Dennis shared the advice of C. K. Shaw, an Aetna home office employee in the early 1960’s, to young surety professionals. Mr. Shaw wrote a 19-page paper on ‘Things to Think About for Bond Representatives, et al’ which included fascinating advice on professional demeanor and appearance, including the following:

• (57) Butch, flat top and crew haircuts are mighty convenient things at the beach and athletics.
• (58) Most business men wear hats.
• (59) If you dress too flashy to please an agent, he perhaps won’t let on but he just might not introduce you to his good prospects and clients for fear of making an unfavorable impression on them by his own standards and believe me it’s awfully hard selling blanket bonds and performance bonds to your wife or your office associates. It’s down right discouraging if agents won’t work with you. It could be your own fault you know.

Even though Mr. Shaw’s advice and the ‘Employee Handbook’ show distinct differences on professional dress and demeanor between today and 40 years ago, both serve to underscore a point about our business that has remained constant: the importance of having in-person contact with clients.

Too often today we depend on the crutch of technology to do business’that is, through a storm of e-mails and blackberries. Yet, the fundamentals of what we do as surety professionals have not changed. John, Brian and Dennis all acknowledged that the fundamentals of the business are the same and have remained the same over the decades that they have been part of the industry. The three C’s of surety, Character, Capital and Capacity remain the cornerstone of our business.

Character is the C that drives the underwriting process. If you don’t have that ‘C’ you don’t move forward. It is through the quality of our relationships that we are better able to evaluate character. The interaction we have with our clients, peers and companies are fundamental to how we do our jobs. With the changing of times and the advancement of communication technology, the fundamentals of our business inadvertently may be impaired. Don’t let new technology lull you into thinking that you can skip the in-person visit with a client, or simply respond by e-mail or voice-mail, or fail to see the job site or meet the project managers and superintendents. If we do not seek opportunities for in-person contact, are we truly in position to judge Character?

I would challenge all of us to seek every opportunity to visit clients in person. To preserve the three C’s, we need to take the time and effort to understand character and build the kinds of quality relationships that are critical to our surety industry. We can not afford to do otherwise! So let us set our blackberries aside and be certain that the people part of our industry continues to flourish as it has over the last four decades.

Sarah Finn is National Surety Senior Vice President of IMA of Colorado, Inc. in Denver, Colorado. She can be reached at sarah.finn@imacorp.com.

In a recent decision, the United States District Court, Western District of Tennessee, discussed the significance of the obligee’s default declaration in the context of a bonded project for runway reconstruction and extension at the Memphis International Airport. The obligee, an airport authority, contended that it was entitled to summary judgment, alleging that the construction contractor materially breached its construction contract by installing nonconforming lighting cable and that the surety failed to cure its principal’s deficient performance. The surety countered, arguing that the airport authority failed to provide the surety with notice of the contractor’s default, which, under the language of the bond, was a ‘condition precedent’ to the surety’s obligation to remedy the default.

In denying the motion, the District Court cited several US Court of Appeals decisions in which sureties were not held liable where obligees failed to provide ‘clear, direct, and unequivocal’ declarations of default as required under the plain terms of the bonds. The District Court noted that two conditions were needed to establish the surety’s liability: (1) the principal must be in default and (2) the obligee must declare the principal in default. The District Court stated, that under the present facts, the surety has raised genuine issues of material fact regarding whether the airport authority actually declared the contractor in default and provided the surety with its intent to terminate the construction contract. The District Court observed that, although letters were sent expressing ‘exasperation’ by the representative of the airport authority, no evidence demonstrated the airport authority’s clear declaration of default and its immediate intent to terminate the contract. Rather, the record, in the form of the last written communication between the airport authority and the contractor, on which the surety was copied, revealed that the airport authority was still willing to provide the contractor with an additional opportunity to cure its breach.

While the US District Court upheld the significance of a formal default declaration as a condition of the surety’s liability on the bond, another court, the Supreme Court of Washington State recently concluded otherwise. Interestingly, the performance bond language at issue was similar, if not identical, to that in the case before the US District Court (the bond was predicated on AIA Document A311). Unlike the US District Court, however, the Washington Supreme Court, after examining the bond language, concluded that the bond did not require a default declaration and that any such declaration solely was an option of the obligee if the obligee wished to exercise its right to terminate the contract.

