Jim Kapnick of Kapnick Insurance Group is currently featured in the online publication Property and Casualty 360. The article discusses the opportunities available to producers in today's global market, and appears in the February 20th issue of National Underwriter magazine.

Click Here for the full article.

MJ Insurance announced on January 31 that it has created a product for the golf industry that includes both insurance coverage and risk management. The company says its ‘Golf Program’ offers a variety of policies to cover everything from pollution/environmental issues to tree damage to day care.

“The main products are the general liability and workers’ compensation coverer,” said Byron Shultz, a producer at MJ Insurance and a PGA member. “And in today’s financial market, directors and officers coverage is another huge area of concern for country clubs.”

MJ’s program will target many industry-related businesses, including golf course management companies, course architects, country clubs, food and beverage suppliers, manufacturers and special event companies.

The product made its debut at this year’s PGA Merchandise Show. It will be introduced in Arizona, where the company has an office in Phoenix. The product is designed to be written wherever MJ Insurance does business, however.

MJ Insurance hired Shultz last year to help start the golf program. Before he joined the company, he was a professional golfer working in Massachusetts, New York and Arizona.

“The golf industry has a significant need for strategic risk management,” said Michael H. Bill, CEO of MJ Insurance. “We’re pleased to roll out MJ’s Golf Program and confident in the abilities of our team members to serve existing and future clients well. Byron Shultz’s knowledge of the golf industry will help clients with some of the risk-management issues involved. He can also help pair up golf courses and companies with the carriers that will best meet their individual needs.”

Robert J. Klonk has been named chair of the Council of Employee Benefits Executives, the Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers announced Wednesday.

Mr. Klonk, who had been serving as CEBE vice chair, succeeds Vinnie Daboul, who resigned as CEBE chair in December after changing companies. Mr. Klonk is president and chief sales officer of Cleveland-based Oswald Cos.

“Bob is a candid and effective advocate of the broker role within the employer-provided health care system,” said Ken A. Crerar, president and CEO of the Washington-based council, in a statement. “His leadership will be an asset to driving the initiatives of CEBE, which are aimed at evolving and sustaining the role of benefits brokers and the expertise they provide to American businesses to make smart decisions for their workforces in this complex health care reform environment.”

The CEBE is a standing committee of the council, representing the benefits business interests of council member firms.

Mr. Klonk will serve as CEBE chair through the 2013 Employee Benefits Leadership Forum. Tim Byrne, vp and partner at Madison, Wis.-based M3 Insurance Solutions Inc., has been appointed CEBE vice chair.

Read the original article from Business Insurance HERE.

Congratulations to Karla Combs, chief operating officer at Assurex Global Partner Lipscomb & Pitts Insurance LLC, who has been named Freed-Hardeman University’s Alumna of the Year. The annual alumnus/alumna award is presented annually to a person who has exhibited excellence in all phases of his or her life: profession, community, family and church. Combs is a 1992 graduate of Freed-Hardeman.

Starkweather & Shepley Insurance Brokerage Inc., Rhode Island’s largest independent insurance agency has recently acquired Byrne Bonding & Insurance (BBI) of Rumford, RI. BBI is a surety bond only insurance agency operating primarily in Rhode Island and Eastern Massachusetts and is considered as one of the largest producers of contract surety business in the Rhode Island market.

The merger between the Starkweather & Shepley and BBI is seen as a perfect fit for both companies. “The acquisition of BBI is a great fit and addition to our business model,” states Nat Calamis, President & CEO of Starkweather. “Entering a niche market such as Surety Bonding allows us to expand our product line … it is part of our strategic plan to grow the company as a whole and merging our resources with that of BBI’s is going to allow us to do just that. This acquisition will allow us to provide our traditional insurance products and services in a new market.”

From BBI’s perspective, merging with one of Rhode Island’s oldest and largest insurance agency comes at a perfect time and puts them in a better position to expand their services as well. “This merger provides our bonding department the additional support, staff and resources we need to continue the expansion of our Surety Bonding services throughout New England,” states David Byrne III, Principal and President of Byrne Bonding & Insurance. “These resources, along with industry expertise and experience are more important than ever now to the local construction community.”

According to Byrne, the current economic climate has resulted in fewer construction projects and more contractors looking for work, which translates into many construction firms being forced to seek smaller or larger projects than they are accustomed to bidding on in order to keep up cash flow. “Now more than ever (because of the economic slowdown) it is important to make sure that construction contractors have the right bond and insurance agent to ensure that their business plans will be supported,” states Byrne. “These companies need an experienced, knowledgeable surety and insurance agent to guide them through these difficult times. They will need a partner who understands specialty bonding services and can provide advantageous insurance pricing… and Starkweather & Shepley Insurance Brokerage, Inc. delivers this support."

Byrne Bonding & Insurance, LLC was founded in 1997 by David Byrne III and today the company continues to focus on surety bonding to the construction industry and services all size of construction companies and their projects in New England. As a result of the acquisition, BBI will be relocating their offices in Rumford to Starkweather’s headquarters in East Providence, RI and operate as a division of Starkweather & Shepley.

Integral to the acquisition is the appointment of David Byrne to Vice President and Bond Manager for the department, where he will continue to service the firm’s existing bond accounts and produce new client markets. The BBI team of Charles Byrne and Denise Chianese will also be joining Starkweather & Shepley in East Providence and continue to assist David in the surety bonding division. For over 8 years, Starkweather and BBI have had a working relationship through mutual clients and this new merger will allow this relationship to further expand.

Starkweather & Shepley, with headquarters in E. Providence, RI is ranked in the Top 100 largest insurance brokerage agencies in the U.S. The firm provides commercial insurance, personal insurance, health and employee benefits, surety bonding and risk management service. These services are provided nationally and internationally, through its partnership with Assurex Global. Additional branch offices are located in West Warwick, Westerly, Westwood, Mass., and Martha’s Vineyard. For additional information, visit www.StarkweatherShepley.com or call (401) 435-3600.