In the photo, from left: Tom Meyers, Senior Vice President, Treasurer & Chief Financial Officer; Stephen Cross, Assistant Vice President, Information Technology Department; Peter Heffernan, winner of the President’s Award; and Bob Zak, President and CEO of Merchants.
Merchants Insurance Group is proud to recognize Peter Heffernan, Applications Development Manager, Information Technology Department, as the 2017 President’s Award winner, the highest honor Merchants bestows on its colleagues.
Mr. Heffernan was nominated by Stephen Cross, Assistant Vice President for Information Technology. The award was presented by Merchants’ President and CEO Bob Zak recently.
“Peter is a consummate professional with outstanding insurance knowledge, deep technical skills, a strong work ethic, and a remarkable dedication to the Merchants Insurance Companies for 41 years,” said Mr. Cross, in the nomination. “Peter’s work has a highly positive effect on many other Merchants colleagues, as well as on our ‘external’ customers.”
Mr. Heffernan was selected as the 2017 winner of the President’s Award as he lives the Company’s core values and tirelessly works for the Company’s policyholders, agents, colleagues and other stakeholders through his hard work, professionalism, self-development and competency.
Mr. Heffernan is responsible for some of the most critical and active areas of Merchants’ internal systems that run the Underwriting, Claims, and Billing systems for the company. In this role he plans, leads and manages many hundreds of system projects, changes and enhancements that have been critical to the Company’s competitive position in the marketplace.
“Peter exhibits a high degree of professionalism, dedication to getting things done right the first time, an outstanding ability to work with people, and a true dedication to exceeding colleagues and customers’ expectations,” said Mr. Cross.
Mr. Heffernan has been involved in many of the company’s most important projects including agency automation, multiple major overhauls and enhancements to the company’s systems, as well as the recent introduction of cyber insurance coverage. Mr. Heffernan has repeatedly demonstrated his overall abilities in programming, management and value to the Company countless times during his time at Merchants.
Mr. Heffernan has been with Merchants since 1977. He attended Canisius High School and John Carroll University, studying Business Management. He currently resides in Amherst.
