H.W. Kaufman, Burns & Wilcox make key leadership promotions

H.W. Kaufman and its broker subsidiary, Burns & Wilcox, have made several key promotions across seven of their US locations.

The nine promotions were first announced during this year’s iteration of the annual Kaufman Leadership Meeting last month.

One of the most notable was for Bryant Steele, who was promoted to vice president, managing director of Burns & Wilcox. Steele most recently served as associate vice president, managing director.

It was noted that under Steele’s leadership, the Chicago, Milwaukee and Minneapolis offices of Burns & Wilcox continued to excel year-over-year. A company release also said that the locations had experienced “significant” growth since Steele joined the company more than six years ago, particularly when it came to the professional liability, property, casualty, small business, and personal lines of insurance. Those lines have seen over 30% total growth and more than 40% new business growth.

In his new role, Steele will be based in Chicago, IL.

Apart from Steele, the other eight associates promoted during the Kaufman Leadership Meeting were:

• Oneil Franso was promoted to corporate vice president, human resources, H.W. Kaufman Group, from associate vice president, organizational development (based in Farmington Hills, MI)
• Chris Siegel was promoted to associate vice president, managing director, Burns & Wilcox, from managing director (based in Orlando, FL)
• Tom O’Donnell was promoted to managing director, Burns & Wilcox, from associate managing director (based in Minneapolis, MN)
• Rahmad Bauldrick was promoted to associate vice president, regional practice group leader, professional liability, Burns & Wilcox, from director, regional practice group leader professional liability (based in Chicago, IL)
• Laura McCormick was promoted to associate vice president, regional practice group leader, professional liability, Burns & Wilcox, from regional practice group leader professional liability (based in Dallas, TX)
• Gretchen Blomeke was promoted to senior director, regional operations, Burns & Wilcox, from director, regional operations (based in San Francisco, CA)
• Michael Pernicano was promoted to director, internal audits, H.W. Kaufman Group, from audit manager (based in Farmington Hills, MI)
• Wendy Mejia was promoted to associate managing director, Burns & Wilcox, from sales manager (based in Sacramento, CA)

In a release, H.W. Kaufman said that it had hired 220 associates to date this year. Over just the past three months, 50 new associates were onboarded.