People

Frank Vaccaro was named vice president of Information Services for Dallas-based Republic Companies Group Inc. He will report to Parker Rush, Republic’s president and CEO.

Vaccaro most recently was assistant vice president – business segment partner of the financial departments of CNA Insurance in Chicago, Ill. At CNA, Vaccaro led the technology strategy and decisions for the enterprise billing and collections function and had technology oversight responsibility for finance/accounting, reinsurance, investments and actuarial business units.

Before joining CNA, Vaccaro spent eight years with Kemper Insurance and held the position of vice president and chief information officer.

Linda Ginn was been appointed vice president and account executive of the property and casualty group of McQueary Henry Bowles Troy L.L.P.’s Dallas office.

Ginn has more than 27 years of expertise in the property and casualty arena, particularly in the restaurant/hospitality industry. She joins MHBT with extensive property and casualty insurance experience in the restaurant program industry, dedicating 22 years specifically to providing insurance coverage to McDonald’s franchise restaurants countrywide, including overseeing a national McDonald’s property and casualty program. Throughout the course of her career, Ginn has also insured other fast food businesses such as Pizza Inn (corporate and franchise), Burger King, Wendy’s and Grandy’s.

Prior to joining MHBT, Ginn was vice president of RMS of Texas Inc. Before that, she worked with Bell Insurance Group and with Morris, Temple & Co. Ginn maintains a General Lines Property and Casualty license; Life, Accident, Health and HMO license; and a Surplus Lines license.

Kendall Ewan, vice president of Marketing for Evans, Ewan and Brady Insurance Agency Inc., of Georgetown, Texas, was recently awarded one of 10 scholarships from Central Insurance Companies.

The national award is part of Central’s New Producer Development Program. Ewan is expected to use her scholarship to attend The Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America’s Elite Force Sales Training.

IIABA accepts 15 individuals to the quarterly training, which meets at its national headquarters in Alexandria, Va.

Ewan also was recognized recently with an appointment to Kemper Insurance Companies’ National CSR Advisory Council. Ewan was nominated on behalf of Scott Milholland, Kemper’s regional vice president.

Founded in 1928, Evans, Ewan and Brady Insurance Agency is a CAA member agency.

Terry Coke-Kerr has been appointed marketing director of Plano, Texas-based J. B. Lloyd & Associates, which provides specialty insurance to financial institutions throughout the country.

Coke-Kerr, most recently associated with Bisk Education in Riverview, Fla., has an extensive background in marketing communications specializing in the financial, mortgage and homebuilding industries.

Don Bailey has been appointed chief operating officer of Willis Group Holdings North American business unit. Bailey will work with Mario Vitale, CEO of Willis North America, in managing the organization’s day-to-day operational and sales activities while also developing and implementing the unit’s long-term strategy. Bailey will execute the company’s overall strategy in North America and build an organizational platform that will drive future performance.

Tom Coughlin, chief operating officer of Willis Risk Solutions North America since 2000, will succeed Bailey as CEO of the practice.

Bailey joined Willis in March 2003 to lead the company’s North American Executive Risks Practice. Demonstrating leadership and a commitment to the Willis model, Bailey and his colleagues made significant strides in growing the practice in terms of size, capabilities and revenue. In March 2004, Willis appointed Bailey CEO of Willis Risk Solutions North America, the company’s large account practice.

Bailey joined Willis from Allianz Insurance Co. in Chicago where he was senior vice president and chief underwriting officer of the Specialty Risk Lines. He previously served Aon and Marsh in various capacities. His insurance career started with Chubb & Son in 1987, when he joined the firm as an underwriter in the Financial Institutions Department.

Chris Neyrey has been named Southwest Region director of Sales and Agency Relations by Summit, which provides workers’ compensation insurance services. Neyrey will oversee Summit’s sales operations in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Arkansas. Neyrey will be based in Summit’s Baton Rouge office and will help manage the company’s expanding business presence in the region.

Neyrey, a native of Metairie, La., has worked in the Louisiana workers’ compensation market for more than 12 years, and he recently was a vice president for Christensen & Associates, a marketing consulting firm in Salt Lake City.

Summit, which includes Summit Consulting Inc., and Summit Holding Southeast Inc., and their affiliates, has offices in Lakeland, Fla.; Baton Rouge, La.; and Gainesville, Ga. It is part of Liberty Mutual Agency Markets, a business unit of Liberty Mutual Group.

The Texas Action Council on Theft, a non-profit coalition of insurers and law enforcement officials, announced their elected officers for 2006.

Elected were Chairman Gary Endicott, regional administrative manager for SAFECO, Dallas; Vice Chairman James Langford, vice president of Texas Farm Bureau Insurance, Waco; and Secretary-Treasurer Mike Calkins, front line auto process expert, Allstate Insurance, Houston.

TACT piloted the first of its kind statewide property identification program in 1993.

Lynnette Chastain, an account manager and producer for Plano, Texas-based LegacyTexas Insurance Services, recently earned the Certified Insurance Counselor designation from The National Alliance for Insurance Education & Research. Chastain also holds the Certified Insurance Service Representative designation from the National Alliance.

To submit information for “People,” e-mail ijtexas@insurancejournal.com.

Topics Texas Property Training Development Property Casualty Casualty