The Gavnat Team
Gavnat and Associates is headquartered in Minneapolis and our team works diligently to get home and business owners the compensation they are entitled to for property damage claims. Whether you’ve already submitted your claim, have previously been denied, or have yet to file, we can help get you the payment you are entitled to. With our decades of combined experience in the insurance adjustment industry, we know the claims process inside and out and are here to advocate for you. Get to know our team below!
Minnesota
Jim Pierce
Founder/Owner of Gavnat and Associates
[email protected]James Pierce founded Gavnat and Associates in 2007 and has been working tirelessly ever since then to advocate for the rights of insurance policy holders. Jim is a licensed public adjuster in a multitude of states outside of Minnesota as well including Wisconsin, South Dakota, Iowa, Illinois, Colorado, Montana and Ohio. In addition to his work in public adjusting, Jim has extensive experience in the Insurance Appraisal process having participated as an Appraiser or Umpire on over 1,000 appraisals to date with more involvement every year.
He has obtained a solid reputation in the industry as a name people can trust. Jim prides himself on making changes to the industry as a whole having helped set new case law through litigation and testifying in opposition of proposed insurance led bills that would affect policyholders. Jim is also the president of Minnesota Association of Public Insurance Adjusters and a member of National Association of Public Adjusters. His goal is always to assist each and every policyholder in obtaining the insurance award they deserve.
In his free time, Jim likes to spend time with his wife, Linda, and their two kids, Gavan & Nathan, whom he named his business after. Jim enjoys ice fishing during the winter months with his boys on Lake of The Woods and is an avid waterfowl hunter in the fall. Jim actively contributes to the Special Olympics and volunteers regularly as well. He also participates on the boards in varying areas including youth basketball sports, church, and other businesses when time allows.
Katie Ciani
Sales Manager
Katie joins Gavnat as a Sales Manager taking the lead on developing and growing the sales department at Gavnat. She brings with her over 16 years of Sales Management experience in the building materials industry. She earned her degree in Management and Marketing and has the organizational and sales skills to elevate Gavnat to the next level.
A fun fact about Katie is that when she was 18, she worked for Sea World in Ohio as a professional barefoot water skier. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her husband, family and friends spoiling her nieces and nephews. Her interests include traveling, home remodeling projects, exercise and being out on the lake skiing and barefooting with some surfing when she has the chance.
Jessica Nelson
Administration Manager
[email protected]Jessica graduated from Metro State University in St. Paul, MN in 2016 (Summa Cum Laude). She is a published writer and spent over 10 years in the legal field doing paralegal and drafting work before running her own business for the past 5 years. With her extensive legal and business knowledge, she joined Gavnat in 2020 and maintains all aspects of the human resources and administrative responsibilities. Jessica ensures the internal framework of the business runs smoothly so everyone at Gavnat can thrive. In her down time, Jessica enjoys a variety of hobbies including cooking, recipe creation and fitness related activities. She spends most of her time with her husband Greg and their four sons (Landon, Sutton, Bodh and McCoy) participating in family activities, managing youth hockey and creating new adventures for her children.
Dennis McClay
Licensed Public Adjuster
[email protected]Dennis is a Minnesota native and attended the University of Minnesota. In 2006, he began his work in documenting storm damage in the field for contractors before venturing into insurance adjusting in 2009. Dennis has been working alongside Jim since 2009 in the early years of Gavnat and continues to be a vital member of the growing team. As a Public Adjuster, Dennis has had experience in all facets of the industry and prides himself on having knowledge in a multitude of areas. Dennis likes to spend his free time with his wife Diana and their three children.
Dan Wennerlind
Sales/Licensed Public Adjuster
[email protected]Dan grew up in Plymouth, MN and graduated from St. Cloud State University. He has worked in the insurance and construction industry since 2012. Having seen a multitude of perspectives in the insurance claim process, Dan understands the great need for Public Adjuster services across the board, from the residential claims to the large commercial complexes. His Goal is to make sure each and every client receives a “fair shake” and is compensated properly for their loss. Dan believes that Gavnat offers the resources, experience and reputation in the insurance industry to properly indemnify and enforce each and every client’s settlement no matter how big or small the value of the loss. Outside of work, Dan is an avid hunter and enjoys quality time with his two wonderful little boys, Brandt and Luke.
