People & Places

In Asheville, N.C., Don Evans, president, and Bob Bird, CEO, honored outstanding Independent Insurance Agents of North Carolina members with Lifetime Achievement, Company Professional of the Year, Agent of the Year, and Ernest F. Young Education awards as well as Presidential Citations during the annual IIANC Convention.

Merrit Jones

Lifetime Achievement Award winner Merritt Jones worked at Moore and Johnson Agency in Raleigh from 1965 through 1995.

Dewey Meshaw

Dewey Meshaw was honored as Company Professional of the Year, as the insurance company professional who made the most outstanding contribution to the group in 2003. Meshaw is manager of the NCIUA & NCJUA (Beach & FAIR) Plans in Raleigh.

Bill Bingham was honored as IIANC’s Agent of the Year for demonstrating commitment and performance for his agency, association, industry, community and family. Bingham, IIANC president-elect, has served on numerous IIANC committees and has been instrumental in the direction of the association. Bingham is an owner in four insurance agencies, including Moore and Johnson Agency in Raleigh and The Lake Agency in Cornelius.

Sandy Kenley

Sandy Kenley received the Ernest F. Young Education Award. This annual award recognizes its recipient for demonstrating a willingness and ability to improve the insurance education of the average IIANC agent in North Carolina. Kenley, an insurance industry veteran, is with Encompass Insurance in Raleigh.

Bill Connolly

Gary Lance, Dean Wooten and Bill Connolly received Presidential Citations to recognize of their outstanding accomplishments and service. Lance increased participation in western North Carolina; Wooten nearly doubled contributions to both the national and state PAC’s and Connolly was influential in young agent issues and served on the IIANC board of directors.

Terry Adams

The new national officers of the National Association of Professional Insurance Agents were installed during the group’s board of directors meeting in Orlando, Fla. Terry Adams of Ashland, Ore., will become president of PIA National; Ray Peretti of Renton, Wash., will become president-elect; Donna Pile of Lexington, Ky., will be vice president; and Robert Page of Houma, La., will become secretary-treasurer. Outgoing PIA National President Carl Stoecklin of Cincinnati, Ohio, will serve as immediate past president.

William G. Stiglitz, an independent insurance agent from Louisville, Ky., was inaugurated as the 100th president-elect of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (IIABA) during the organization’s annual convention in Orlando. Stiglitz is an account executive with Hyland, Block & Hyland Inc., in Louisville. He entered the insurance business in 1970 when he joined his uncle at the Miller & Scholtz Agency. In 1992, Miller & Scholtz merged with Hyland, Block & Hyland.

Stiglitz has been active in many IIABA organizations during his 34-year career as an independent insurance agent. A past president and state national director for the Independent Insurance Agents of Kentucky (IIAK), Stiglitz also is a past president of the Louisville Board of Independent Insurance Agents.

Sharon A. Koches joined the American Institute for CPCU and the Insurance Institute of America as marketing director, responsible for marketing activities in her 12-state, southern region. Koches works with organizations in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. Formerly, Koches was an account manager of the alternative markets and large accounts department for Selective Insurance Co. Koches’ background on the agency side includes having served as director of membership and member services and as assistant director of E&O for the Independent Insurance Agents of New Jersey. She was elected to the IIABA Executive Committee in October 2000.
Insurer Ohio Casualty Corp. announced that Jeffery L. Haniewich, executive vice president and chief operating officer of the commercial lines division of the Ohio Casualty Insurance Co., has left to pursue other career opportunities.

The company has commenced a search for a successor, but did not say in a statement what opportunities Haniewich had chosen to pursue. Haniewich, 57, joined Fairfield, Ohio-based company in 1998 as regional vice president of the Raleigh, N.C., regional office. He had been in his most recent position since 2001. The Ohio Casualty Group is ranked 48th among U.S. property/casualty insurance groups based on net premiums written.

Wayne F. White, president and chairman of Home Mutual Fire Insurance Co. has been elected chairman of the board of the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC). The election took place during the association’s business meeting, held at the 109th annual convention. In addition, Robert A. Wadsworth president and chief executive officer of Preferred Mutual Insurance Co., was named vice chairman. Gerald P. Schmidt, president of Mutual of Enumclaw Insurance Co., was elected vice chairman, and John T. Hill II, president and chief operating officer of Magna Carta Cos., continues as secretary/treasurer.

ACE USA, the U.S.-based retail operating division of The ACE Group of Companies, announced the appointment of Frank Mike-Mayer, senior vice president, to lead the ACE USA Construction Group. Based in New York City, Mike-Mayer will be responsible for The ACE USA Construction underwriting practice, which is staffed by a team of construction professionals to address the unique insurance needs of builders and contractors. With more than 25 years risk management and underwriting experience with emphasis on the construction segment, Mike-Mayer joins ACE USA from Zurich NA, where he served as senior vice president, field operations, construction.

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