EDWARDSVILLE, Ill.– Hortica Insurance & Employee Benefits announced changes to its board of directors, and the hiring of a senior account executive.

Hortica Board Chairman Jim Leider announced his retirement effective February 21, 2012.  The board elected Cornelis (Cees) Boonman as the new chairman and Randy Tagawa to the position of vice chairman. 

Leider, president of Leider Horticultural Companies in Buffalo, Grove, Ill., joined the Hortica Board in February of 1982 and will remain a director until his retirement next year. Boonman is president of Ball Seed, a division of Ball Horticultural Co. in West Chicago, Ill., and Tagawa is CEO of Tagawa Greenhouse Enterprises in Brighton, Colo.

Also announced, Lindley Mann retired from Hortica’s Board after 36 years of service, and John Smith, Jr. retired after serving six years. Throughout the company’s history, no director has served longer than Lindley Mann. With the exception of a few years, a member of Mann’s family has been on Hortica’s Board since the inception of Florists’ Hail in 1887.  

The company also appointed Mike Odermatt as a senior account executive for Kansas, Nebraska and Western Missouri.

Odermatt has worked in the insurance industry since 2004. Prior to joining Hortica, he was commercial lines producer for Kansas-based agency, CIG Insurance. He graduated in 1994 from Emporia State University with a bachelor’s degree.