The obligee, a general contractor, did not declare the subcontractor in default before the subcontractor completed work, opting instead to supplement the subcontractor’s crews in an effort to complete the subcontract work on schedule. However, the general contractor did inform the surety about concerns it was having with the subcontractor’s performance. The subcontractor subsequently was not able to complete its work on time despite the assistance of additional crews, and some of the subcontract work allegedly was improper. The general contractor sued the subcontractor and its surety, where upon the subcontractor went out of business. The surety denied liability, arguing that its liability was conditioned on a declaration of default from the general contractor, which did not make such a declaration, an argument not found persuasive by the trial or appellate courts. The matter then went to the Supreme Court, which, in a labored bit of reasoning, found the exact bond wording which provided the US District Court with its rationale to mean that no formal declaration was needed. The Supreme Court reasoned that liability under the bond was subject to only one condition: the principal being in default.

The Washington Supreme Court’s decision provides yet another challenge to the surety industry. As one justice related in a dissenting opinion, the Washington Supreme Court’s reading is inaccurate and has the effect of depriving the surety of its contractual rights to remedy its principal’s performance’that is, the surety is prevented from availing itself of its stated and bargained for options under the bond, losing its ability to control the costs of completion.

One might view the default declaration, like the Southern expression ‘I do declare,’ as a statement by one party for the purpose of focusing the attention of another party on a matter of importance or emphasis. It is a needed and necessary delimiting condition for the surety’s liability under the bond. My hope, I do declare, is that the Washington Supreme Court’s view of formal default declarations becomes as ‘scarce as hen’s teeth’ and that future courts examining such sound surety principles won’t give such principles ‘the short end of the stick.’

These materials are provided to NASBP members solely for educational and informational purposes. They are not to be considered the rendering of legal advice in specific cases or to create a lawyer-client relationship. Readers are responsible for obtaining legal advice from their own counsels, and should not act upon any information contained in these materials without such advice.

Members and affiliates, and non-members, for an additional fee, will be able to use the NASBP Career Center to reach qualified candidates.

This new resource provides features and options that employers and job seekers do not have through Pipeline, where members and affiliates previously announced jobs with NASBP. As part of the transition, NASBP is inviting interested parties to visit the NASBP Career Center http://www.nasbp.org/careers to create a new on-line account at no cost (the process takes less than 5 minutes), which allows everyone to take advantage of the new features and functionality, including:

1. A searchable resume database that is 100% devoted to matching individuals with bond producers, insurance agencies, brokers, and surety companies. When posting to the Career Center the categories include the following:

• Producer, Agent, Broker
• Acct Mgr, Acct Executive, Client Advisor
• Customer Service, Support, Admin
• Underwriter (e.g. Mgr, Specialist, Trainee)
• Claims Representative, Claims Analyst
• Marketing, Sales Representative
• Any
• Other

2. Auto notification, where employers can set the criteria for their firm’s ideal job candidate, and the NASBP Career Center will e-mail them when new resumes are a match. This option saves firms time by not having to visit the site every day to see if new candidates have been posted.

3. Job activity tracking, where an on-line account will include reports that show at a glance how effective a firm’s job posting is. Reports can be generated that show the number of individuals that have viewed the firm’s job, applied on-line, and how many times the firm’s job was sent out in a ‘job agent’ or ‘e-mailed to a friend.’

4. Featured employer profiles, where firms can advertise themselves to a focused, qualified talent pool of industry professionals. Employers can promote their firm and include information about their company including their logo, web site, and a Google’ Map to the firm’s location.

NASBP made a decision to launch the Career Center to help members and affiliates:

• quickly identify viable candidates and avoid wasting time sifting through masses of resumes of candidates to find only two or three that are worth interviewing.
• target specifically a niche talent pool of surety professionals. Based on web tracking statistics, for every job seeker that posts a resume on NASBP Career Center, there are many more who will be viewing the firm’s job listing in a given time period.
• access an economical service that is more competitively priced than the large job posting services. Members and affiliates receive the service for half of what non members and non affiliates pay. Also, a firm can list a position in many categories for the same price.
• word-search posted resumes. As an employer, firms have access to the database to search for key words at no additional charge whenever they post a job.
• manage job postings on-line 24 hours a day by providing tools to enter job descriptions, check the status of postings, renew or discontinue postings, and make payments on-line. Using their Visa, MasterCard or American Express, employers can post their jobs at the following rates. Click here http://careers.nasbp.org/rates.cfm to access the member and affiliate rates for various packages.

