National Transportation Research Group Selects NASBP Producer as Board Member

As of October 31, 2012, Howard Cowan, President of Cowan-Hill Bond Agency, Inc., a Lubbock, Texas insurance agency, has been appointed to serve a 3-year term as a Board member of TRIP, a national transportation research non-profit that promotes policies that relieve traffic congestion, improve road and bridge conditions, improve air quality, make surface travel safer and enhance economic productivity.

Will Wilkins, executive director of TRIP, said TRIP Board members like Cowan are critical to assuring TRIP research efforts focus on today’s surface transportation infrastructure and maintenance. “I am pleased to welcome Mr. Cowan to the TRIP board of directors,” said Wilkins. “Howard’s experience and commitment will be an asset to the TRIP Board and will further TRIP’s mission to increase public awareness of America’s tremendous transportation infrastructure needs.” He added, “The surety bond industry was represented on TRIP’s founding board in 1970, and Howard’s appointment will continue the fine partnership that was forged by our two organizations over 40 years ago.”

NASBP President Carl Dohn, said NASBP is pleased about Cowan’s appointment because it will further the Association’s goal to enrich and expand NASBP’s outreach with strategic partners in the construction industry. “Howard’s years of experience as a surety bond producer and as a member of the NASBP Board of Directors, makes him an excellent resource for TRIP, because he can offer a wide, encompassing perspective and knowledge of transportation construction projects across our country,” Dohn said. “The nation’s surface transportation contractors are required to obtain surety bonds on their projects, and Howard knows first-hand, through his construction clients and his involvement with NASBP, the challenges and difficulties contractors face when they work on these kind of projects,” Dohn added.

Upon hearing of his appointment, Cowan expressed gratitude and stated he has always had a keen interest in the powerful role of the nation’s infrastructure system. “Now that the 2012 election is behind us, it is imperative that state governments and the national government address the critical issue of upgrading our nation’s transportation infrastructure,” Cowan said. He added, “A healthy transportation system is essential for our economy and for the quality of life of our citizens.”Cowan has been active in many local construction, transportation, and surety organizations throughout his nearly 40-year career in the surety industry that began when he joined the Safeco Surety Department in Dallas in 1973. Cowan, who has been an active participant in NASBP educational and legislative programs for 23 years, has served as Chair of the NASBP Finance Committee, Vice Chair of the Industry Relations Committee, Director of the Region 6 Steering Committee as well as a Texas state government affairs representative. In addition, Cowan has served four years on the Transportation Committee of the Lubbock Chamber, two years as President of the Texas Good Roads/Transportation Association and currently serves as Vice Chairman of the Associates Division of the Associated General Contractors of Texas Highway, Heavy, Utilities, & Industrial Branch and as President of the Texas Surety Federation.

NASBP Member Howard Cowan

After graduating with a degree in philosophy from the Louisiana Tech of Ruston, Louisiana in 1967, Cowan attended the University of Munich, in Munich, Germany under a Fulbright Scholarship in political theology for two years. In 1969, upon his return from Munich, he served in the U.S. Air Force attending the Defense Language Institute at Syracuse University as an airman to eventually serve as an Airborne Russian Linguist/Intelligence Analyst in Germany until his discharge in late 1972. His studies of business in 1974 at the University of Texas at Dallas sparked entrepreneurial interests that led him to start his own successful surety bond agency. Today, Cowan co-owns Cowan-Hill Bond Agency.

TRIP is a nonprofit organization that researches, evaluates and distributes economic and technical data on surface transportation issues. In addition, TRIP promotes transportation policies that relieve traffic congestion, improve road and bridge conditions, improve air quality, make surface travel safer and enhance economic productivity. TRIP is sponsored by insurance companies, equipment manufacturers, distributors and suppliers, businesses involved in highway and transit engineering and construction, labor unions, and organizations concerned with an efficient and safe surface transportation network.