People – West

Willis North America named Linda Leigh Long regional placement officer in its West region.

Long will lead a team of insurance placement professionals across Willis’ West region, which includes operations in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, Washington and Wyoming. She will oversee roughly $2 billion of insurance premiums placed on behalf of Willis’ clients.

Long will report to Matt Keeping, chief placement officer of Willis North America, and Bill Creedon, national partner of the West region.

Long previously served as senior vice president and global placement officer for Willis’ Southern California operations. Long joined Willis in 2001. Her career in insurance has also included leadership roles at Insureon Inc., and Golden Pacific Insurance Services Inc.

Willis North America is a unit of Willis Group Holdings. Willis has more than 17,000 employees in more than 400 offices.

USG Insurance Services Inc., a national wholesaler and managing general agent, added Travis Campbell as a producer/broker based in San Diego, Calif.

Campbell most recently held the position of wholesale broker at Sloan Mason North America. Previous roles include sales and account manager at Olin Hill and Associates and sales and office manager at Trinity Insurance Services Inc.

USG has 15 offices across the country.

BB&T Tanner Insurance Services named three staff members to its office in Pleasanton, Calif.

Ken Clark was named director of risk control. Clark has more than 25 years of experience.

Joe Williams was named vice president of employee benefits. Williams has more than 10 years of sales experience in the insurance industry, primarily in employee benefits for non-profit organizations.

Eva English was named employee benefits account manager. She has more than six years of experience in employee benefits.

BB&T Tanner is part of BB&T Insurance Services, which operates in Alabama, North Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, South Carolina, Maryland, West Virginia, Tennessee, Florida, Kentucky and California.

The Professional Independent Insurance Agents of Colorado named Dot Wright its executive vice president following a national search.

Wright starts Nov. 1. She comes to PIIAC from the Arvada Chamber of Commerce. Wright follows as head of PIIAC Barbara Fidler, who represented the group executive vice president for 17 years.

PIIAC membership is comprised of leaders in the insurance industry. The organization represents 2,500 independent insurance agents in Colorado.

John A. Miklus has been named president of the American Institute of Marine Underwriters, the trade association representing the U.S. ocean marine insurance market.

Miklus succeeds James M. Craig, president of AIMU since 2003. He will retire Dec. 31.

A senior ocean marine insurance and reinsurance executive, Miklus most recently was senior vice president at Guy Carpenter & Co., where he managed reinsurance client relationships for several U.S. marine insurers, as well as global marine insurance companies based in Japan, South Korea and China.

Miklus began his insurance career as an inland/ocean marine underwriter trainee at The Hartford Insurance Group in 1982 and held several positions at Hart Re Co. before becoming senior vice president and marine treaty underwriter.