NASBP Bond Producer Awarded SIO Tiger Trust Award

2013 Awards For Excellence In Surety Bond Promotion and Advocacy

Erle Benton (left) of Cretcher Heartland accepted the
Tiger Trust SIO Award from NASBP President Lawrence F.
McMahon (right) at the 2014 NASBP Annual Meeting & Expo.

TIGER TRUST

This spring the Surety Information Office (SIO) announced the award winners for 2013. NASBP is pleased that NASBP Member Erle Benton of Cretcher Heartland was awarded the prestigious SIO Tiger Trust Award. He worked to require that the general contractors working on a project for the Blue Valley School District in Overland Park, KS, secure subcontract bonds from their mechanical, plumbing, HVAC, masonry, and roofing subcontractors. The school district agreed with Benton’s recommendations, and the first project bid and contracted under this new arrangement occurred in May 2013 with a total contract price of $15,341,000. Benton is also a member of the Surety Association of Kansas City. 

SIO announced other award winners, as well. Ten local surety associations (LSAs) were presented with the SIO Awards for Excellence in Surety Bond Promotion at the annual meetings of NASBP and SFAA. These awards recognize LSAs for promoting the value and protections of contract surety bonds in construction to non-surety audiences.

The Gold and Silver awards recognize LSAs for conducting at least ten and five public relations and educational activities, respectively, in a calendar year to promote the use of contract surety bonds in construction to non-surety audiences. The Advocacy Award is for LSAs that conduct significant activities advocating for suretyship, such as fighting legislative efforts to waive bonds or increase bond thresholds, or advocating for reasonable bond forms. Listed below is a sample of the activities that earned these LSAs their awards.

Four LSA received the Gold Award for conducting at least 10 activities in 2013 to promote the use of contract surety bonding:
  • Florida Surety Association
  • Surety Association of Kansas City
  • Surety Association of San Diego
  • Surety Underwriters Association of Southern California 


Five LSAs received the Silver Award for conducting at least five activities:
  • Carolinas Surety Association
  • Rocky Mountain Surety Association
  • Surety Association of Indiana
  • Surety Association of Ohio
  • Surety Association of St. Louis 


Additionally, these four LSAs were recognized with Advocacy awards for conducting activities, other than public relations or educational, to advocate for suretyship:
  • Florida Surety Association
  • Surety Association of Kansas City
  • Surety Association of Ohio
  • Surety Association of Wisconsin 
No Platinum Award nominations were received for 2013.

GOLD AWARD

Florida Surety Association – The FSA conducted numerous activities to promote surety bonds, including a meeting with one of the shortlisted construction joint venture teams for the $3 billion Ultimate I-4 P3 project in Orlando. As a result of the meeting, the team will be including subcontractor bonds as part of its risk mitigation strategy. At the request of the Desoto County purchasing manager, FSA members gave a presentation to the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) to educate the BOCC on surety bonds and to promote the use of surety bonds by the County on all projects regardless of minimum amounts required by Florida State Statutes for a respective municipality. This would increase the number of surety bonds written, as the County was only requiring bonds on those amounts above the required Little Miller Act threshold. The FSA also promoted subcontractor bonds to a large general contractor and was involved in activities aimed to educate small and emerging contractors about bonding.

Surety Association of Kansas City – SAKC members participated in several educational events for small and emerging contractors, including ones hosted by the Kansas Department of Transportation and the University of Missouri Kansas City. They also made presentations to several owners and contractors about the benefits of bonding with a focus on payment bonds and liens and the implications for all parties involved. In addition to these activities, SAKC had a booth at the National Precast Concrete Association Convention, which represents an industry that historically has not been a heavy bond user. Because of this, SAKC members improved or established three separate companies’ bond programs with over $50 million in aggregate capacity.

Surety Association of San Diego – SASD members participated in the San Diego Unified School District’s (SDUSD) Small Business Fair. They set up a table to disseminate SIO pamphlets and other materials to contractor attendees interested in doing business with the SDUSD in order to educate them on the bonding process and how to obtain their first bonds. Other activities aimed to help small contractors with the bonding process include a “Bonding 101” workshop as part of the Turner School of Construction Management and an outreach event for small businesses interested in prequalifying to bid projects for the Kaiser Hospital project in San Diego. Association members also gave a “bonding fundamentals” workshop at a CleanTech Orange County event and promoted surety bonds to alternative energy producers and suppliers.

Surety Underwriters Association of Southern California – SUASC members participated in the Los Angeles Unified School Districts’ Small Business Boot Camp and the Third Annual Small Business Administration’s Southern California 8A Conference in support of bonding education and presented on how to obtain surety support. SUASC members also met with the Los Angeles Community College District to discuss bonding and how the association could be of assistance. Bonding education presentations also were made as part of the Clarke Construction School, METRO/ USDOT Bond Development and Small Business Day, and the Bridges to Business School, a program of the Los Angeles Minority Business Development Agency that is operated by USC and the City of Los Angeles.