For job seekers, the NASBP Career Center is a free service that provides access to employers and jobs in the surety industry. In addition to posting their resumes, job seekers can browse and view available jobs based on their criteria and save those jobs for later review if they choose. Job seekers can also create a search agent to provide e-mail notifications of jobs that match their criteria.

The Career Center also gives job seekers the option to post their resumes in a public (full resume) or confidential (identity and contact information withheld) environment at no charge. If the job seeker selects a confidential environment, an employer can only contact the applicant using a ‘blind’ e-mail.

NASBP looks forward to continuing to provide members and affiliates with the best on-line resource for finding surety industry professionals nationwide. For more information about the NASBP Career Center, please call 1-888-491-8833 Ext. 1670 (Extension Required).

Through this national educational Program an underwriter from a surety company spends approximately one to two weeks with a contractor observing and studying operations both in the contractor’s office and on its job sites. The intern experiences the business of construction contracting firsthand. The Program’s goal is to help underwriters nationwide obtain a better understanding of the realities of contracting, the role of the surety underwriter, and the partnership that develops from the surety bonding relationship. Contractors typically host the intern for a five to ten day itinerary/schedule. Several contractors and interns who have participated in the Program recommend a 10-day itinerary/schedule. Click here for Sample Itineraries and click here for Sample Daily Activity Schedules that have been developed from contractors who have participated in the Program.

The benefits of Program participation go two ways. Contractors that have participated in the Program say that they gained a more complete understanding of the concerns and perspective of underwriters in assessing construction contractors. The intern underwriter may help the host contractor to learn how and why the underwriter analyzes the financial, and organizational capabilities of the contractor, including the its business plan, history of operations, and management.

By witnessing day-to-day contractor operations, such as the last-minute collection of final subcontractor and material pricing, surety underwriters, in turn, gain a better understanding of how contractors manage people, risk, work process, and finances. The intern gains a better appreciation of the pace, patterns, and processes that contractors follow on a daily and weekly basis. It is intended that the host contractor let the intern experience as many facets of the contractor’s business as possible during the itinerary/schedule, such as a bid day, so the underwriter can witness first-hand the ability of the contractor to handle numerous changes and the hectic environment of eleventh-hour bid tabulations.

The intern and the host contractor will confer and set the appropriate schedule and activities for maximum learning. The surety company pays all of the intern’s travel, lodging, and incidental expenses incurred to participate in the Program. Some participants have created an orientation notebook. Click here for a sample of the table of contents of a notebook based on one a contractor created that can easily be modified for another’s use. Please note that interns are placed only with contractors who have no business connection with the sponsoring surety company.

Contractors who would like to be a host for an intern and surety underwriters who would like to participate should contact NASBP at suretyintern@nasbp.org, phone (202) 686-3700 or fax (202) 686-3656, or click here to complete the Intern Form if you have an interest in participating as a surety underwriter intern, or click here to complete the Host Contractor Form if you have an interest in participating as a host contractor. Once NASBP is able to find a match, you will be contacted.

The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Secretariat will be submitting to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request to review and approve an extension of a currently approved information collection requirement concerning SF 28. The clearance currently expires on February 29, 2008. The Proposed Rule was published in the Federal Register on October 3, 2007 (Federal Register Vol. 72, No. 191, at 56337).

Public comments are invited on:

• Whether this collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of functions of the FAR, and whether it will have practical utility;
• Whether its estimate of the public burden of this collection of information is accurate, and based on valid assumptions and methodology;
• Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and
• Ways in which it can minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, through the use of appropriate technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology.

The SF 28 is used by all executive agencies, including the Department of Defense, to obtain information from individuals wishing to serve as sureties on federal projects.

