COLUMBIA, S.C. - The founder of an auto insurance company in South Carolina was named Wednesday to lead the state Insurance Department.

Gov. Mark Sanford said "new blood is a good thing" when he introduced Eleanor Kitzman as the latest member to join his Cabinet.

Sanford said he chose Kitzman because of her business credentials from within the insurance industry, her commitment to free markets and service and her position outside the political sphere.

Kitzman, an 18-year veteran of the industry, founded Driver's Choice Insurance Services in 1999 and sold the business in 2002.

She testified before the General Assembly in 1997 in favor of reforming auto insurance laws, which made the state more competitive.

"I was told here was no chance of passing (the reform bill), but I was new to working with South Carolina, and sometimes ignorance is bliss," Kitzman said.

Sanford stressed the importance of insurance on the economy.

"It impacts not only your personal pocketbook but how competitive we are as a state," he said.

The department oversees almost 2,000 insurance companies doing business in the state. Those companies paid $140 million in state taxes last year.

Sanford said former director Ernie Csiszar is irreplaceable.

"Nothing against Eleanor, but she doesn't have that wide breadth yet, but she'll quickly grow into that position," he said.

Csiszar, who had been commissioner for five years, left the department in August to become president and chief executive of the Property and Casualty Insurers Association of America, a trade and lobbying group.