People Moves: MEMIC, JLT Specialty USA, Erie

Workers’ compensation specialist The MEMIC Group has announced the appointment of Adam Levesque as Safety Management Consultant to provide safety training services and advice to MEMIC’s growing customer base in New Hampshire.

With more than 10 years of environmental health and safety experience, Levesque was the EHS manager at Velcro Companies in New Hampshire and the EHS coordinator at Parlex Corporation in Massachusetts prior to joining MEMIC. Levesque is a Certified Safety Professional (CSP) and member and past President of the American Society of Safety Engineers, Granite State Chapter.

JLT Specialty USA, a U.S. subsidiary of Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group plc., a global specialty-focused providers of insurance, reinsurance and employee benefits related advice, brokerage and associated services, announced the appointments of three new team members who will be based in Latham, New York. Their focus will include financial institutions, private equity, construction, technology, real estate and cyber.

The individuals appointed to this team include the following:

• Justin Riccio, senior vice president
• Kevin Rucinski, vice president
• Matt Franzese, vice president

The appointments are part of JLT’s continued investment to build market leading teams to provide clients with an unmatched specialized capability and expertise within their specialty areas.

Riccio will be responsible for assisting with the growth of the Upstate New York Region which consists of production and servicing staff. He will help lead a regional initiative of organic growth, regional expansion and market relationships.

Riccio started his career working for AIG and ACE in an underwriting capacity dealing with national/global financial institutions. He worked at Arthur J. Gallagher & Company from 2008-2015 as executive vice president. During his tenure, he worked extensively with companies in the non-profit, manufacturing, public entity, and financial institution niche. He also assisted with managing sales for Northeast Region where he helped to implement sales goals and growth strategies. Riccio most recently worked as the leader of Adirondack Trust Company Financial Services Inc.’s sales department where he recruited and managed production staff and developed a niche production strategy.

Rucinski will oversee client servicing and Commercial Lines procedures. He started his career in insurance in 2007 working in Personal & Commercial Lines Claims and held the position of senior claims adjuster for MetLife Auto & Home, and GMAC Insurance. He became skilled in analyzing coverage and policy forms and applying them to a number of complex claim scenarios. In 2011, Rucinski made the transition to the Retail Brokerage world and worked for Lockton Companies, in Washington, D.C. During this time, he worked in the Construction, Real Estate & Hospitality Unit in the capacity of account management serving as a leader in the servicing and marketing process. He later went on to hold an account executive position with Adirondack Trust Financial Services, Inc. located in Albany, New York, where he was responsible for the management and servicing of a large book of contractors, real estate and manufacturers. He served as a leader in his position and assisted in the implementation of Commercial Lines procedures agency wide. He is certified through the International Risk Management Institute as a Construction Risk Insurance Specialist (CRIS).

Franzese will be responsible for working with local and regional businesses to help put together risk management insurance programs. His focus is, but not limited to, manufacturing, technology and cyber related risks. He started his career at Arthur J. Gallagher & Company, a global brokerage firm.Franzese’s responsibilities were producing property and casualty accounts, specifically focusing on the Construction, Real Estate and Manufacturing niche groups. During his time at AJG, he established an Affinity Program for a large NYS association with over 9,000 members.

JLT encourages potential applicants interested in rapidly developing their careers and becoming part of its U.S. Specialty team to contact Sue Corney at 518-782-3143, sue.corney@jltholdings.com.

Pennsylvania-based Erie Insurance announced the following executive leadership promotions.

Lorianne Feltz, will serve as executive vice president of Services. In this role Feltz is responsible for leading Erie Insurance’s Corporate Claims, Field Claims and Customer Service divisions.

Feltz has developed deep connections with employees, agents and customers in expansive roles during her 27 years with Erie. Past positions include field assignments as district sales manager, branch manager and regional vice president; senior vice president of Agency & Marketing and, most recently, senior vice president of Customer Service. She earned the designations of a Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter and Chartered Property Insurance Woman.

Doug Smith, will serve as executive vice president of Product and Sales. In this role, Smith will oversee Erie’s three product lines – personal, commercial and life insurance – a position he has held in an interim capacity since July 2016. Erie’s sales organization, which manages relationships with more than 2,200 independent insurance agencies across the insurer’s footprint, will also report to Smith.

Smith has spent the last eight years as senior vice president of Personal Lines. Prior to that position, he served as a leader in the Actuarial Division.

Smith serves on the boards of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety, where he chairs the Research Advisory Committee. He is a fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society, a member of the American Academy of Actuaries and a Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter.

Erie’s Executive Council will also include Sherri Silver, senior vice president, Strategic Marketing.

Silver joined Erie in 2010 as Marketing’s senior vice president.

The new appointments are effective Nov. 10.