People and Places

Lansing, Mich.-based Accident Fund Insurance Company of America recently named Al Gileczek as its vice president of Business Development Regional Operations. In his new role, Gileczek oversees Accident Fund’s national underwriting practices, sales strategies, research, and regional growth and development.

Gileczek joins Accident Fund from Citizens Insurance where he held several leadership positions, most recently as regional vice president for Personal Lines. Gileczek’s background also includes leadership positions at Hanover Insurance Group, New Hampshire Insurance Group and Hartford Insurance.

Jimi Grande has joined the Indianapolis-based National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies’ (NAMIC) federal affairs office as vice president of federal and political affairs. In this newly created position, Grande assumes a lead role in NAMIC’s federal advocacy efforts in Washington, D.C., as well as helping to steer NAMIC’s political grassroots and communication efforts. Grande comes to NAMIC after serving as a political appointee in the Bush administration in the U.S. Department of Labor, where he was a top liaison on Capitol Hill. He also spent four years in the Washington, D.C., office of the Des Plaines, Ill.-based Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI), another property/casualty industry trade association.

Patricia Smith has joined InsurBanc, a financial services provider for independent insurance agencies, as vice president of sales and business development. Smith will focus on the needs of independent agencies and develop relationships with them.

Smith joins InsurBanc with 17-plus years of banking experience. Prior to joining InsurBanc, Smith was with GMAC as a business development officer and served as sales director for Liberty Banking in Connecticut.

State Auto Middle Market Insurance (SAMMI) was created in early 2004 in response to agent requests to expand the size and scope of its commercial lines business to include larger commercial risks, usually with at least $100,000 in annual premium. Since that time, SAMMI, headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, has grown exponentially, necessitating the creation of offices in Naperville (Chicago), Ill., Peoria (Phoenix), Ariz., and Hunt Valley (Baltimore), Md. Gerald F. Ladner has been named vice president of SAMMI’s new southwestern zone office in Austin, Texas.

The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (the Big “I”) honored an agent leader for her legislative leadership 2006 at the Big “I” National Legislative Conference and Convention. Sharon Emek of CBS Coverage Group in New York, N.Y., was presented the Sidney O. Smith Award for her work in promoting the legislative goals of the Big “I”, including her efforts to extend the federal Terrorism Risk Insurance Act.

Emek is the first woman to earn the Sidney O. Smith Award. She has testified in the debate over a terrorism insurance backstop, not only in her home state of New York, but also before Congress. She also has done media interviews to educate the public and lawmakers on the importance of terrorism coverage. Emek has been a strong supporter of Insurpac and Big “I” grassroots efforts.

Managing general agent and program manager First Capital-AWIS, LLC has named two new underwriters.

Gerald McCabe is now senior underwriter for the firm’s commercial contractors facility in Naperville, Ill., where he will work to expand the firm’s producer base in the Midwest. He was previously with Kemper and Great American Insurance.

Walter Smart has been named senior underwriter and will assist in underwriting First Capital’s commercial contractors’ program in the Northeast. He was previously with Empire Group. First Capital has offices in Roslyn Heights, N.Y.; Naperville, Ill.; San Francisco and San Diego, Calif.

ACE USA has named Michael Harnett to the position of senior vice president, Mid-Atlantic region for ACE Risk Management (ARM). Based in Philadelphia, Harnett will oversee ARM branch operations in the Mid-Atlantic states, working with brokers in managing new business development and underwriting activities, and serving middle and large account customers.

Harnett adds this new responsibility to his current role as senior vice president, National Excess Workers Compensation Unit, ARM, where he has overall responsibility for overseeing new business development and underwriting activities for products that provide risk management solutions to employers who qualify for self insurance. In this role, he will continue to report to William Curcio, president, ACE Risk Management.

Preferred Professional Insurance Co. (PPIC), an Omaha-based medical liability insurance firm, announced two additions to its staff: Larry E. Pike joins PPIC as senior account executive, and Emalee K. Seaman is the new corporate compliance paralegal.

Pike has a background in life insurance, annuities, long-term care, Medicare supplements and products, and group and worksite products management.

Seaman has earned a bachelor’s degree in paralegal studies from College of St. Mary and a competency certificate in criminal justice from Whiteside Area Career Center in Sterling, Ill.

Minn.-based Western National Insurance Group (WNIG) recently announced its plan to launch a new property/casualty insurance company with a focus on specialty lines of business. The group currently has a wholly-owned company shell, Pioneer Insurance Company, which will be renamed “Pioneer Specialty Insurance Company” and, after appropriate capitalization, will commence writing selected classes of commercial business in the first quarter of 2008. WNIG also announced that this new company will be led by Brian A. Jermeland, who will join the company as senior vice president and general manager.

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