News

 As I have written in previous letters, this has been a good year so far for the Tuscano organization. We have been growing in all lines of business; we have greatly expanded our footprint; we have strengthened our relationships; and we have even had some fun along the way. The first six months of 2013 have been dedicated to making sure all of our operations are in sync before we take on organizational changes, and that is what we are embracing now. Step one in our restructuring was to add ‘Guy who endorses change’ to my job description. Well here goes - I believe the changes we are rolling out will lay the foundation for a stronger, more agile Tuscano Agency, and with the support of our amazing staff, we are better prepared to meet the future head-on.

Effective July 1st, we broke up our very large and ever-growing commercial underwriting department into smaller product-specific teams. While our underwriters have always functioned as product specialists, we have created new positions for Product Team Managers to replace the former role of our Commercial Lines underwriting manager. Each product team will be smaller and led by an experienced manager who I’d like to introduce to you to now.

Tim Hoelle joined the Tuscano Agency in 2009 as a Professional Liability broker. His background includes managing a wholesale shop in Florida, as well as working for some large national wholesalers. Tim will now assume the role of Commercial Casualty Underwriting Manager. His team includes the Heavy Casualty, Professional Liability, and Small Business Underwriting units.

Terri McDowell joined us last November when we acquired Special Risk Solutions from Utica National. Terri is a lot like Jinny and I – she was born into insurance! Even better, she has a great deal of experience in E&S insurance, including managing some very respectable wholesale shops. Terri’s new role at Tuscano is Commercial Property Underwriting Manager. She will be leading the Property and Package underwriting team.

Finally, Jeff Demao has stepped into a new role at Tuscano. While he previously oversaw all of the commercial underwriting staff, with our new smaller and more agile teams, he will be concentrating on serving the Commercial Auto and Garage underwriting units. Jeff’s new official role is Commercial Transportation Underwriting Manager. I’d like to personally acknowledge Jeff’s many years of leadership as our Commercial Underwriting Manager – it was a big job and for the most part, he did it and carried a tune. Thanks JD!

With these changes to our commercial underwriting department, each manager will be able to focus on the specialty products their team works on. They’ll be more in tune with the changes in the marketplace and provide greater accessibility and product knowledge for our underwriters. We believe we will build stronger teams that, with dedicated management support, will be freed to focus on serving our customers.

We here at Tuscano are excited about this new structure and organization. As the Chief Change Officer, I for one am excited about the future of Tuscano and the opportunities it will bring.

“To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.” - Winston Churchill