First female CEO to take helm at Utica National Insurance next year

NEW HARTFORD, N.Y. — Utica National Insurance Group’s board of directors announced that Chairman/CEO Richard P. Creedon will retire next year. Kristen H. Martin, currently serving as president/COO, will become president/CEO upon his retirement, making her the first woman in the company’s history to hold the title of CEO.

Creedon, who retires effective June 30, 2024, joined the company in 1998 as assistant VP and director of workers’-compensation claims. Following his promotion in 2001 to VP and senior claims officer, he assumed responsibility for managing the claims department. Creedon was named senior VP in 2003 and then general counsel and senior claims officer the following year. He was promoted to executive VP in 2007 and in December 2013 was appointed president and COO. In 2016, Creedon was named president and CEO before becoming chairman and CEO in 2019.

Following his retirement, Creedon will remain non-executive chairman of the board.

Martin joined Utica National as an examiner in 2001. Following several promotions, she was named corporate secretary in 2013, executive VP in 2013, and director of underwriting operations in 2014. Martin was named executive VP and COO in 2016. In 2019, Martin was named president and COO and was also elected a director of the Utica Mutual Insurance Company, Graphic Arts Mutual Insurance Company, and Republic-Franklin Insurance Company.

Martin received her law degree from Albany Law School and a bachelor’s degree in economics and government from St. Lawrence University.

She has been active with the United Way Campaign, has served on the parent-teacher association of the Clinton Central School District, as a member of the school’s sports boosters, as a child volunteer protection advocate board member of the American Youth Soccer Organization, and was the 2017 Go Red chairwoman for the American Heart Association – Mohawk Valley. She was also elected to the New York Insurance Association board of directors in 2020.

Utica National Insurance Group is a group of insurance companies providing personal and commercial insurance products. The group’s companies sell their products through more than 2,500 independent agents and it employs more than 1,300 people nationwide.