Joan Collier’s Florida People, Places, & Products-November 2011 Round-Up

The following article was published in Property Casualty360º on November 21, 2011:

Florida People, Places and Products – November 2011 Round-Up

By Joan E. Collier

Several elections and appointments have been made to the Florida Workers’ Compensation Insurance Guaranty Association.

Anthony “Tony” M. Grippa, Jr. of Ormond Beach has been appointed to a four-year term by CFO Jeff Atwater. Grippa is an executive vice president and officer for Brown & Brown, Inc.  

Atwater also appointed Insurance Consumer Advocate Robin Westcott of Tallahassee to the board.

Mark Hogle of Matthews, N.C., has been elected to a two-year term that began October 1, 2011. He is the senior vice president, regional manager (Eastern Region) with Employers’ Holding Group in Charlotte, N.C.  

John Weber of Sarasota has been elected to a 4-year term. He is the general manager, senior vice president of Zenith Insurance Co.;s Florida operations.  

Christina (Cina) Welch of Sarasota has been elected to a 4-year term. She is vice president and chief security officer with FCCI Insurance Group. 

William B. Willingham has been re-elected to a 4-year term. He is the executive vice-president and general manager of the Florida Electric Cooperatives Association. He also serves as the administrator of the Florida Rural Electric Self-Insurer’s Fund and as secretary and treasurer of the Florida Rural Electric Credit Union.

FWCIGA is a statutorily created guaranty association responsible for the administration of workers’ compensation benefit payments incurred by insolvent insurance companies and group self-insurance funds operating in Florida.

Villagas Achieves Certifications

Elizabeth Villegas, vice president of Kuykendall Gardner, an insurance brokerage firm based in Winter Park, has received Certified Risk Manager (CRM) and Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) designations.

Medvidofsky Assumes Leadership Role at CPCU

David Medvidofsky, CPCU, CIC, ARM, AIAF, AAI, has been named president-elect of the CPCU Society. He was elected to a three-year term on the organization’s board of governors/directors in 2008 and chaired its 2008 annual meeting task force. Medvidofsky is vice president and head of the audit unit of The Main Street America Group, a Jacksonville-based super regional insurer in Florida.

AlphaStaff Launches New Product for Brokers

AlphaStaff Group, Inc. of Ft. Lauderdale, one of the nation’s largest professional employer organizations and the only national PEO to work exclusively in partnership with insurance brokers, has launched Allegro People Solutions.

Allegro People Solutions will bring together partners to provide cost effective solutions that are easy to implement and allow all businesses regardless of size of industry to have choices and solutions for their business needs and services.

Allegro People Solutions will be available in four suites, compatible with varying sizes of business: Allegro Core, Allegro PRO, Allegro Deluxe and Allegro Premier. Allegro Core includes the basic payroll services, human resource services and standard reports while Allegro Premier includes Payroll/Systems analysis, multifaceted payroll service, reporting analysis, human resource services and tailored HR strategies, tailored services delivered on-site and quarterly executive governance.

Zolty Joins LIG

Richard C. Zolty has joined LIG Marine Managers in St. Petersburg as senior consultant and Longshore development director. Prior to joining LIG, he was the divisional executive for a leading workers’ compensation carrier. Zolty may be reached at RCZ@LIGMarine.com.

Department of Financial Services Earns Diversity Award

Florida CFO Jeff Atwater’s Department of Financial Services (DFS) has been recognized by the Department of Management Services’ Office of Supplier Diversity as the “State of Florida’s Agency of the Year” for supporting Florida’s minority business community during the past fiscal year.

“This award affirms my department’s commitment to Florida’s small and minority businesses—both vital components of Florida’s economy,” says Atwater. “We will continue to provide fair and open competition, while helping businesses of all sizes partner with the State of Florida to provide the best value to taxpayers. We are honored to receive this recognition from the Office of Supplier Diversity.”

DFS is the only state agency to increase its minority spending by more than $1 million, from $3,114,347 in FY 2009-10 to $4,620,129 in FY 2010-11—a 48 percent increase. 

South Florida’s Seitlin Insurance Sold to Marsh

Marsh & McLennan Agency LLC (MMA), a subsidiary of insurance broker Marsh Inc., has acquired Seitlin Insurance, one of the largest insurance brokerage firms in South Florida. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Founded in 1945, Seitlin has annual revenue of approximately $24 million and 119 employees in three Florida offices: Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach. Seitlin provides property and casualty insurance and employee benefits to middle market companies in a wide range of industries. All of Seitlin’s employees and leadership team, including CEO Tom Cornish, will join MMA.

Seitlin will serve as MMA’s Florida hub and is the latest in a number of acquisitions MMA has made since embarking on its strategy of building a national platform to serve the property and casualty insurance and employee benefit needs of the middle market.

Find this article here:  http://www.propertycasualty360.com/2011/11/21/florida-people-places-productsnovember-2011-round?page=2