People

The Central Insurance Companies announced the election of Evan Purmort to its board of directors as well as his appointment to the executive committee of the Central Companies. Purmort resides in Boston, Mass.

As regional vice president, Purmort oversees the day-to-day operations of the Northeast regional office, including all underwriting, marketing and claims functions serving Central Insurance’s independent agents in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and New York.

Purmort joined Central in 2002 during high school as a prep chef at Central-affiliated Willow Bend Country Club and moved on to the Mail and Supply department in Central’s home office the following summer. After graduating from Miami University of Ohio in 2008, he became a commercial lines technician in the Southeast region.

He was promoted to commercial lines underwriter before transferring to the Southwest region in 2011 as the marketing manager for Arizona. He was promoted to the Southwest Management Team in 2012 as a commercial lines supervisor and was then promoted to the position of personal lines manager in 2014. Most recently, he held the position of assistant vice president of the Northeast regional office.

Central Mutual Insurance Company was founded in 1876 and has evolved into the Central Insurance Companies, a property and casualty group providing insurance for more than 350,000 automobiles, homes and businesses in 20 states. Central is based in Van Wert, Ohio, and operates regional offices in Boston, Atlanta, Dallas and Van Wert.

Eastern Insurance Group has promoted Katelyn Tucker to vice president and benefits account executive at Eastern Benefits Group, the insurance firm’s employee benefits division.

Tucker, who works out of the Wakefield, Mass., office, has been with Eastern Benefits Group for more than two years and has been in the business since 2009.

She manages a book of business with more than $900,000 in revenue and is responsible for servicing a large number of house accounts. She also redefined Eastern Benefits’ wellness program by researching the marketplace and establishing relationships with vendors available to their clients.

Eastern Benefits Group offers an array of executive and employee benefits programs. Eastern Insurance, headquartered in Natick, Mass., is a subsidiary of Eastern Bank.

Optisure Risk Partners, a Manchester, N.H.-based insurance broker, has promoted Christopher Arnold to vice president of its Sutton James Aviation division.

In this role, Arnold will continue to work with Sutton James President Jon Doolittle in overseeing carrier relations, business development, finance and strategy for Sutton James.

Arnold is a licensed broker who began his career after graduating from Daniel Webster College in 2006. He is a commercial pilot with a main focus on fixed wing aircraft and commercial operators. He currently handles accounts ranging from personal, corporate and commercial aircraft to various other commercial operators and airports.

Sutton James is a resource for aviation-related coverages throughout North and South America. The broker staff are licensed pilots with aviation experience and carrier relationships.

Optisure’s regional partners operate locally but with global capabilities, addressing the spectrum of risk management, employee benefit and property and casualty insurance needs.

MMG Insurance, a Presque Isle, Maine-headquartered regional property and casualty insurance company, has hired Eric Tawfall as its new vice president of personal lines.

Tawfall will be relocating from Illinois to Northern Maine to oversee responsibilities from MMG’s corporate headquarters in Presque Isle. He joined MMG on November 6.

He brings more than 19 years of experience in a variety of underwriting and management roles to MMG Insurance. Throughout his career, Tawfall has worked with independent and captive agency distribution networks in developing various strategies and working to deliver them to the marketplace.

He started his career at Liberty Mutual in personal lines underwriting. During his 10 years there, he held positions within underwriting, research, affinity marketing and pricing.

During the past nine years, Tawfall has led product management on a regional and national basis for Horace Mann. Responsibilities there included product development, compliance, underwriting and pricing.

For MMG, personal lines continues to be a critical area of focus and a competitive advantage, stated MMG President and CEO Larry Shaw in a company press release. The company not only has operations in Maine, but also in New Hampshire, Vermont, Pennsylvania and Virginia.