People – Midwest

Gary J. Gruber has been promoted to president and chief operating officer of Great American Insurance Co., effective Jan. 1, 2017. Gruber will become the 17th president in Great American’s 145-year history, assuming this title from Donald D. Larson, who will retire effective March 10, 2017, after more than 43 years of service to the company.

Larson has held the position of president and chief operating officer for the past seven years, and was the senior reporting officer within Great American’s P&C Group for the past 18 years.

Gruber has served as executive vice president for the Great American Property and Casualty Insurance Group since 2010. He currently serves as a member of Great American’s board of directors and recently served on the board of directors of National Interstate Corp., prior to its merger with Great American Insurance Co. last year.

Gruber started his career with Great American Insurance Co. in 1977, and served in both financial and operational roles within the organization. He held various positions including vice president of accounting, controller, and senior vice president and treasurer. In 1995, Gruber moved into an operational reporting officer role.

Great American also promoted Mark Vuono to divisional president of its Environmental Division.

Vuono joined Great American in 2007 as divisional senior vice president of underwriting for the Environmental Division. Prior to joining Great American, he served as executive underwriter for Worldwide Pollution within XL Insurance Co. and has more than 35 years of experience in the environmental insurance industry.

Britton Gallagher, a Cleveland, Ohio-based employee benefits and commercial insurance broker, appointed Jeremy Bryant president.

Bryant has been with Britton Gallagher since 2012, most recently serving as one of the agency’s executive vice presidents. He has more than 20 years of experience managing multiple client portfolios providing expertise in operations, best practices, commercial brokerage design and placement, reinsurance development along with niche program coverage and development.

During his career, Bryant has served as director of risk management for a large real estate investment trust (REIT).

Bryant also has experience as an assistant risk manager for a large private, family-owned commercial property management and development operation that included international exposures, professional sports ownership, aviation exposures, equine and farming, estate planning, wrap-ups and master insurance programs.

Bryant serves on the board of directors and as the grants committee chair for the Ohio Chapter of the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF).

National property/casualty insurance provider Norman-Spencer Agency Inc., based in Dayton, Ohio, promoted Paul Sexton to the position of vice president, product management and development.

Sexton previously served as the practice leader for the agency’s watercraft unit.

In his new role, Sexton will be responsible for managing and developing the product portfolio for Norman-Spencer’s programs, which include construction, marine, real-estate and transportation, while continuing to play a key role in the operation and administration of the watercraft

Privately owned insurance brokerage firm, Hylant, promoted JPaul Dixon to senior vice president in its Ann Arbor, Mich., office.

Dixon has worked for Hylant for 25 years. He is an authority in operational insurance and risk management strategy, contributing to Hylant’s specialization in the automotive, life science, technology and advanced manufacturing industries. Dixon advises many of the largest clients in the Ann Arbor office with the aim of helping them to protect assets, lower costs and create administrative efficiencies. He has worked with the Hylant team to help clients bring new products to market, expand globally and close complex mergers and acquisitions.

Dixon has served as Packard Health board chairman, Chamber of Commerce board member, Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum Board chair and Ann Arbor Club president, to name a few of his local involvements. Additionally, he is a member of the Hylant Chairman’s Circle, a past member of the Hylant Client Executive Council and lead figure in the Hylant New Client Executive Education and Training program.

He holds Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) and Accredited Adviser in Insurance (AAI) industry designations.

Western National Insurance Group hired Eric Furtado as vice president of agency sales. He is based in the company’s Edina, Minn. office and is responsible for day-to-day sales activities, as well as management of the group’s Regional Agency Manager team.

Furtado joins Western National with more than 15 years of industry experience. Most recently, he was vice president of personal lines underwriting at QBE. Prior to joining QBE, Furtado had multiple supervisory responsibilities on the direct side at GEICO in the Washington, D.C., area.

Western National Insurance Group, headquartered in Edina, Minn., is a super-regional property-and-casualty insurance group that consists of eight active insurance companies — Western National Mutual Insurance Company, Western National Assurance Company, Pioneer Specialty Insurance Company, Western Home Insurance Company, Arizona Auto Insurance Company, Umialik Insurance Company, American Freedom Insurance Company and Nevada General Insurance Company — as well as one affiliate company, Michigan Millers Mutual Insurance Company.

St. Louis, Mo.-based O’Connor Insurance hired Jacque Brandel as personal lines account manager and Laura Dobyns as commercial lines account manager. The agency also promoted Elizabeth Schurwan to assistant commercial lines manager.

Brandel is a Certified Insurance Service Representative (CISR) who has more than 15 years of experience in personal lines customer service.

Dobyns has 25 years of account manager experience.

Schurwan joined the agency as a commercial lines account manager in 2014. She recently earned her accreditation as a Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC). Schurwan previously worked for a national insurance company and in the education field before entering the insurance industry.

Founded in 1975, O’Connor Insurance is a member of Valley Insurance Agency Alliance (VIAA).

Willis Towers Watson announced two key appointments in Midwest regional offices.

Tom Lawrence has been appointed market leader for the Missouri/Kansas market, which includes key offices in Kansas City and St. Louis. He will oversee the company’s operations in the marketplace and have responsibility for business development, talent management and client relationships.

Based in St. Louis, Lawrence joined Willis Towers Watson in 1999 and most recently served as director of account management and senior consultant.

Drew Gunn has been appointed office leader in Columbus, Ohio, where he will be responsible for business development, talent management and managing key client accounts.

Gunn joined Willis Towers Watson in 2013 and previously served as leader of the company’s Corporate Risk and Broking segment in the Cleveland office. Prior to that, he was managing partner in Cleveland.

Both Lawrence and Gunn will work closely with the company’s segment, line-of-business and industry leaders to ensure clients have access to the breadth of Willis Towers Watson’s global resources and expertise.

Maximum, an independent, Chicago-based excess and surplus lines wholesaler, has hired Julie Anne Lenzsch as property producer in its corporate office.

Lenzsch, who’s relocating from the Houston, Texas-area, has extensive experience with coastal property.

Maximum specializes in property/ casualty, transportation, DIC, builders risk and professional lines coverages.

Indianapolis-based MJ Insurance hired Kylie Miller as a talent acquisition specialist on its Learning & Development team.

Miller will partner with the hiring managers and business leaders to anticipate and meet MJ’s evolving workforce needs while delivering the best talent in the hiring process. Throughout this process, Miller will utilize effective targeted sourcing strategies to screen potential candidates, while ensuring a consistently positive and professional experience for each applicant.

Miller comes to MJ Insurance with nearly four years of experience in the human resources field. Most recently, Miller worked as a staffing specialist for That’s Good HR Inc.

MJ Insurance is a property/casualty and employee benefits agency that, since 1964, has grown from a two-person start-up to an agency with more than 140 employees in both Phoenix and Indianapolis.

MJ Insurance specializes in a diverse selection of unique service lines including construction, energy, transportation, real estate, manufacturing, sororities and mining. MJ also offers complete employee benefits programs including major medical, group disability, group life and onsite employer clinics. MJ Insurance currently has clients in 16 countries and in every U.S. state.

Topics Ohio Willis Towers Watson