NASBP plans to submit written comments. Members and affiliates interested in submitting their own comments should send them to the General Services Administration, FAR Secretariat (VIR), 1800 F Street, NW., Room 4035, Washington, DC 20405 on or before December 3.

Additional information about the public notice can be obtained from Patrick Conley, Contract Policy Division, GSA (202) 501-4770.

A Customs security area is defined by Customs regulations as: ‘the Federal inspection services area at any airport accommodating international air commerce designated for processing passengers, crew, their baggage and effects arriving from, or departing to, foreign countries, as well as the aircraft deplaning and ramp area and other restricted areas designated by the port director.’

The bond is quite simplistic in nature, a mere four short paragraphs:

1. Paragraph one is the standard language for identifying the parties and setting the bond limit.
2. Paragraph two identifies the specific airport and sets the bond for a one year term.
3. Paragraph three, the condition clause, reads: ‘Now, therefore, the condition of this obligation is such that the Principal agrees to comply with the Customs Regulations applicable to Customs security areas.’
4. Paragraph four, the final paragraph, provides that: ‘If the principal defaults on this obligation, the principal and surety jointly and severally agree to pay liquidated damages of $1,000 for each default or such other amount as may be authorized by law or regulation.’ (Emphasis added.)

The majority of the penalties issued by Customs related to this bond are due to the failure of employees to comply with the requirement to display or produce the Customs seal. Many are the result of employees forgetting the seal or ‘loaning’ their seal to another employee. The seal must be, at all times while in the security area, in the possession of the person in whose name it has been issued.

However, this is not the only violation (‘default’) of a regulation that can result in a penalty being issued by Customs. Since the bond language requires that the Principal comply with all of the regulations, one must review the nine pages of ‘Customs Regulations’ that apply to fully understand the risk that a contractor/vendor client is assuming when filing this bond.

In addition to assuming responsibility for each violation of the regulations by each and every one of its employees on site, the employer also has a number of additional responsibilities as required by the Customs regulations. Each time the contractor/vendor client violates any single regulation, Customs can issue a $1,000.00 penalty. These responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

1. Advise all such employees of the provisions of the Customs regulations relative to the security areas;
2. Require employees to familiarize themselves with those provisions;
3. Insure employee compliance;
4. Perform a background check on each applicant to the extent allowable by law;
5. Notify the port director in writing where the employee no longer requires access to the security area for an extended period of time due to a change in duties, termination of employment, or other reason;
6. Return any or all access seals when required to do so;
7. File a quarterly report with the port director listing all current employees who have an access seal;
8. Notify the port director if the employer becomes aware of any of the 52 reasons listed in the regulations that an access seal should be denied to an employee.

Your clients need to understand that each violation of a single regulation by the employer, or each violation of any single regulation by any employee, is considered to be a default and may result in a $1,000 penalty for liquidated damages by Customs. For a contractor or vendor with a significant number of employees working in security areas, the violations can be numerous. The obligation of your contractor is limited only by the penalty of the bond.

Multiple violations can result in a demand for a significant increase in the bond penalty by the port director. Following the tragic events of 9/11, Customs has provided little leeway in enforcement of these regulations.

The Customs regulations may be found on the following web site: http://www.ecfr.gpoaccess.gov Type: Title 19 and go to Section 122.

This is the fourth in a series of articles on Commercial Surety.

Prepared by NASBP’s Commercial Surety Committee member, Paul D. Amstutz. Paul is Executive Vice President ‘ Surety of Roanoke Trade Services, Inc. in Schaumburg, Illinois.

Now agents can use the new E-app System to enter the Agency’s Surety Bond Guarantee applications, to submit completed required SBA forms, and to forward information to the SBA. Click here to access instructions designed to guide an agent in how to use the new system http://www.sba.gov/eapplication/EAPPS_SB_AGENTS.html

Before SBA can issue an Agent User ID/Password, agents need confirmation from each Surety Company for which they have been authorized to write bonds. After SBA receives confirmation, SBA will send the agent an Electronic Data Certification to sign and return.

If a contractor accesses the system and does not have a surety bond agent, they will be shown a list of agents that participate in the SBG Program. Click here to view the instructions for contractors http://www.sba.gov/eapplication/eapps_sb_contractors.html

Once the relationship between the contractor and agent is established in the system, the contractor can submit their application to their agent.

