People – Midwest

Dave Gross is now president and CEO of Appleton, Wis.-based SECURA Insurance. Gross moved into the spot following the retirement of John Bykowski at the end of June.

Bykowski will continue as chairman of SECURA’s board of directors.

Gross served at Bykowski’s side during the past 17 years. He joined SECURA in 1997 as vice president of sales. In 2001, he was promoted to senior vice president of underwriting operations with responsibility for both underwriting and sales.

He was named Bykowski’s successor and promoted to president and chief operations officer in August 2013 with added responsibility for claims operations.

SECURA has more than 430 independent insurance agencies in 12 states representing it.

Iowa-based Grinnell Mutual Reinsurance Co. appointed Dave Wingert as executive vice president of support operations and Jeff Menary as executive vice president of line operations. In addition, Ian Bullion was named vice president of human resources, and training and development.

Wingert joined Grinnell Mutual in 2011 as the chief financial officer, vice president of the finance division, and treasurer. He previously served as the senior vice president and controller at Aviva USA in Des Moines.

He is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and holds the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) and Fellow, Life Management Institute (FLMI) designations.

Menary has served in leadership roles at the company for more than 20 years. He joined Grinnell Mutual in 1980 as a marketing representative and has worked as a marketing and reinsurance manager of the Iowa/Wisconsin region, director of underwriting and production, assistant vice president of commercial lines, vice president of direct underwriting/production, and vice president of reinsurance.

He has earned several insurance designations, including the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU), Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC), Associate in Risk Management (ARM), Certified Risk Manager (CRM), and Associate in Reinsurance (ARe), among others.

Bullion joined Grinnell Mutual in 2012 and most recently served as the assistant vice president of human resources.

He previously worked as the senior human resources manager for PepsiCo – Quaker Oats in their Manhattan, Kan., and Cedar Rapids locations.

Grinnell Mutual Reinsurance Co., in business since 1909, provides reinsurance for farm mutual insurance companies and property/casualty insurance products through more than 1,600 independent agents in 12 Midwestern states.

Managing general agency and surplus lines broker J.M. Wilson, based in Portage, Mich., promoted Roxanne Barry, to director of property and casualty underwriting.

In addition to her role as property/casualty manager at the Michigan office, Barry will lead the professional development of all property/casualty underwriters throughout the organization and serves as a direct liaison to property/casualty companies for the purposes of maintaining excellence in underwriting.

Barry holds a Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) and Certified Insurance Sales Representative (CISR) designation, and has been employed with J.M. Wilson for 17 years.

Mark Walls has joined St. Louis, Mo.-based Safety National Casualty Corp., as vice president of communications and strategic analysis.

With more than 24 years of industry experience, Walls returns to Safety National after spending the last year with Marsh as workers’ compensation market research leader.

Walls is also the founder of the Work Comp Analysis Group on LinkedIn that, with over 22,000 members, is the largest online discussion community dedicated exclusively to workers’ compensation issues. In addition, he is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and is quoted regularly in multiple media outlets.

Pam Popp is joining Lockton as president of its retirement services operation effective Sept. 2. She will be based in Kansas City, Mo.

Popp is a longtime retirement plan executive with experience both at CAPTRUST and as CEO of J.P. Morgan Retirement Plan Services.

Popp will be named president of Lockton Financial Advisors LLC, a registered broker-dealer, and Lockton Investment Advisors, a federally registered investment advisor.

Popp has more than 25 years of experience in the retirement plan industry, most recently as an institutional retirement advisor with CAPTRUST. She served more than 15 years at J.P. Morgan Chase as J.P. Morgan Retirement Plan Services CEO and as a managing director.