People – Southeast

Crawford & Company announced that Jeffrey T. Bowman is stepping down after nearly eight years as president and CEO and after more than 24 years of service with Crawford & Company. The Board of Crawford has appointed Board Member Harsha V. Agadi interim CEO while it conducts a search for a permanent CEO. The search will be led by the Board’s Executive Committee and is expected to take several months.

“After nearly eight intense and challenging years as president and CEO I have agreed with the Board to step down. I am extremely proud of what the management team has achieved in this time and where we have positioned the Company for the future,” commented Bowman. “The company is going through a significant transformation this year in a challenging industry environment, and I wish all the great employees working at Crawford the best of luck in the future.”

Charles Ogburn, the non-executive chairman of the Board of Crawford & Company, said “The Board would like to thank Jeff for his years of dedicated service to Crawford & Company, its clients, employees and shareholders, as well as for the many global initiatives he helped to launch to increase operational effectiveness.”

Agadi has been a member of the Crawford Board of Directors since 2010. He is the chairman and CEO of GHS Holdings LLC, an investing and consulting business, and he has significant experience in establishing global brands and improving operations of companies.

Based in Atlanta, Crawford & Company is a global independent provider of claims management services to the risk management and insurance industry as well as self-insured entities.

The Villages Insurance promoted Shannon Decker to managing advisor from personal lines advisor at its Colony Plaza office in The Villages, Fla.

Decker, a former employee of the local AAA office, has been working in the insurance industry for over 11 years. She joined The Villages Insurance team this past March.

The Villages Insurance provides insurance and risk management services to over 38,000 families and 2,000 businesses in and around The Villages community. The agency has eight offices, over 70 colleagues and offers personal, life, annuity and commercial insurance coverages.

Florida-based SUNZ Insurance Co. has hired Therese A. Stevens as president.

An insurance executive with over 25 years of leadership experience in the workers’ compensation industry, Stevens most recently completed a five-year tenure as president and CEO of Normandy Insurance Co., a workers’ compensation carrier in Deerfield Beach, Fla.

The company also added Donna Ross to the company’s in-house legal counsel in Sarasota. According to Steve Herrig, CEO of SUNZ, Ross is joining the company as it expands its legal department to meet the needs of the growing company.

Prior to joining SUNZ, Ross represented insurance carriers in workers’ compensation defense cases throughout the state of Florida. For more than 10 years, Ross provided clients with full case management, from initial file review through settlement including all aspects of discovery, mediations, hearings and final hearings.

At SUNZ, Ross’ duties include the oversight of the legal aspects of the claims handling process for its professional employer organization and staffing company.

Established in 2005, SUNZ Insurance Co. was founded specifically to provide workers’ compensation options for professional employer organizations, staffing companies and large companies.

The Jacksonville, Fla.-based Brightway Insurance hired Kristine Azar as VP of customer experience.

Azar is responsible for Brightway’s customer experience strategies and execution through the company’s service center in Jacksonville. The center handles the service needs of more than 250,000 policyholders.

Most recently, Azar served as vice president, P&C Operations for The Kemper Corporation. Prior to that, she held various roles during her 28-year career at The Hartford, including assistance vice president of agency channel operations, assistance vice president of agency marketing and distribution strategy, senior director of strategic business design, and senior product manager.

Brightway is a national property/casualty insurance agency selling through a network of franchised locations. The company started in 2008 and has grown to 117 locations in 10 states.

Maximum, an independent, Chicago-based excess and surplus lines wholesale distributor, hired Jennifer Entinger and Kim Monahan as producers in Florida. Both Entinger and Monahan came from All Risks, Ltd. and have a brokerage focus in property/casualty.

A native to southern Florida, Entinger got her start in insurance working at her parents’ insurance agency almost 30 years ago. Since then, she’s served on the agency and wholesale side in underwriting, marketing, management and production. She is based in West Palm Beach.

Bringing 20 years of experience to Maximum, Monahan started on the agency side and moved into wholesale MGA and brokerage. She is based in Jacksonville.