The agent then will review it and input their portion of the application and submit it to SBA. Prior to submitting the application to SBA, the agent can send it back to the contractor for changes. The agent will be notified of SBA’s decision via e-mail. If the contractor does not want to submit their application to their agent electronically, the agent can input the entire application and submit it to SBA. The system populates the forms with the information that has been input, enabling the contractor and agent to print and sign them. Also, the Program forms have been revised and information has been consolidated.

The new system offers the following advantages:

1. Assists users in entering, approving, canceling, and reinstating bonds.
2. The ability to view/update information on the business and management.
3. The ability to add/update/compare the financial statements of the selected business in the system when applying for SBA bonds.
4. The ability to view/insert bonding line information.
5. The ability to capture GIA (General Indemnity Agreement) information.
6. The ability to capture the bank line of credit information of a business.

PowerPoint tutorials and User Manuals are designed specifically to help agents and contractors become acquainted with the system.

The new online e-application capability, coupled with recent rule changes, is combining to make bonding more available to small and emerging businesses through the SBA Bond Guarantee Program.

‘Streamlined rules for small businesses and for surety companies alike, along with quick and easy online access, will make it easier for small and emerging contractors to gain access to surety bonds so they can bid on public construction projects,’ said SBA Administrator Steve Preston. ‘These changes will support small businesses nationwide, particularly construction contractors in the devastated Gulf Coast region and other disaster stricken areas around the U.S.’

To access the E-app system click here http://www.sba.gov/eapplication.
For more information on SBA’s Surety Bond Guarantee Program, go online to http://www.sba.gov/osg/ for a list of area office contacts and SBA offices near your business or call 1-800-U ASK SBA.

Through the Surety Bond Guarantee (SBG) Program, the SBA works with participating surety companies to provide bid, payment, and performance bonds on contracts up to $2 million in value for small contractors by guaranteeing a percentage of losses sustained in the event of a default.

1. ConsensusDOCS 260: Performance Bond Form (coordinated with agreements between contractor and owner)
2. ConsensusDOCS 261: Payment Bond Form (coordinated with agreements between contractor and owner)
3. ConsensusDOCS 262: Bid Bond
4. ConsensusDOCS 263: Warranty Bond (coordinated for the agreements between contractor and owner)
5. ConsensusDOCS 470: Design-Build Performance Bond (Surety Liable for Design Costs)
6. ConsensusDOCS 471: Design-Build Performance Bond (Surety Not Liable for Design Costs)
7. ConsensusDOCS 472: Design-Build Payment Bond (Surety Liable for Design Costs)
8. ConsensusDOCS 473: Design-Build Payment Bond (Surety Not Liable for Design Costs)
9. ConsensusDOCS 706: Subcontract Performance Bond
10. ConsensusDOCS 707: Subcontract Payment Bond
11. ConsensusDOCS 760: Subcontract Bid Bond

ConsensusDOCS’ plans in the near future to eventually post samples of all of its documents on its web site, http://www.consensusdocs.org

Purchasing Documents at Member/Affiliate Discount

NASBP members and affiliates can receive up to 20% off their purchases of ConsensusDOCS forms if they insert the Partner Code, NASBP, and the Promotion Code, 400, when prompted during the purchase process from the ConsensusDOCS site.

Commentaries Available Without Purchase

ConsensusDOCS’ recently posted ConsensusDOCS Guidebook Commentaries that
provide an overview and offer suggested project-specific modifications for the following seven documents including agreements, general conditions, amendments and addendums. These are available for free to download from http://www.consensusdocs.org/information_product-commentary.html

Specifically the ConsensusDOCS’ include the following commentaries:

1. ConsensusDOCS’ 200: Owner/Contractor Standard Agreement & General Conditions (Lump Sum)
2. ConsensusDOCS’ 200.1: Time and Price Impacted Materials Amendment 1
3. ConsensusDOCS’ 200.2: Electronic Communications Protocol Addendum
4. ConsensusDOCS’ 240: Owner/Architect-Engineer Agreement
5. ConsensusDOCS’ 300: Standard Form of Tri-Party Agreement for Collaborative Project Delivery
6. ConsensusDOCS’ 410: Owner/Design-Builder Agreement and General Conditions (Cost Plus w/GMP) and
7. ConsensusDOCS’ 750: Contractor/Subcontractor Agreement

ConsensusDOCS’ plans to post commentaries for additional documents as they are completed.

