People – South Central

Insurance broker Lockton added Jay Chappell in its Dallas/Ft. Worth operations as chief operating officer for its property/casualty business.

Chappell will provide leadership and oversight for client service in Lockton’s risk management operation, which serves more than 808 clients with an emphasis on Fortune 1000 and middle market companies.

He will lead a team of 125 associates in offices in both Dallas and Ft. Worth.

Chappell was most recently regional partner at Willis of Texas Inc. He also spent 10 years with Marsh advising clients on directors and officers, errors and omissions, and other executive risk coverages.

All-Star Insurance Group Inc. in Gilmer, Texas, promoted George Wolfe to vice president.

Wolfe joined All-Star Insurance in March 2011 after eight years with Farm Bureau Insurance in Gilmer. He has 13 years of experience as an insurance agent.

In business for more than 60 years, All-Star Insurance has five locations in Northeast Texas, including offices inside First National Bank in Gilmer, Security State Bank in Ore City, First National Bank in Pittsburg, and Wood County National Bank in Quitman. All-Star Insurance Group is owned by First National Bank of Gilmer.

All-Star Insurance is a member of the National Association of Professional Insurance Agents.

Independent insurance broker, IMA of Dallas, hired Katie Madsen as vice president and account executive to oversee commercial property/casualty coverage.

Madsen has 10 years of industry experience. She has managed multiple Fortune 500 clients, earned multiple prestigious leadership awards and designations, and identified numerous cost-savings solutions for her expansive book of business.

IMA of Dallas is a unit of IMA Financial Group Inc. (IMA), which has offices in Colorado, Kansas, Michigan, New York and Texas.

Karen Crouch, marketing manager in the commercial lines division at the New Orleans-based insurance agency, Gillis, Ellis & Baker Inc., has been named Insurance Professional of the Year by the Insurance Professionals of Greater New Orleans.

Crouch is a veteran insurance professional whose career in the industry started in 1976. Her background includes 18 years in her previous position as a commercial underwriter for Reliance Insurance Co. She has worked for Gillis, Ellis & Baker since 1998.

The Insurance Professionals of Greater New Orleans is the local chapter of the International Association of Insurance Professionals (IAIP).

Founded in 1933, Gillis, Ellis & Baker is a third-generation agency with 55 employees and is a member of the independent agency network, ARM.

MarketScout added Jessica Johnston and Joan Talent in its Restaurants, Bars, and Taverns (RBT) underwriting facility in Dallas.

Johnston joins as a commercial underwriter, responsible for a diverse range of risks for restaurants, bars and taverns exposures. Prior to joining MarketScout, Johnston was a commercial underwriter for B&H Risk Services. Previously, she was a commercial underwriter for McClelland and Hine Inc.

Talent will serve as a senior underwriting assistant. She has over 25 years of experience in insurance underwriting and rating activities. Talent previously was an underwriting support technician at AmTrust North America, and she also has worked at American International Group.

Dallas-based Southwest Risk LP created a new division, Southwest Risk Agency Services (SWRAS), with a focus on binding business and programs for independent agents.

The new division will be led by Joy Keller, a seasoned insurance professional who has built deep relationships with carriers, trade organizations and other wholesale professionals.

Southwest Risk is a specialty lines insurance broker for high hazard business exposures. The company delivers customized property and casualty insurance coverage for the real estate, construction, transportation, professional, hospitality, medical, energy and manufacturing lines of business.

Bedford, Texas-based State National Cos. Inc. appointed Tim Poeton senior vice president of business development in its Program Services segment.

Poeton has more than 30 years of insurance and reinsurance experience. Most recently, he served as senior vice president and branch manager for G.J. Sullivan Reinsurance in New Jersey. He previously held senior positions at Greig Fester (now part of the Aon Benfield group), Cambridge Risk Intermediaries LLC, Guy Carpenter Inc., and other firms, including 15 years as a broker at Lloyd’s of London.

State National Cos. Inc. is a specialty provider of property and casualty insurance operating in two niche markets across the United States: Program Services and Lender Services.