The first employee hired by Eastern Insurance Holdings, a Lancaster, Pa.-based insurance company, has been named successor to its founder, Bruce M. Eckert.
Bruce Eckert
Michael L. Boguski, 47, now the company’s president and chief operating officer, will take over the role of chief executive, replacing the current CEO, Bruce Eckert, 66. Eckert hired Boguski, the company’s first employee, in 1987.
The succession plan is scheduled to take effect Jan. 1, 2011, and Boguski will remain president, as well.
“Together, they have grown the Eastern Alliance Insurance Group into one of the most profitable writers of workers’ compensation insurance in each of its core operating territories,” said Robert M. McAlaine, chairman of Eastern’s board of directors, in a statement. “They created and nurtured a culture of superior agency relationships, client service, and core values of dedication, collaboration and mutual respect among [the company’s] team of employees.”
McAlaine added that the succession plan “ensures continued strong leadership” for Eastern, calling Boguski “a proven leader in the industry, ideally suited to succeed” Eckert. Boguski was a key leader in the company’s strategic planning, profitable geographic expansion, and handling of changing economic and insurance cycles, according to McAlaine.
“This succession plan has been years in development,” said Eckert. “I am excited to transition into my new role and am extremely confident” in Boguski and other leaders at Eastern.
Boguski said he was “honored” to be named the company’s CEO.
“As I look to the future,” he said, “I am committed to profitable expansion of our core workers’ compensation business as a key driver of future earnings while maintaining a strong balance sheet and dynamic culture.”
He added that the successful expansion of Eastern’s workers’ compensation insurance segment in conjunction with the continuation of its stock buyback program will enable the company to “effectively utilize its excess capital, incrementally increase its return on equity and bring significant value to our shareholders over the next several years.”
Eastern owns and operates Eastern Alliance Insurance Group, which operates in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware; Eastern Life and Health Insurance Co.; Employers Alliance, which operates in Maryland and Pennsylvania; and Eastern Re Ltd.
It also operates service offices in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Indiana and Tennessee.
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