People

February 5, 2018

Strategic Insurance Agency Alliance (SIAA), a Hampton, N.H.-based alliance of independent insurance agencies in the U.S., has hired Lizah Carey as a business insurance development specialist for its Business Insurance Advantage (BIA) program.

The BIA program is a training and mentoring resource that assists member agents in growing their commercial insurance lines of business. Since its inception, nearly 600 member agencies have taken part in the program.

In her new role, Carey will work with SIAA’s master agencies and member agencies to meet demand for its BIA program. By doing this, she will seek to help independent agents diversify and strengthen their client roster by adding small commercial policyholders.

Before joining SIAA, Carey worked as an operations manager and licensed property and casualty producer for an independent agency in Middletown, Conn.

Iroquois Northeast has hired Ben Ward as an agency manager serving member agencies in Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut and Rhode Island.

Iroquois Northeast is part of The Iroquois Group, serving member agencies in seven northeastern states.

Ward previously worked as a sales representative for Liberty Mutual in Boston, Mass., and earlier as an independent agent in North Carolina. His sales, service skills and agency experience will assist Iroquois as it expands its presence in New England, said Iroquois Regional Manager Kevin McKay in a company press release.

Workers’ compensation specialist The MEMIC Group has promoted Adelin Vinas to claims director of the Atlantic region, which includes MEMIC’s Florida, Virginia, Pennsylvania and New Jersey offices.

Vinas began her career in the claims industry in 2005 with Liberty Mutual in Tampa, Fla., and has several years of management experience with a professional employer organization, a large third-party administrator and a national insurance carrier overseeing claims in both guaranteed cost and high deductible programs. She joined MEMIC in 2016 as a regional claim manager.

The MEMIC Group includes MEMIC Indemnity Company, MEMIC Casualty Company, and parent company Maine Employers’ Mutual Insurance Company. As a super-regional workers’ compensation specialty insurer, The MEMIC Group holds licenses to write workers’ compensation across the country. The group has offices in Manchester, N.H.; Glastonbury, Conn.; Albany, N.Y.; Weehawken, N.J.; West Conshohocken, Penn.; Tysons Corner, Va.; and Tampa, Fla.; in addition to its headquarters in Portland, Maine.

Starkweather & Shepley Insurance Brokerage Inc. hired Russell Corner II as a construction and surety specialist.

Corner’s key responsibilities in this role include managing relationships with current and prospective clients, as well as bringing in new business. He will focus primarily on construction accounts and will also work closely with the company’s bonding and surety program.

Russell is based in Massachusetts and has more than 15 years of experience in the construction industry.