It’s official: ERIE has a new leader.
After an extremely thorough selection process, ERIE’s board of directors named Tim NeCastro as the company’s next president and CEO. He will succeed Terry Cavanaugh, who plans to retire later this year after eight years as ERIE’s president and CEO.
Tim has held a variety of roles during his 20 years with ERIE. He joined the company in 1996 to manage Internal Audit and was promoted to senior vice president and controller just one year later. In 2008, Tim broadened his experience as senior vice president of what was then Product and Policy Services, overseeing customer service, product development and processing areas. Since 2010, Tim has held responsibility for the West Region sales force in the states of Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Illinois, West Virginia and Kentucky.
ERIE Home Office Employees attended a news conference on June 1 to introduce Tim NeCastro as ERIE’s next top leader.
“I am in awe of this opportunity,” said Tim during the press conference. “It would be difficult to describe the sense of both honor and humility I feel. I’m grateful to the board and Terry for seeing my potential and, especially to Terry, for helping me hone my skills.”
5 facts about Tim
1. He’s a family man. Tim is married, and his wife works at Erie Insurance as well. Together, they have five children.
2. 2. He cares about the Erie community. Tim is an active supporter of many nonprofit organizations, including St. Paul Parish and the Sisters of St. Joseph Neighborhood Network. He’s on the board of directors of the latter, which works to revitalize the inner-city neighborhood where he grew up.
3. 3. He’s a numbers guy. Tim holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Gannon University and maintains a Certified Public Accounting (CPA) designation. Before joining ERIE, he spent 10 years at Ernst & Young, then one of the “Big Five” public accounting firms. He was also the director of finance at Plastek Group, an international plastics manufacturer.
4. He never set out to be a CEO. Tim claims he chose an accounting career on the advice of an uncle, who told him he could make a good living at it. (That uncle was on hand for Wednesday’s press conference.) He says he never dreamed of leading a Fortune 500 company.
5. He enjoyed a rock star’s reception. As a testament to his popularity, EIRE employees burst into sustained and thunderous applause when Tim was introduced as the next president and CEO at the press conference. That response led Chairman of the Board Tom Hagen to quip that he “sounds like a rock star.