To open each commentary after clicking the link above, right-click the document title and select ‘Save Target As”. Select the file location on your computer to which you wish to save the file.

Bill Haas at the Briarcliff, NY location was promoted to the role of Chief Executive Officer of USI Construction Practice Group. His responsibilities will include oversight of the New York, Westchester and Long Island Operations. Don Scotto assumes the role of President of USI Construction Practice Group of Long Island.

USI is headquartered in Briarcliff Manor, NY and operates out of 66 offices in 18 states.

Retirement

After 33 years with Alliant Insurance Services, Inc., Jack T. Warnock, senior vice president and broker in the surety department, has announced his retirement. Having started with Robert F. Driver Company on Oct. 16, 1974 as a broker, Warnock steadily rose up through the company, running the surety department for the last 20 years and ultimately becoming one of the key members of the management team that purchased the company in 1998. In 2001, the Robert F. Driver Company was merged into what is known today as Alliant Insurance Services.

Warnock, who has 40 years of surety experience with an emphasis in the construction industry, transferred the management of the surety department several years ago to Larry McMahon, first vice president, but had continued to assist with managing his accounts and the department.

Warnock, former branch underwriter for Aetna Casualty and Surety (now known as Travelers), started for Aetna’s Albany, N.Y. office in 1967, before transferring to the Omaha, Neb. offices in 1968. Warnock then moved his family to San Diego in 1974 to join Alliant Insurance. Warnock is also the past president of the Surety Association of San Diego, as well as having been active in public relations efforts for NASBP and the Surety Information Office (SIO).

Positions

1) SELECTIVE INSURANCE COMPANY OF AMERICA
At Selective Insurance, we specialize in developing careers for people who share our values of commitment, integrity and extraordinary service. As a leading regional property and casualty insurance organization, we provide a broad range of insurance products and services to an expanding market throughout our operating territory. A.M. Best has rated Selective A+ for 46 consecutive years.

Location: Columbus, OH
Title: Senior Regional Bond Manager

Description:

Responsible for the supervision of bond production, underwriting activities and management functions. Oversees the acceptance and declination and rating of risks. Responsible for meeting profitability goals within assigned region and possibly multiple regions. Establishes and develops agency relationships for new marketing opportunities in all bond product lines. Reviews and determines appropriate underwriting business decisions within assigned region.

Responsibilities:

• Depending on the level of experience may oversee multiple regions.
• Establish and develop agency relationships.
• Approve bonds exceeding individual underwriters’ authority.
• Develop department business plan and manage department budget.
• Produce bond premium by promoting Selective products.
• Periodically visit insureds to appraise their overall operation; visit agents.
• Keep abreast of current market conditions and advise the SBU of any changing situations affecting business levels.
• Supervise, coordinate, and monitor activities of a bond underwriting unit to obtain and ensure accurate, quality work, while maintaining high production standards.
• Provide technical guidance and expertise to underwriters.
• Evaluate new business when received.
• Schedule, prioritize, and distribute workflow of unit to ensure work is done in a timely fashion and all deadlines are met.
• Supervise training and cross training of staff.
• Evaluate and give guidance to staff on an ongoing basis as to their abilities and duties.
• Make recommendations to ensure proper and optimum use of personnel; interview and hire staff for the unit.
• Maintain all administrative records, including performance and salary reviews, attendance documentation, and production figures within the unit.
• Assist in the preparation of operating budgets and reports; develop and monitor management reports.
• Provide guidance to agents and policyholders; act as a liaison to other managers, supervisors and branches with whom the unit interacts.
• Mediate issues between agents, insureds, and other departments.
• Recommend procedural changes and plans; organize and implement these changes. Keep current on all changes affecting the unit’s work production and on changes within the insurance industry.
• Audit procedures and controls to ensure compliance with company and statutory requirements.

