People – South Central

Gulfstream Property and Casualty Insurance Co., a regional property carrier providing homeowners, condominium, renters, dwelling fire and flood coverage with operations in five states, appointed David N. Block as chief financial officer and treasurer. Block is a certified public accountant with three decades of financial leadership experience in the insurance industry.

Block joined Gulfstream after an eight-year stint at QBE Insurance. He previously served at Nationwide Insurance in financial roles and worked at the accounting firm of Ernst & Young, where he specialized in property and casualty insurance.

He holds both the CPCU and CLU designations.

Headquartered in Sarasota, Fla., Gulfstream is licensed in seven states and operates in Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.

Lynn Lodge joined Texas-based independent insurance brokerage firm Roach Howard Smith & Barton as assistant vice president of Employee Benefits.

She is responsible for supporting new business production and coordinating with insurance company underwriters, representatives and system vendors to ensure quality offerings to clients.

Prior to joining RHSB, Lodge worked with MHBT for 10 years in its Benefits department. She has over 30 years’ experience in the insurance industry.

Lodge has industry designations for Group Benefits Associate, Certified Healthcare Reform Specialist, Managed Healthcare Professional, and Long Term Care Professional. She is currently working toward her Certified Employee Benefit Specialist designation.

Texas-based independent insurance firm Higginbotham hired Jonathan Sakulenzki as an employee benefits producer in McAllen, Texas.

Sakulenzki joins the McAllen office’s two commercial property/casualty insurance producers to provide local area clients with group health and welfare plans, previously available through collaboration with Higginbotham’s other regional offices.

Sakulenzki was most recently a registered representative at New York Life Insurance Co.

Higginbotham was founded in 1948 and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, with more than 20 additional offices in the state.

Pat Green has joined Texas-based insurance wholesaler M.D. Jensvold as a senior broker.

Green has more than 15 years of sales experience. Most recently, he was vice president/casualty broker with Oxford Insurance Services in Houston.

Dallas-based hazard claims insurance processing service provider, Dimont, added Denis Brosnan, Albert Strausser and Dick Volentine to the company’s executive leadership team, and promoted Fran Weichsel, Darcy Stennes and Collin Harbour.

Brosnan, who has been named president and chief executive officer, brings more than 15 years of executive leadership experience in technology and technology-enabled services firms for the financial services industry. Brosnan previously served as the chief executive officer of Prommis Solutions.

Strausser, chief financial officer, is responsible for the finance, accounting and human resources capabilities of Dimont. Strausser has over 30 years of experience as a finance executive.

Volentine has been appointed general counsel. With more than 30 years of experience in the industry, Volentine supervises all legal and compliance support.

Weichsel has been promoted to director of client relations.

Stennes has been promoted to senior client relationship manager. Prior to joining Dimont in 2013, Stennes served as claims operations manager with a focus on mortgage hazard claims for The Law Offices of Thomas W. Rutledge APC.

Harbour has been promoted to director of business development. Harbour brings more than 20 years of experience to his new position. Previously, Harbour served as partner/operator at Secure Protection LLC, a property and casualty insurance agency.

Doug Slape has been appointed deputy commissioner for financial regulation, and Kevin Brady was named deputy commissioner for agency affairs at the Texas Department of Insurance. The appointments are effective Sept. 1.

Slape replaces Danny Saenz, who is retiring after 27 years with TDI. Brady is moving into a new position that will oversee government relations and serve as the agency’s primary liaison with industry associations.

Slape, currently associate commissioner in the Financial Regulation Division, began his career at TDI in 1988. He has served on a number of National Association of Insurance Commissioner committees and is a certified financial examiner and certified information systems auditor.

Brady is currently deputy chief of staff, where he focuses on policy coordination and strategic planning. He began his career at TDI in 1984 as a financial examiner conducting on-site solvency examinations of insurers.