Jason Callais
Licensed Public Adjuster (Hail and Wind Specialist)
[email protected]Jason is a Minnesota Native, born and raised in St. Paul. He started his professional life as a teacher and a coach for ten years. He then made a career change into home restoration sales. Jason began as a salesman and has managed over 250 insurance claims as a contractor. Jason transitioned to Gavnat in 2019 as a Public Insurance Adjuster where his previous contractor knowledge helped him excel at identifying damage and negotiating loses with the insurance company. Jason lives by the motto “No detail is too small” which helps him take the time and identify details others may overlook, whether it be a dent from hail in a windowsill or a minute detail in an insurance policy. In his spare time Jason enjoys a variety of sports to include football, traveling to new places, and spending time with his family.
Brian Smith
Licensed Public Adjuster
[email protected]After attending Concordia College in St Paul and St. Cloud State University, Brian began working in construction in 1990. He became a “jack of all trades” doing everything from landscaping, heavy equipment operating, building decks, siding, framing and roof repairs. In 2005 his focus became storm restoration and lead him to his first insurance appraisal work in 2008. He joined Gavnat in the fall of 2020 combining his years of construction and insurance appraisal experience. Brian now specializes multi-family associations, single family residences and commercial claims serving both as an Appraiser and Public Adjuster. Outside of the office, you will find Brian with his wife of over 20 years and two teenage kids. His family are multi-sport athletes and outdoor enthusiasts. Aside from his devoted family life, Brian has a passion for teaching sales techniques and business skills and enjoys motivational speaking. His goal is to help others become everything they were created to be.
Cody Thurman
Licensed Public Adjuster
[email protected]Cody grew up in Maple Grove, MN and has been in this line of work for 5+ years on the restoration side. He obtained his Public Adjusting license in 2020 and is constantly expanding his knowledge to become the best asset he can to the team. He prides himself on making sure clients get the best experience here at Gavnat possible. In his free time, he coaches youth hockey and is pondering the thought of being the next Gavnat employee to have a canine companion.
Mike Pream-Anderson
Licensed Public Adjuster
[email protected]Mike was born and raised in Coon Rapids, MN. He comes to Gavnat with 12 years’ experience in sales and project management and has assisted in managing over 1,000 insurance claims to date. Mike previously worked in the role of contractor before obtaining his Public Adjuster license. He spent the last 7 years on the Professional Roofing Advisory Council for the Midwest region. Education has always been and continues to be very important to Mike not only for himself but for his peers and clients. He leads his career with this is mind and believes it has contributed to much of his personal and professional success.
During his personal time, Mike enjoys time with his wife Jessica and their children Liam and Kora. He enjoys watching as well as participating in competitive sports such as football, basketball, baseball and dart leagues. He lives by the motto “live each day like it’s your last”.
Chris Skillings
Licensed Public Adjuster
Chris has spent the past 9 years as a licensed sales professional/agent in the Insurance industry. He also has experience in the exteriors industry. All of this experience together makes him an excellent Public Adjuster with the thorough knowledge it takes to represent property owners effectively.
In his time away from the office, Chris enjoys time with his wife, their children and 2 dogs. He enjoys coaching and watching his kids in the many sports they participate in. As well as doing many outdoor activities like camping, hunting and fishing. When the season changes to Fall, you can find Chris in the woods, on a marsh, or lying in a field chasing all the amazing wildlife that MN has to offer.
Josh Miller
Licensed Public Adjuster
Josh was born and raised in Lino Lakes, MN and graduated from Century College in 2018. He was a contractor for 5 years and involved in building and managing over 100 projects. When his own parents needed to file an insurance claim, Josh became interested in helping property owners get the best outcome for their claim they could. He loves to help homeowners “level the playing field” and to promote the equitable treatment of homeowners during the insurance claim process.
During my personal time Josh likes to enjoy spending time with his wonderful wife Amanda and his son Maverick. He has a passion for hunting and fishing and likes to take his Ice Castle fish house out on the lake for ice Fishing. When the weather permits he enjoys camping and mountain biking as well.
Ryan Wagner
Licensed Public Adjuster
Ryan grew up in Edina, MN, graduating from Edina High School in 2002. Ryan has worked in the construction industry as a licensed contractor and production manager as well as a sales manager for a large local builder. He has helped manage 500+ insurance claims in his years in the industry and brings with him to Gavnat the
experience needed for Public Adjusters to provide excellence services to property owners.