Qualifications

Required:

• Degree in a business related major: accounting, finance, business administration, or marketing
• 8 years of bond unit or similar experience in another surety company
• 2+ years’ management experience
• Excellent oral and written communication skills
• Must possess certification(s) identified as acceptable in Selective’s Commercial Lines Certification Policy or a demonstrated commitment to achieve certification within 3 years of hire date.

Preferred:

• Associate in Fidelity and Surety Bonding (AFSB)
• Introduction to Insurance (INTRO)
• General Insurance Program (INS)
• Negotiation Skills Workshop
• Legal Aspect of Claims
• CPCU

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, marital status, affectional or sexual orientation or sex.

Contact:

Brian Schwartz
Senior Recruiter
Corporate Human Resources
Selective Insurance Company of America
Phone: (973) 948-1571
e-mail: Brian.Schwartz@selective.com

2) OLD REPUBLIC SURETY COMPANY
Old Republic Surety Company has new underwriting opportunities as a result of promotions and retirements. With 15 straight years of profit, and written premium growth for a 6th straight year, we offer strength and stability for the right career-minded individuals.

a) For marketing-minded candidates who enjoy travel:

Location: Dallas, TX
Position: Field Underwriter

Responsibilities:

• Market and produce both contract and non-contract surety and fidelity bonds
• Underwrite submissions and renewals in the assigned territory
• Daily travel throughout the territory

Requirements:

• Several years of experience underwriting and marketing all types of surety bonds
• Strong analytical and communication skills
• Knowledge of the business climate in the market area
• Self-motivated, with strong interpersonal skills
• Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent highly preferred

Includes a company car and bonus programs.

b) For desk underwriters desiring limited travel:

Locations:
Portland, Oregon (Commercial & Fidelity Underwriting)
Dallas, Texas (Contract Underwriting)
Position: Surety Bond Underwriters

Responsibilities:

• Analyze and underwrite bond submissions within authority limits
• Visit and service agents and contractors, as needed
• Service existing bond accounts

Requirements:

• Several years of experience underwriting the bond types indicated above
• Strong analytical and communication skills
• Knowledge of the business climate in the market area
• Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent highly preferred

Contact:

Janell J. Manson
Vice President Human Resources
E-mail: manson@orsurety.com
Fax: 262-797-8874
Visit http://www.orsurety.com for more company information and territory assignments. EOE

3) PINNACLE SURETY & INSURANCE SERVICES
Pinnacle Surety & Insurance Services is a California bond only agency licensed in several states. Pinnacle Surety & Insurance Services has 20 markets and a tremendous support staff.

Job Location: Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Job Title: Producer

Description:

Seeking one seasoned professional bond producer with minimum book of $1,000,000 in premium. Top compensation package available for the right person.

Qualifications:

“Flexible” looking for the right person.

Contact:

Mark Richardson, Vice President
Pinnacle Surety & Insurance Services
151 Kalmus Drive, A-201
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Phone 714.546.5100 ex23
Cell 714.227.4001
E-mail: mrichardson@pinnaclesurety.com

Lassiter Ware Insurance
http://www.lassiter-ware.com
Maitland, FL
Key Contact: James Breen

Willis Insurance Services of California
http://www.willis.com
Irvine, CA
Key Contact: Victoria Campbell

• The Commercial Alliance Insurance Company (NAIC #10906), has been certified and added to theTreasury‘s Listing of Approved Sureties effective 10/19/07.
• A change in underwriting limitation for Swiss Reinsurance America Corporation (NAIC# 25364), effective October 31, 2007. The underwriting limitation has been increased and the new limitation is $364,914,000.

For a complete listing of all states where these companies are licensed to transact surety business, please refer to the Circular 570 at:http://fms.treas.gov/c570/c570.html and
http://fms.treas.gov/c570/supplements.html

Be sure to add the Articles Library to your browser ‘Favorites’ and check back regularly for new postings.

SIO Revamps Online Store

SIO’s online store has a new look! The addition of pictures of brochures, CDs, and PowerPoint’ presentations makes it easier to find what you’re looking for.

The shopping cart is now organized so all materials specific to a particular audience are listed under each audience. If a brochure, for example, is appropriate for contractors, public owners, and students, it will be listed in each category.

Check out SIO’s new online store today!