 Merle D. Scheiber Director of Insurance |
South Dakota South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation |
Merle D. Scheiber was appointed Insurance Director Aug. 8, 2005, by Gov. Mike Rounds and Secretary of Revenue and Regulation Gary Viken. He worked in the insurance industry for several companies in South Dakota for 25 years prior to being appointed Director.
Scheiber is active in the NAIC by participating with these committees: chair of the Regulatory Framework (B) Task Force, Workers' Compensation (C) Task Force, and Crop Insurance (C) Working Group, vice chair of the Property and Casualty Insurance (C) Committee and the Surplus Lines (C) Task Force, and member of the Government Relations Leadership Council, Long-Term Care (EX) Task Force, Professional Health Insurance Advisors (D) Task Force, Surplus Lines Implementation (EX) Task Force, Senior Issues (B) Task Force, and Accounting Practices and Procedures (E) Task Force He also serves as chair of the Midwestern Zone and a member of the Executive (EX) Committee.
Scheiber began his 25-year insurance career in 1980 as a personal lines manager, then as a commercial lines manager, then as a vice president of marketing and underwriting for several insurance companies. He worked in underwriting, marketing, reinsurance and agency relations for these companies. For the past several years before his appointment as Director, Scheiber had been focusing on workers' compensation as a program consultant responsible for development and management of underwriting, marketing and loss control.
Scheiber holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from Augustana College in Sioux Falls, SD, and has been a certified insurance counselor (CIC) since 1994. He was named PIA "Company Representative of the Year" in 2001 and was named the 1997 Sioux Falls "Fastpitch Coach of the Year." He has been active in many South Dakota insurance memberships, serving as an officer for several.