People – Midwest

Hays Companies announced that Steve Topel has joined its Chicago operations as president of property and casualty.

Topel joins Hays Companies with extensive leadership experience. He served as the president and chief sales officer of The Horton Group, as well as president and chief executive officer of JMB Insurance for seven years. He has successfully run operations in the Illinois marketplace, along with Indiana, Wisconsin and Tennessee.

In addition, Topel is active as a board director for The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers.

David R. Finkelstein has joined insurance wholesaler, Russell Bond & Co., as vice president of distribution and programs. He is based in the Chicago area.

Finkelstein most recently served as vice president – sales and marketing for Madison, Wisc.-based Capitol Insurance Companies. He began his insurance career in 1988 serving in many underwriting and management positions with insurers Aetna Life & Casualty, St Paul and CNA. He spent three years as a manager of business consulting for Arthur Anderson and a short time managing a retail insurance agency.

Russell Bond & Co. Inc. is headquartered in Buffalo N.Y., and maintains offices in Hamilton, N.J., and Westfield, Mass., with additional staff in Utica, N.Y., and Nashville, Tenn.

Columbia Insurance Group (Columbia), based in Columbia, Mo., has promoted Michael LeBlanc to vice president of claims, a newly created position.

LeBlanc brings 31 years of claims experience to this new role; 26 of them in claims management positions in various locations around the country. LeBlanc is relocating to the home office from the Atlanta branch office where he worked for nearly five years as the branch claims manager.

LeBlanc’s promotion follows the announcement that Senior Vice President and Chief Claims Officer Jon Erickson will retire in June 2015.

Columbia has five branch locations: Atlanta, Ga; Austin, Texas; Columbia, Mo.; Omaha, Neb.; and Salina, Kan.

Appleton, Wis.-based SECURA Insurance promoted Dominick Mongarella to director – risk management.

Mongarella joined SECURA in 2011 as a risk management consultant and was promoted in March 2013 to supervisor. Prior to SECURA, he worked as director of safety for the City of Jeffersonville in Indiana and senior loss prevention consultant with Willis/HRH. Mongarella also served 21 years in the United States Air Force.

Mongarella holds numerous certifications, including the Certified Safety and Health Manager; Certified Workers’ Compensation Counselor; Property Risk and Insurance Specialist; and Member, American Society of Safety Engineers.

Cameron Mutual Insurance Co. in Cameron, Mo., named Brad Fowler president and chief executive officer.

Fowler, who most recently served as chief operations officer, assumes the role following the retirement of Gary Myers, who has served as president and CEO since November 2009.

Fowler has been with Cameron Mutual for 29 years. He started his claims career with Cameron in 1985, later serving as branch claims manager, vice president of claims, senior vice president and executive vice president, prior to being named COO January 2014.

Myers annouonced his retirement as president/CEO in January 2014, capping more than 42 years of service to the insurance and reinsurance industries. He will continue as a member of the board of directors.

South Dakota Labor and Regulation Secretary Marcia Hultman namved Larry Deiter as the new director of the Division of Insurance.

Deiter will continue to be active at the national level in the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. He participates in committees involving property and casualty insurance, workers’ compensation, crop insurance and examination oversight.

Deiter, a South Dakota native, joined the division in November 2012 with more than 25 years of experience in commercial banking and business management. He also served as a vice president/market manager of a publicly traded financial institution headquartered in South Dakota.

Deiter had been serving as interim director since Dec. 4 upon the resignation of Merle Scheiber.

Classic vehicle insurer, Traverse City, Mich.-based Hagerty, hired Richard Hutchinson as the company’s president, effective Jan. 5.

Hutchinson joins Hagerty from the Progressive Corp., where he has held many leadership positions during his 29-year tenure there.

Hagerty, founded 30 years ago, offers specialty products and services for collector vehicles.

Markel appointed Matt Huels as managing director, brokerage casualty, for its product line leadership team. He is based in Chicago.

Huels comes to Markel from XL, where he was vice president of the casualty product line nationwide. Huels has also held leadership and underwriting positions with CoverX and ACE Westchester. Huels has 15 years of primary casualty experience, mostly in the excess and surplus lines segment.

He has earned his CPCU designation.

Arthur J. Gallagher Risk Management Services Inc., the U.S. retail property/casualty brokerage division of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. hired Steve Kluting in its Grand Rapids, Mich., office.

As area vice president for Gallagher’s food and agribusiness practice, Kluting will assist Gallagher clients with risk management issues including contract review, as well as crisis event preparation and management, and will update clients on the ever-changing regulatory landscape, including changes brought about by the Food Safety Modernization Act and GMO labeling laws.

Prior to joining Gallagher, Kluting served as chief strategy officer for a West Michigan food company and as co-chair of Varnum Law’s Food Industry Group.

Kluting is certified as a HACCP Manager and a Food Defense Coordinator.

HNI, a non-traditional risk management firm based in New Berlin, Wis., announced that Matt Bucher has been named a partner.

Bucher is a relationship manager at HNI, driving sales of insurance, benefits and business advisory products and services and helps mid- to large-sized organizations better manage risk. This appointment expands his leadership responsibilities in addition to offering a share in ownership.

Since joining HNI in 2002, Bucher has served in a number of capacities, including marketing, business development, employee benefits and risk advisory.

Bucher becomes the firm’s sixteenth partner with an ownership interest.

Amerisure Mutual Insurance Co. based in Farmington Hills, Mich., has promoted Jim Flynn to assistant vice president of loss control in the Midwest area. Flynn is based in Farmington Hills.

He joined Amerisure in 2003 and has held various roles as loss control consultant, senior loss control consultant and risk management specialist. He has accountability for the Chicago, Farmington Hills, Indianapolis and Minneapolis Core Service Centers (CSCs), and will have direct management responsibility for the Farmington Hills and Minneapolis CSCs.