Ryan enjoys spending time with his partner Alisha and his two daughters Annabelle and Eleanor. He also enjoys the outdoors fishing, camping and hunting.
Keith Johnson
Claims Coordinator – Residential Claims
After spending over 7 years at St. Cloud Technical College taking courses in a multitude fields, Keith started working as a sales representative for a local roofing company. In addition to sales experience, Keith focused his time on administrative support including developing and processing collections systems for the businesses he has worked for. Keith brings to Gavnat solid work experience and a strong desire to help Gavnat provide the best possible service to our clients.
Keith spends all his free time with his beautiful wife Janelle and their two little girls, Hazel and Juliette. He also enjoys the softball life, church and time away from the big city. Family is everything to Keith and he considers his close friends to be family as well. Keith has several tattoos, and all have a very important meaning in his life. He lives by the saying, “Without failure you would have no success”.
Jason Sjoberg
Claims Coordinator – Appraisals
Jason grew up in St. Anthony, Minnesota. He spent over 25 years working in the debt collection industry with various agencies focusing on recovery of unpaid
debts. He excels at finding ways to accomplish sometimes difficult tasks with kindness and compassion. Jason passionately believes that respecting situations
people are in and helping them find solutions without sacrificing integrity and respect is a top priority in and out of the office. He excels at providing excellent customer service and his attention to detail is the ideal fit for handling the complex nature of claims in the appraisal process.
In his down time, he enjoys playing sports and spending time with friends and family especially his two adult sons Tristan and Treyton who are in the process of beginning their careers. He also likes spending time in nature, painting, landscaping and volunteering as much as possible. The quote he lives by is “Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.” – Charles Swindoll
Rich McNevin
Claims Coordinator – MFH/Commercial Claims
Rich joins the Gavnat team with over 20 years of administrative experience, but he is a jack of all trades sort of speak. He has done everything from administration to training to management. He also has an extensive customer service experience and is happy to do whatever it takes to assist clients and co-workers.
When away from work Rich enjoys spending time with his family. He and his wife Carla have two beautiful daughters, Autumn and Meadow. They enjoy traveling and family vacations to different beaches and parks across the country.
Iowa
Joe Hope
Sales/Licensed Public Adjuster
Joe was born and raised in Sioux City, IA. After attending Wayne State College in Nebraska on a football scholarship, in 2001, Joe started work as an independent insurance adjuster. Working as an apprenticeship under his late father Darrel Hope. Joe’s career took him all over the country working catastrophe claims. In 2008, Joe and his family moved to Galveston, Texas following Hurricane Ike which devasted the area. Then again moved in 2011, this time to Tuscaloosa, Alabama following an EF4 tornado that cut a mile wide path through town. The following year, the Hope family moved back to Iowa settling down in West Des Moines. Joe has since worked as an independent local public adjuster until recently joining the Gavnat team. Joe brings with him over 20 years of experience in the insurance adjusting industry, with the last 10 years as a public adjuster. During this time, he has worked with Gavnat’s owner, Jim Pierce, relying on Jim’s expertise to assist in claims in Iowa. Joe is excited to contribute high quality professional public adjusting services to Gavnat as they expand into his home state of Iowa.
Outside of work, Joe enjoys watching his children participate in sports as well as camping and biking outdoors.
James Ivy, AIC
Licensed Public Adjuster
James was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, He enlisted in the US Army Infantry which sent him to Colorado where he met his wife and eventually ended up in Iowa to be close to her family. After leaving the military he earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado. He got his footing in the insurance world working as a Property Claims Adjuster with USAA, serving the military community. While at USAA, he obtained his AIC (Associates in Claims) designation. He is excited about broadening his range for assisting property owners utilizing his education and work experience.
James and his wife welcomed a baby girl in 2021. He enjoys spending time with his family. In his free time, he likes the outdoors, rock climbing, cooking and watching movies.
Austin Lomica
Claims Coordinator – Fire/Water Claims
Austin graduated from Iowa State University with a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice. He has extensive administrative experience and previously worked in the criminal justice system. As well as the health insurance industry before switching gears to insurance claims.
Austin was born and raised in central Iowa. He is a diehard Iowa State Cyclones and Green Bay Packers fan. He is a self-proclaimed outdoorsman who loves hunting waterfowl, upland birds and deer. He also enjoys hiking and traveling.