marketing and branding initiatives. She has 14 years of experience in the insurance industry and has earned her Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) and Associate in Claims (AIC) designations.

Hoboth began her career with the company in 1997 as an underwriter trainee. Over the past 15 years, she has held various positions of increasing responsibility for the program business, gaming business and kidnap, ransom and extortion products.

Great American’s fidelity and crime division is headquartered in Windsor, Conn.

Norman-Spencer Agency Inc. announced that Phil Keeter has joined its Marine Insurance Services Division as vice president of dealer services.

A formers marine dealer, Keeter retired as president of the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas (MRAA) in 2011 after 23 years in that position.

Norman-Spencer’s Marine Insurance Services Division has served marine dealers, agents and tens of thousands of boat owners and fishermen for more than 30 years.

Dave Bauer has assumed the position of director of sales for St. Paul, Minn.-based Ag States Group, the CHS insurance subsidiary providing property/casualty insurance, group benefits, safety programs and employment services to co-ops and other agribusinesses across the United States.

Bauer previously was the group’s client services manager. With more than 35 years in the insurance business, Bauer has held many sales and management positions. Bauer was a regional sales manager for Ag States prior to assuming responsibility for client services.

A subsidiary of CHS Inc., Ag States Group, is a full-service insurance organization with a broad complement of coverage programs, licensed in most U.S. states and represents major carriers in 70 markets.

Laura Corogenes has joined ThinkRisk, a subsidiary of Ryan Specialty Group, as senior vice president and branch manager of ThinkRisk’s Kansas City, Mo., office.

Previously a director of underwriting for another firm, Corogenes has 35 years of experience in the insurance industry.

Brady Polansky has joined Minneapolis, Minn.-based Project CAP as a new senior business leader.

Project CAP — created through alliance of the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America (IIABA or the Big “I”), Trusted Choice, state associations and key insurance carriers — provides digital marketing tools and services to help independent agencies, brokers and insurance carriers build their online brands and visibility.

A 23-year veteran of the industry, Polansky’s initial focus will be to help ensure the effective building, appropriate functionality and timely launch of Project CAP’s forthcoming consumer website.

Polansky’s role will broaden over time to address other organizational initiatives, including Project CAP’s business intelligence products and services.

Polansky previously served as president and CEO of NetVU, the largest technology user group and trade association in the insurance industry. Before joining NetVU, he served as the director of agency operations at Westfield Insurance; spent 15 years as an independent agent and subsequent owner of a family agency; and worked as a producer and chief technology officer for another $22 million-revenue agency.

American Financial Group, an insurance holding company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, has promoted Vito C. Peraino and Michelle “Shelly” A. Gillis.

The company also announced that James E. Evans has been named AFG executive counsel in addition to his role as senior vice president and member of the AFG board of directors.

Peraino has been named general counsel and senior vice president of AFG and assumes responsibility for AFG’s legal function. Peraino previously served as senior vice president and assistant general counsel of Great American Insurance Group and was responsible for overall claims strategy and claims oversight for Great American’s property and casualty businesses. He joined Great American in 1999 as a vice president, overseeing management of all asbestos, environmental and other mass tort liabilities for the property/casualty group.

Gillis has been named to the newly created position of chief administrative officer and vice president of AFG. She assumes responsibility for AFG’s real estate facilities, communications and business support services functions. In addition, she will continue to lead AFG’s human resources and enterprise services groups.

Gillis began her career at Great American Insurance Group, a subsidiary of AFG, in 2004 as director of organizational planning. She has held positions of increasing responsibility over the past few years, most recently as corporate vice president of human resources.

Prior to joining Great American, she was a vice president and senior HR business partner of Fifth Third Bank.

American Financial Group has assets in excess of $35 billion.

St. Louis, Mo.-based Safety National Casualty Corp. announced that James Riviezzo has joined the company as business development representative. He will be based in Safety National’s New York City regional office.

With nearly 15 years of insurance and financial services experience, Riviezzo brings a strong background to Safety National. Riviezzo previously served as the assistant vice president at Marsh USA, a division of Marsh & McLennan Cos., where he was responsible for developing cross-operating company revenue opportunities and strategic partnerships encompassing the disciplines of risk management, reinsurance, employee benefits and human capital.

In his new capacity with Safety National, Riviezzo will focus on business development for new and renewal accounts within designated areas of the eastern United States.

XL Group plc’s North American Marine business has boosted its underwriting expertise with the addition of Chris Cooke who has joined as vice president, hull and liabilities.

Cooke previously worked at Travelers, where he was the national hull and liabilities practice leader. Among his primary responsibilities were the development of policy forms, underwriting manuals, procedures, and initiatives to drive growth in hull, P&I, marine liabilities, marine professional liability and excess liabilities.

He began his career with MOAC/Continental where he worked in both field and home office positions in the hull and liabilities, and excess departments. Cooke also ran the marine department in Hong Kong for two years working with MOAC/Continental-owned Lombard General Insurance.

Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission Chairman Mitch Weisz has made two new appointments to the Illinois Self-Insurers Advisory Board: David Henwood with CCMSI, a risk management company in Danville; and Deborah Stafford, with Archer Daniels Midland in Decatur.

Weisz also renewed the appointment of Alex Alexandrou from the City of Aurora.

Members serve a four-year unpaid term.

The ISIAB reviews applications from private companies for the self-insurance privilege and makes recommendations to the chairman of the commission. The board also ensures the continued payment of benefits to workers of bankrupt self-insurers.