SILVER AWARD

Carolinas Surety Association – Carolinas Surety Association members performed several educational and promotional activities, including a presentation to the American Subcontractors Association on standard bond forms. CSA members were active in the eight-week Bonding Education Program in Columbia, SC, and in the 2013 DBE Business Development Forum hosted by SCDOT. The CSA also promoted subcontractor bonds, versus subcontractor default insurance, to the Charleston Contractors Association and promoted the value of surety bonds and benefits of a solid surety relationship to the Mechanical Contractors Association.
 
Rocky Mountain Surety Association – The RMSA participated in two DOT Bonding Education Programs in 2013. Association members gave a presentation on payment and performance bonds to the City of Northglenn’s Public Works and Risk Management Department and presented to local risk managers in Sandy, UT, on the protections that bonds provide public owners. The association also met with members of the Colorado State University Building and Risk Management Departments—part of the University’s Administrative Services Division—to explain and discuss contract obligations and the value of surety bonds.

Surety Association of Indiana – Members of SAI educated small and emerging contractors on bonding by participating in the MCDP® and a 2013 Indiana MWBE Business Development Week event, where they promoted DBE participation on state projects.  Members were active in promoting the use of bonds on the Indiana side of the East End Crossing (Ohio River Bridges project). SAI members gave a basics of bonding presentation to contractors at the Madison County Contractor’s Association Meeting and also continue to work with Citizen Energy Group (CEG), a private owner that supports bonding, and in 2013, SAI members participated in CEG’s outreach event by staffing a booth and distributing information to promote surety bonding.

Surety Association of Ohio – SAO members participated in the ABC Leadership Program, presenting on the basics of surety credit, the prequalification/underwriting process, financial analysis, and the surety claims process. The purpose of the program was to help these future executives and business owners to better understand the importance of their surety relationship, surety credit, and financial position as part of their future success. Activities aimed at helping small and minority contractors include presenting as part of the SFAA/USDOT Bonding Education Program in Detroit and working one-on-one with participants at the Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati SBE Outreach Finance and Bonding Workshop. SAO members presented to the Construction Employers Association about the impact of construction reform on bonding, how to improve financial presentation to meet qualification, credit-based surety programs, and the SBA Bond Guarantee Program.

Surety Association of St. Louis – SASL members served as advisory members of the Regional Union Construction Center, through which they advised minority- and women-owned construction companies on how to make their businesses desirable clients for sureties and establish a long-term surety relationship. Association members also conducted a seminar for the Independent Electrical Contractors of Greater St. Louis with a focus on understanding work-in-progress reports and what sureties look for in the underwriting process. Additionally, SASL members presented to construction project managers, superintendants, and estimators at the Southern Illinois University of Edwardsville’s Construction Leadership course on the value of surety bonds to a contractor and what construction managers can do to promote the construction company/ surety relationship, and gave construction professionals an insider’s look at how sureties make decisions during a continuing education seminar. 

ADVOCACY AWARD

Florida Surety Association – In 2013, the FSA’s numerous activities included lobbying against onerous contract terms and unfavorable warranty requirements. FSA and SFAA submitted letters to Orange County regarding the A.M. Best surety requirements implemented by the County, and ultimately, Orange County agreed to modify their requirements. The FSA since has made contact with several other counties regarding similar matters. FSA members also held their annual Legislative Day, during which they met with the chief engineer at the FLDOT and also with two legislators, one of whom had proposed a bill that would have required bonding on state tax incentives given to developers or companies.

Surety Association of Kansas City – SAKC was dedicated to fighting onerous contract terms in 2013. For example, several SACK members successfully had onerous contract language thrown out of contracts that KDOT was bidding in February 2013. It was possible that the language would have allowed KDOT to go after their contractors and sureties if the EPA levied fines against the DOT even if the construction project was completed. SAKC members also successfully negotiated with the City of Riverdale, MO, to lower the surety rating requirement to A-.

Surety Association of Ohio – The SAO has been committed to fighting Cuyahoga County’s proposed amendment to the County Code that would remove the requirement that the County secure a performance bond and would allow the county’s law director to decide whether a performance bond would be required. SAO spent substantial time writing letters, attending meetings, and talking with key players about the importance of surety bonds to protect taxpayer dollars. SAO members coordinated with SFAA, NASBP, and the American Subcontractors Association of Ohio to clear up misconceptions about surety bonds versus subcontractor default insurance and promote a surety bond requirement.

Surety Association of Wisconsin – One of SAWI’s main efforts in 2013 was an information campaign to educate 26 separate school districts about the benefits of bonding, in light of some districts waiving performance and payment bonds on projects. As a result, the Franklin School District reversed its consideration of waiving bonds on a $21.5 million construction project. SAWI was responsible for having the Horizon School District require payment and performance bonds on a $3 million project as well. Association members also lobbied against onerous bond terms and continues to educate the WI Department of Administration about the value of a surety’s prequalification versus their performing their own.

View the SIO Awards Flyer on the SIO Awards site. For contact information on local surety associations, visit the LSA Directory on the SIO website.

The Surety Information Office (SIO), formed in 1993, disseminates information about the benefits of contract and other forms of surety bonding in private and public construction. SIO, a virtual office, is supported by the National Association of Surety Bond Producers (NASBP), www.nasbp.org, and The Surety & Fidelity Association of America (SFAA), www.surety.org. For information on the benefits of surety bonds in construction and in other contexts, visit www.sio.org or contact SIO at sio@sio.org.