The Main Street AmericaGroup has created a new commercial surety national accountsunit to focus exclusively on meeting the commercial surety needs oflarge accounts.

The Jacksonville-based super regional property & casualtyinsurance company's new unit will be staffed by Merritt Willits,Paul Bergenholtz and Adam Rehn. Willits, who has been appointeddirector, commercial surety national accounts, is heading thenational accounts team. He is also responsible for new businessdevelopment in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and isbased in Philadelphia, Pa.

Bergenholtz and Rehn are surety account management executives.Bergenholtz is responsible for business development throughoutNortheastern states and is based in Hartford, Conn., and Rehn isoverseeing business development in Southeastern states and is basedin Atlanta, Ga.

The new national accounts team will work with Main StreetAmerica's network of independent insurance agents to identifycommercial surety bond opportunities with a wide range ofbusinesses that generate annual revenues up to $1 billion. Theseinclude multiple location mortgage lenders and brokers, companieswith large service and/or supply contracts in the public sector,and large court and probate accounts.

The company has been writing commercial surety bonds for largebusinesses for a number of years. The U.S. Department of theTreasury recently raised Main Street America's single surety bondcapacity to $73.3 million as a result of the company's 2010 surplusgrowth to $770 million. In addition to commercial surety, MainStreet America's bond offerings include contract/constructionsurety bonds and fidelity bonds, including a commercial crimepolicy that covers robbery, burglary and depositor's forgery. Bondsare written through Main Street America Group operating companiesNGM Insurance Co. and Old Dominion Insurance Co.