People – South Central

Waco, Texas-based Insurors Indemnity Cos. named Dave Talbert as president and chief executive officer.

Talbert joined Insurors Indemnity in February 2014 with more than 25 years of industry experience, having previously been president and CEO of Hochheim Prairie Insurance Cos.

Talbert succeeds Tom Chase, who founded Insurors Indemnity Companies in 1984 in response to what he felt was a lack of attention to the needs of independent agents. Chase led the company through its founding to achieve an A- (Excellent) A.M. Best rating and a reinsurance relationship with General Reinsurance Corp., a part of the Berkshire Hathaway group led by Warren Buffet.

The company is represented by over 450 independent agents across Texas, New Mexico, Arkansas and Oklahoma.

Chase will remain chairman of the board and will focus his efforts on the development of a board governance and internal control program, expansion to additional states and capital funding.

Insurors Indemnity specializes in surety and commercial property and casualty insurance for mid-size and smaller businesses.

Louisiana-based workers’ compensation insurer, LCTA Workers’ Comp (LCTA), has added John D’Angelo to its board of trustees.

D’Angelo founded Investar Bank in Baton Rouge, La., in 2005, and grew the full-service community bank to eleven locations and $800 million in total assets within eight years. He was responsible for all phases of operations and successfully led Investar through its initial public offering in July 2014.

Prior to launching Investar Bank, D’Angelo had 30 years of financial experience including positions with the former Hibernia National Bank and KPMG Peat Marwick.

Fort Worth, Texas-based Higginbotham has hired Claire Florsheim, as health risk management and wellness consultant.

Florsheim joins the firm’s Fort Worth office in its employee benefits department, which serves customers throughout the state. Her unit helps employers identify the health risks prevalent in their workforce, explore opportunities to improve employees’ wellbeing and design compliant wellness and incentive programs that deliver on those opportunities.

Florsheim specializes in nutrition, physical activity and stress management. She was most recently a wellness consultant for JPS Health Network, where she managed the hospital’s employee wellness program and provided nutrition counseling at its onsite employee health clinic. Florsheim also was a health and wellness program coordinator for Dairy MAX, serving as a nutrition expert in the local media and partnering with the National Football League in-school wellness program Fuel Up to Play 60.

Marc F. Eagan, president of Louisiana-based Eagan Insurance Agency, has been named a “Driving Force,” a special honor given to community leaders who have made significant contributions to the New Orleans area, in particular during the 10 years following Hurricane Katrina.

Eagan is one of 35 community members who were honored with the award by New Orleans CityBusiness.

Among his many personal accomplishments, Eagan is chairman of the East Jefferson Hospital Foundation, past president of the IIABL, which honored him with its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013, and a member of the 2011 class of CityBusiness’ “Top Money Makers.” He also serves on several boards for New Orleans companies.

He is a member of the third generation of the Eagan family to lead the agency, which now has 90 employees and three locations in New Orleans, LaPlace and Covington, La.

San Antonio-based independent insurance agency, IBTX Risk Services, expanded into the Houston market with Tim Aguilar, risk advisor, and Kathy Havey, account executive, as the first two Houston employees.

Aguilar has more than 30 years of experience in the insurance industry with expertise in property, automobile, workers’ compensation, director and officers, professional and general liability, and healthcare benefits coverages for a variety of businesses.

Havey has more than 30 years of experience in the oil and gas, and construction insurance fields.

IBTX will engage clients and prospects in this new market, working to expand their client base in the property and casualty, oil and gas, healthcare and risk management fields. Its products and services include commercial and personal insurance, employee benefits, safety and loss control services, surety bonds, wealth management, human resources consulting and claims advocacy.

In addition to Houston, IBTX provides risk management services across the state of Texas from locations in San Antonio and Irving offices.

Arkansas Insurance Commissioner Allen Kerr announced that long-time insurance employee, Chief Deputy Commissioner Lenita Blasingame, has decided to retire at the end of June after nearly 50 years with the Arkansas Insurance Department.

Kerr named Russ Galbraith as her replacement.

Blasingame served as an intern at the department in 1963 and 1964, becoming a full-time employee in 1965. She began her career as a secretary to the commissioner and worked her way up through the ranks to her current position as chief deputy. Blasingame served as insurance commissioner during the transition between Julie Benafield and Jay Bradford in 2009.

Galbraith has served as a senior government and industry affairs manager for Farmers Insurance for the last 17 years, serving as the primary legislative and regulatory liaison for the company in Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi. He previously served as president of the Arkansas Adjusters Association.

Alliant Insurance Services, a nationwide specialty insurance brokerage firm, has added Charlotte Smith-Wilkes to its construction services group as senior vice president/wrap-up director to lead the expansion of its wrap-up division in the southern United States with an emphasis on Georgia, Florida and Texas.

Smith-Wilkes has more than 29 years of experience in construction risk management, specializing in large controlled insurance programs. She has worked with clients on projects exceeding $30 billion in construction value.

At Alliant, Smith-Wilkes will be responsible for the development, implementation, and monitoring of wrap-up programs.

In addition to overseeing all wrap-up client and account management functions in the South, she will provide additional controlled insurance program leadership as needed across the national Alliant system.

Joining Smith-Wilkes at Alliant are Vice President/Wrap-Up Manager Marie Ramos-Alhadeff and Wrap-Up Program Administrator Rob McCormack.

Collectively, Smith-Wilkes, Ramos-Alhadeff, and McCormack have experience working with clients on numerous sports arenas, airports, condominiums, schools, and roadways.

Their efforts will be focused on delivering programs to federal and state agencies, developers and contractors.

Ramos-Alhadeff has overseen more than 40 wrap-up programs across the United States. At Alliant, Ramos-Alhadeff is responsible for the management of controlled insurance programs in Georgia, Florida, and Texas.

McCormack has more than 20 years of experience in underwriting and risk management and is providing technical and administrative support to Alliant clients.