Newly announced board members for the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) will begin their terms at the start of the 2010.

 

House Bill (HB) 4409, passed by the 81st Texas Legislature in 2009, changed the composition of the nine member TWIA board. Previously, the board was composed of five insurance company representatives, two agent representatives, and two consumer representatives. The new board, whose terms begin January 1, 2010, will be composed of four insurance company representatives, four members who reside in coastal counties (at least one of whom must be an insurance agent), and one member who resides outside of the coastal region. In addition, HB 4409 added a non-voting member who must be an engineer. The new board members are:

 

Insurance Industry Representative Members

Alice Hardy Gannon – USAA

Michael Frank Gerik – Texas Farm Bureau Casualty Insurance

Peter James Kelly – Liberty Mutual Insurance

Craig Peter Nadziejka – State Farm Insurance

 

First Tier Coastal County Resident Members

Garry P. Kaufman (Galveston County) – Jahn Galveston Insurance Agency

Joseph Edward Minor, P.E. (Aransas County) – Self Employed

Georgia Rutherford Neblett, (Nueces County) – University of Texas Marine Science Institute

Robert Ward Shepard (Cameron County) – Shepard Walton King Insurance Group

 

Non-Seacoast Territory Representative Member

Richard Clifton Craig, Amarillo – Neely, Craig & Walton, LLP (Randall County)

 

Non-voting Engineer Member

William David Franklin, Sr., P.E., LaMarque – Aran & Franklin Engineering (Galveston County)

 

Five of the nine members are new to the TWIA board, and four have served in the past. “There is much work to be done, and I’m excited to be able to work on the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead,” said Commissioner Geeslin. “I appreciate the willingness of the new members to step up, and value the institutional knowledge of the previous members.”

 

More information about TWIA can be found at www.twia.org and www.tdi.state.tx.us/wind .