Bonding Across America: the Show Will Go On!

2017 is not quite over the finish line yet, but certain events that transpired during the year almost feel as if they occurred much farther in the distance. Perhaps that perception exists because 2017 was a busy and, given our 75th anniversary, a momentous year. One of the significant events that occurred in 2017 was the Bonding Across America program, a centerpiece effort of the NASBP Small and Emerging Business Committee, which occurred on May 18th in three separate locations across the country, specifically in Washington, DC, Denver and Seattle. This program was a joint effort with the Office of Surety Guarantees of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), with which NASBP had entered into a memorandum of understanding for that purpose.

The Bonding Across America program was designed to bring basic and easily understood information to local communities of small and emerging construction firms wishing to learn the ways in which to qualify for surety bonding and to introduce these businesses to surety and business advisers important for their future. In a press release at the time, William Manger, Associate Administrator for the SBA’s Office of Capital Access, who oversees the Office of Surety Guarantees, remarked that “the difference between a struggling business and a thriving business often is having the right knowledge and having access to sound business advisors.” More than 80 individuals attended these half-day information sessions, and NASBP listed information about the sessions, including agendas, speaker bios, and photo galleries, at www.bondingacrossamerica.org.

Based on the experiences in and feedback from DC, Denver, and Seattle sessions, NASBP and SBA felt that the Bonding Across America program should continue as an important government-industry partnership and a worthwhile outreach effort on behalf of suretyship. This December, NASBP and U.S. SBA entered into another memorandum of understanding to offer the program jointly in four new locations in 2018. Work is already underway to put together programs in the states of Maryland, Wisconsin, North Carolina and Nevada. SBA will select a district office in each of those states to assist with, to host, and to market the program to the local small business community. Shannon Crawford, NASBP’s Assistant Director of Government Relations, is the point person for the NASBP staff team working on the planning and will be in attendance at most, if not all, the 2018 sessions, which will occur on different dates.

Continuing the program in 2018 at four new locations will let us touch even more local businesses that typically do not understand even the first step to take on the journey to bonding. Such sessions allow us to put a personal touch on the subject of surety, taking surety from a misperception as an impediment to a realization of it as a wonderful opportunity for business success and longevity. NASBP will provide you with more information on the 2018 sessions as details get finalized, and please look for updated information at www.bondingacrossamerica.org in the first quarter of next year.