People – South Central

Andy Webb of Watkins Insurance Group in Austin was named the André P. Juneau Young Agent of the Year by the Independent Insurance Agents of Texas (IIAT).

This award is given annually to a young agent who has achieved success through hard work, community engagement and industry participation in a manner that would be considered exceptional for a person of his or her age.

Webb has served as chair of the IIAT Young Agents Advisory Council and has been a council member for four years. He has represented his state at national young agent meetings and currently serves on the state IMPACT Board of Trustees and as a board member of the IIA of Austin.

Susan Tyner, commercial marketing account executive at Allred Thompson Mason Daugherty, a division of Higginbotham in Wichita Falls, was honored as IIAT’s Accredited Customer Service Representative of the Year.

This award is given annually to an ACSR in Texas who exemplifies outstanding leadership and service to the independent agency system and to the public.

Tyner has been active for years in the Federation of Insurance Women in Texas. She teaches as a certified instructor for FIWT and in 2008 was elected as its state president. She has been recognized twice by the North Texas Insurance Professionals as Professional of the Year.

Tyner also received $1,500 from Myron Steves and the chance to win the national competition later this year.

Gerald “Jay” Hoppe has joined Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Corp. (LWCC) as chief internal auditor.

Hoppe is a certified internal auditor with more than 30 years of experience in the insurance and banking fields.

Most recently, he was senior vice president and director of Internal Audit for First Community Bank, a multistate bank based in Albuquerque, N.M.. Prior to that, he was corporate internal auditor for FCCI Insurance Group in Sarasota, Fla.

Earlier in his career, Hoppe held audit positions with Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co., Employers Insurance Co. of Nevada, and Bank of America. He holds the Associate in Risk Management designation.

Dallas-based Higginbotham hired broker and sales producer Byron E. Johnson as executive vice president in its commercial property and casualty division.

Johnson and his account service team of four professionals come from Bell Insurance Group, a firm with one office in Dallas and one Houston.

Johnson began his 38-year insurance career in 1974 as a property insurance underwriter and then transitioned into agency work as a broker for firms in Texas and Oklahoma. Since 1983, Johnson has held senior level positions as a principal, vice president and most recently a managing director.

Johnson is a Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) and member of the Society of CPCU and the Professional Liability Underwriting Society.

Chris Schickling has joined Dallas-based Roach Howard Smith & Barton as sales executive in the agency’s Employee Benefits Division.

Formerly a captain in the United States Marine Corps, Schickling is a decorated combat veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom I, II and III. In 2007, after leaving the military, Schickling joined the Marine Corp Reserves and worked for Trident Security in Dallas, Texas.

Schickling began his insurance career in 2010 with The Crichton Group, RHSB’s Assurex Global Partner in Nashville, Tenn. Relocating back to Dallas, Schickling will employ his communication, leadership and problem solving skills developed in five years of active military duty to assist middle-market companies navigate the complexities and rising costs of employee health insurance.

Schickling is currently a board member for Carry the Load and former board member/treasurer for Operation Stand Down, both non-profits that support veteran’s needs. He has recently joined the Advisory Board at UTD Center for Brain Health. He is a native of San Antonio.

Dallas-based ClearView Risk Holdings LLC announced that Bryan Wilburn, founder of ClearView’s principal subsidiary Southwest Risk LP, has stepped down as chief executive officer and will serve as a consultant to the company. He will continue to serve on the board of directors.

Parker W. Rush, a 30-year veteran of the insurance industry who most recently was the CEO of The Republic Group, has joined the company as CEO.

ClearView Risk is a specialty lines insurance broker for high hazard business exposures. It maintains a focus on providing property and casualty insurance coverage for the real estate, construction and manufacturing industries.

USG Insurance Services Inc., a national wholesaler and MGA, has expanded its Allied American Underwriters operations in Benton, Ark., and added Stephanie Reilly as a producer/broker specializing in workers’ compensation.

Reilly most recently held the position of workers’ comp underwriter II and marketing coordinator with Insurisk Excess & Surplus Lines. Her work history also includes positions as owner of Covington Business Services specializing in insurance consulting and large commercial account executive of Brown and Brown of Lehigh Valley.

Reilly obtained the CPIA designation in 2012. She specializes in workers’ compensation coverage nationally and will focus on developing agencies in Arkansas and contiguous states.

USG has 14 offices, nationwide, and specializes in hard to place insurance coverages.

Mercury Financial Group has added Gail Yantis, vice president, life specialist in its greater Austin/San Antonio, Texas, service area. Joining Yantis will be Ricci Nelson who will serve as marketing specialist.

Yantis and Nelson join Mercury after a successful tenure at another firm.

Mercury is based in Dallas with specialists across the country working in major financial institutions, Wall Street-based firms, and property/casualty firms.

Ileana Ledet has been named Deputy Commissioner of Public Affairs for the Louisiana Department of Insurance.

Ledet will manage the department’s public relations activities. She most recently worked for the Louisiana Department of Education as public information director.