LevelFirst, a wholesale insurance broker and MGA binding facility owned by IIAT Services Co., appointed Rhonda Fomby as vice president.
Fomby assumes the responsibility of underwriting new business opportunities with the MGA Binding Authority Division. In addition, she will broker opportunities within the Wholesale Brokerage Division.
Fomby has more than 25 years of experience in the wholesale excess and surplus industry, and is also an experienced commercial lines underwriter and producer. Prior to joining LevelFirst, Fomby was vice president, commercial producer/broker with USG Insurance Services.
Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Texas), chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture, is the Gerald Solomon-Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America’s Legislator of the Year for 2015.
Conaway was instrumental in ensuring that the Federal Crop Insurance Program (FCIP) was not harmed during the 2014 Farm Bill negotiations, and led the charge to reverse $3 billion in program cuts included in the 2015 Bipartisan Budget Agreement. The combination of these cuts, coupled with the $12 billion in cuts to the program over the past eight years, would have devastated the crop program and its agent distribution force.
Serving his sixth term in the House, Conaway represents Texas’ 11th congressional district.
Rick Morgan, a technology and marketing expert in the independent agency channel, joined Work At Home Vintage Experts (WAHVE) as senior vice president of marketing.
WAHVE, formed in 2010, is a network of insurance professionals phasing into retirement who work remotely on a contract basis for insurance firms.
Morgan, who served on WAHVE’s advisory board from its inception until 2014, also helped guide WAHVE in his most recent role as senior vice president of Aartrijk, a marketing firm specializing in the insurance industry.
At Aartrijk since 2008, and with his own consulting firm, Morgan has served as advisor for the independent agency system focusing on technology, social media and marketing.
Workers’ compensation insurance carrier, Texas Mutual Insurance Co., hired Lisa Evans as vice president of marketing and consumer engagement. She oversees the marketing and customer engagement teams, and the Texas Mutual Premier large account program.
Evans has more than 20 years of experience in the insurance industry and most recently served as the commercial lines practice leader for Frost Insurance Agency. She entered the insurance business in 1996 in Atlanta, Ga., as a workers’ compensation adjuster.
Insurance Commissioner David Mattax appointed three members to serve on the board of directors of the Surplus Lines Stamping Office of Texas.
Andrew Fieker of Melissa is vice president for CoverX Corp. Fieker is a member of the National Association of Professional Surplus Lines Offices.
Robby Neill of Wylie is managing director of risk management for the City of Garland. He is a member of the Texas and National Public Risk Management Associations.
Gregory Rubel of McKinney is senior vice president for ACE Group. Rubel has worked in the reinsurance industry since 1988 and is a member of the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter Society.
Chicago-based CNA appointed Mike Wikoff as assistant vice president, management liability zone leader for the Central Zone, which includes the Arkansas, Austin, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Minneapolis and Oklahoma branches.
Wikoff joins CNA from Chubb, where he held territory management roles over the past 12 years in both financial institutions and management liability.
The Independent Insurance Agents of San Antonio (IIASA) honored Gary Whitaker with the Ben R. Binford Award for outstanding service.
Whitaker is vice president of Whitaker Insurance Associates. During his 30 years of IIASA membership, he has demonstrated a clear dedication to the insurance community and the organization. For the past 15 years, Whitaker organized and led the IIASA Big I Golf tournament. He also led the effort to restore and donate a vintage firetruck to the San Antonio Fire Department, and chairs the local IMPAC committee.
The Ben R. Binford Award is the highest honor given by the IIASA. It is presented to owners, partners, manager-employees, and associates of insurance agencies who have made a remarkable contribution to the American Agency System, the IIASA itself, or the insurance profession as a whole.
Topics Texas
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