Florida People, Places, & Products–May 2011 Round-Up

Clearwater Agency Earns Honors From Humana

Humana has presented Connelly, Carlisle, Fields & Nichols of Clearwater with its 2010 Leaders Club Award, an honor recognizing top producers throughout the country. 

"Connelly, Carlisle, Fields and Nichols has qualified seven of the past eight years, which I don't think any other agency has done," said Michael Tomacruz, Humana market practice leader. "The Leaders Club agencies are our top producers, and with that we want to create stronger relationships. We want to reward the brokers who have been loyal to us and treat them well."

As a winner of the Leaders Club Award, the Clearwater agency receives access to a Humana dedicated concierge center that provides special services and allows issues and questions to be addressed more quickly than when calling the regular service line.

Patrick McCraw Heads Up NY Life South Central Region

Patrick McCraw has been named senior vice president in charge of the New York Life Insurance Co. south central agencies, one of the company's four U.S. sales regions. He succeeds John Curry, who has become managing partner for the Greater New York General Office and reports to Executive Vice President Mark Pfaff.

In his new role McCraw oversees the recruiting, training and development of the managing partners who lead the 33 general offices in the south central zone, which encompasses 13 states from Florida to Michigan. He is also responsible for the sales production and overall supervision of the offices within the zone, which includes more than 2,700 agents, and is based in Alpharetta, Ga. McCraw joined New York Life in 1993.

Bob Smolinski Named CFO at AlphaStaff

Robert "Bob" Smolinski has been named chief financial officer of AlphaStaff Group, Inc. Previously, Smolinski was chief financial officer of Agency Solutions International, also known as Advantec, a provider of HR outsourcing nationwide. He is the former chairman and a current member of the National Association of Professional Employer Organizations accounting practices committee. AlphaStaff is based in Ft. Lauderdale and provides HR services to more than 1,600 client companies nationwide.

Scott Pruitt Promoted at Risk Transfer

Risk Transfer, a professional retail buyer and leading program manager of workers' compensation and casualty insurance for PEOs and temporary staffing entities, has promoted Scott Pruitt to vice president of risk portfolio management. Pruitt has been with the Orlando-based company for over eight years in numerous roles, most recently as national accounts executive.

Jamie Purmort Earns MWCA

Jamie Purmort of Purmort & Martin Insurance Agency in Sarasota has earned the designation of Master Workers' Compensation Advisor through the Institute for Workers' Compensation Professionals.

Help for Small and Mid-Sized Businesses

The Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) is introducing a new program this summer to help small and mid-sized businesses reduce their risk of damage from natural disasters. FORTIFIED for Safer Business is a code-plus construction program that greatly increases a new commercial building's durability and resilience to natural hazards common in the area where it's being built. It also addresses protection against interior fire and water damage, theft, and vandalism. The program's engineering standards bring together a number of best practices in a format that can be utilized from the design stage to the construction phase of a commercial project. IBHS is currently working with design professionals on a pilot project for a major national insurance company's new sales and customer service center.

CareCentrix and the Blues Partner

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, Inc. (BCBSF), and CareCentrix, Inc., a provider of home health benefits management services, have announced that CareCentrix will become the exclusive provider of home health services for BCBSF's nearly 4 million members.

Main Street America Group Adds to Board

The Main Street America's Group's board of directors has elected Chris Doerr as a director of the Jacksonville, Fla.-based super regional property/casualty insurance carrier's board.

Doerr is executive vice president, chief administrative officer, chief financial officer and a member of the office of the chief operating officer of Jacksonville-based Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida. Doerr is chairman of the boards for Florida Combined Life Insurance Company, Inc. and Diversified Health Services, Inc. He also serves as a director of the boards for LSV, LLC and Florida Health Care Plan, Inc.

Main Street America has nearly $900 million in premium written exclusively by 2,000-plus independent insurance agents. It insures more than 600,000 policyholders in 27 states and writes bonds in 44 states.