America's Benefit Specialist April 2023

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE Rusty Rice, 2018-2019 NAHU president, has been promoted to director of commercial sales at Avesis LLC, a national vision and dental company. In his new role, Rusty will lead the commercial sales team and bring product expansion to the company as it undergoes a facelift under its new owner, the Cressey & Company. With Avesis for over 19 years, Rusty has served the compa ny in many roles including regional sales manager after his return in late 2019 following his NAHU presidency. “The best part about my job,” said Rusty, “is the dedication each mem ber of the Avesis family has serving our members through product innovation and integrity.”

mental benefits by focusing on increased access to care or, as he likes to say, advocation backed by education garnished with a twist of wellness.

Tom Daniels has joined gente as vice president of sales. Tom will cultivate new rela tionships in the tax-favored benefits market as well as the administrative outsourcing market that includes HR services, compli ance, payroll and COBRA administration. Tom has held sales-management positions at multiple insurance companies and has

worked in the wholesale and retail markets. Tom has worked for major health carriers including Prudential, US Life and Chubb. He also was an integral part of two other successful start-up health plans in New Jersey, which resulted in over $400 million in revenue. Most recently, Tom served as the SVP of sales and business development at Members Health Plan New Jersey. During his 35-year career, Tom has served as CIGNA’s representative on New Jersey Small Employer Health Ben efits Program Board, participated in Governor McGreevey’s Health Care Task Force, served as the New Jersey AHU’s president and received the NJAHU Lou Mattei Lifetime Achievement Award. Alliant Insurance Services has made a number of personnel moves: Kelly Lima has joined Alliant Insurance Services as vice pres ident within its Employee Benefits Group. Based in Boston, Lima will focus on designing, implementing and managing employee benefits solutions for a diverse and growing client base throughout the Northeast. Prior to joining Alliant, Lima was executive vice president in the New England offices of a global employee benefits and consulting firm. She studied at Framingham State University. George Close has joined Alliant Insurance Services as vice president within its Employee Benefits Group. Based in Ar lington, Virginia, Close joins Alliant with a broad background spanning employee benefits, payroll and HR solutions. Prior to joining Alliant, Close was vice president of a national insurance brokerage and consulting firm. He earned his bachelor’s degree in political science and government from Roanoke College. Stephanie Miller has joined Alliant as vice president with in its Employee Benefits Group. Based in Portland, Maine, Miller will focus on designing, implementing and managing tailored employee benefits solutions for a diverse portfolio of

Former NAHU Board of Trustees member Ashley Kapostins has founded Kapsher Consulting LLC, an association-management company created to take professional trade associa tions to the next level. Ashley

has partnered with Dave Sherrill , who has served as execu tive director of NABIP Florida since 2006. Ashley and Dave have worked together on multiple boards and committees within NABIP, NAHU and NAIFA for 15 years. Kapsher Consult ing was born from their joint passion for assisting the volunteer leaders of association chapters with building structure, preserving history and growing their membership. Ashley and Dave can be contacted at execs@kapsherconsult ing.com.

Derek Galloway , vice president of the NABIP New Mexico Board, has been named AVP/ producer at HUB International. His focus will be on educating HUB’s partners primarily on the correlation between employee engage ment and an employer’s empathy, and

advocating for increasing access to care and creating customized solutions that support attracting, engaging, and retaining talent within the middle market. Derek previously served as a market development execu tive for Beam Benefits. Derek launched ancillary rep part nerships, supporting the West Texas, New Mexico, Nevada and Florida markets. He introduced Beam to brokers across four states, working with over 450 brokerage firms across the country to educate agents on dental wellness and supple

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