As Kraus-Anderson Insurance continues to grow, so has the agency’s surety department. KA Insurance has completed four strategic acquisitions in recent years, significantly increasing the agency’s market-leading set of risk management and surety capabilities and resources.
To meet the demands of this growth, KA Insurance has promoted Kathryn Dircz to vice president of surety and has hired Amy Burns as manager of surety.
An insurance industry veteran of more than 35 years, Kathy Dircz is highly regarded in the surety insurance industry. She has served as KA Insurance’s manager of surety, a department she created in 1992. As vice president, she will oversee the department’s surety programs, including systems and procedures that improve client, agency and company relationships.
Dircz earned her Certified Insurance Counselor designation and is the agency representative for the National Association of Surety Bond Producers and the Minnesota Surety Association.
Amy Burns comes to KA Insurance from Wells Fargo where she served as vice president of surety. She has more than 25 years of experience in the surety industry working with national brokers representing contract and commercial clients. She also has managed teams through mergers, acquisitions and changes in technology platforms.
Burns holds a CPCU (Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter) and AFSB (Associate of Fidelity Surety Bonding), the highest designations in the industry. She is a member of the National Association of Surety Bond Producers as well as the Minnesota Surety Association.
“Both Kathy and Amy give our agency increased bench strength and greater capacity to more proactively help our producers grow this important customer base,” said Dennis Diessner, executive senior vice president and COO of KA Insurance.
In July 2017, the agency acquired the operations of Twin Cities-based Dennis J. Linder & Associates (DJL), a property and casualty agency uniquely focused on architectural and engineering firms. The company also acquired Onyx Benefit Advisors in 2016, Minnesota Insurance Brokers in 2009 and Advanced Risk Manager in 2012.
About Kraus-Anderson Insurance
Based in Burnsville, Minn., Kraus-Anderson Insurance (www.kainsurance.com) is an independent agency providing a spectrum of effective risk management tools for businesses and individuals, including business and personal lines, alternative risk financing, worker’s compensation management, HR/benefits, safety/loss control and surety bonding. With annual sales of more than $100 million. KA Insurance, an Affirmative Action, Equal Employment Opportunity Employer, is part of the Minneapolis-based Kraus-Anderson family of operations, including integrated construction management, real estate development, insurance and mortgage operations; with regional offices in Madison, Wis., Bismarck, N.D., and Duluth, Bemidji and Rochester Minn.