PEOPLE ON THE MOVE Previously, Waterstraat served in ex-ecutive leadership positions at prominent healthcare and fi ntech solution companies— responsible for corporate strategy, growth, product management and corporate devel-opment. He was a co-founder and senior leader of Benaissance, a leading SaaS-based platform for premium billing and COBRA administration. He also served as senior vice president of strategy and product at RevSpring and as an advisor and consultant to health and fi ntech private equity fi rms. In connection with the start-up of Great American Insurance Group’s Accident & Health Division, James R. Slate has joined the company as divisional president. Slate, who has been in the insurance industry for over 25 years, has extensive experience leading accident and health lines, including underwriting, product development and distribution strategy. Prior to joining Great American, he served as head of accident and health for Arch Insurance Group and held leadership roles within AIG, Allianz and Markel. Great American’s Accident & Health Division will be based in Charlot-tesville, Virginia. COMPANY NEWS Further , a company that provides health spending and savings account administration, will open an additional call center in Orlando, Florida, at Cardinal Point at Lake Ellenor (5900 Lake Ellenor Drive, Orlando FL, 32809). Th e new Orlando offi ce will supplement the primary Further call center located in Ea-gan, Minnesota, accommodate business growth and increase customer service off erings. Th e new facility will initially accommodate 50 new customer service associates and four leadership team members, with an eventual capacity of 100 customer service associates. Recruit-ment in the Orlando area has begun, with training beginning in October. Th e Orlando call center will open in December. Cavignac & Associates Principals Matthew Noonan, Patrick Casinelli, Jeff Cavignac, James Schabarum, Scott Bedingfi eld and Matthew Slakoff For the 13th year in a row, San Diego-based risk management and insurance brokerage fi rm Cavignac & Associates has been selected by the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America as part of its elite “Best Practices” study group, com-prised of independent insurance agencies across the United States. A total of 1,349 insurance agencies were nominated to compete for the coveted designation. Aft er agency submissions were scored and ranked objectively on 33 performance factors, only 267 agencies scored high enough to qualify as a Best Prac-tices Agency, Cavignac & Associates being one of them. Benefi t Commerce Group , an Alera Group company based in Scottsdale, Arizona , received a Gold Seal of Good Health Keeping annual renewal award from Th e Wellness Council, and three employees received individual awards. Th e Wellness Council annually recognizes organizations and individuals statewide who have promoted worksite wellness and have achieved notable results and progress through their programs. Th e Wellness Council of Arizona is the leading health promotion organization in Arizona, coordinating well-ness programs for employees across the state. Over the past fi ve years, clients of Benefi t Commerce Group have received nearly 150 recognition awards from the Wellness Council. benefitspecialistmagazine.com | ABS 23
America's Benefit Specialist October 2019: Page 23
