On Wednesday, May 20 NASBP held its Virtual Event: Bonding with Bandwidth. Then NASBP President John Bustard presented the following awards, the NASBP Bruce T. Wallace Award, the John “Jack” J. Curtin, Jr. President’s Award, as well as the NASBP & SFAA Surety Industry Awards. Among the Surety Industry Awards presented were the Tiger Trust Award, the Gold Award, the Silver Award, and the Advocacy Award.

The Bruce T. Wallace Award was established in 1990 in memory of the Association’s first executive vice president, who served for over 29 years, and is awarded by the Executive Committee to an individual who has distinguished himself or herself through years of exceptional service to NASBP and to the surety industry. The recipient is an individual who has performed throughout his or her career in accordance with the highest ethical standards and demonstrated a service characterized by commitment, consistency, intensity, and impact. This year’s winner is William Cowan of Insurance Associates, Inc. in Rockville, MD.

The John “Jack” J. Curtin, Jr. President’s Award honors an individual, who is chosen by the NASBP President for his or her outstanding service contributions during the President’s term to the Association and to the surety industry. The award was first presented in 2007 to John “Jack” J. Curtin, Jr., for whom the award is named. This year there were two winners:  Jason Gusso (left) of Gusso Surety Bonds in Sioux Falls, SD, and Rusty Lear (right) of Flood & Peterson in Greeley, CO.

Surety Industry Awards

NASBP and SFAA jointly present these awards to recognize NASBP and SFAA surety professionals for their excellence in Surety Bond Promotion and Advocacy.
 
The Tiger Trust Award is an award given to an individual employed by a NASBP or SFAA member who persuades a public or a private construction project owner or lender to require surety bonds on a project. This year’s winner is Mark Munekawa of Woodruff-Sawyer & Co. in San Francisco, CA. Munekawa worked diligently to convince his client to bond the general contractor on a $79 million project. The client obtained performance and payment bonds for the full amount of the project, and only a few weeks later the client came back for subdivision bonds for another project.

These following awards honor local surety associations (LSAs) for promoting the value and protections of contract surety bonds in construction to non-surety audiences and for advocating on behalf of the surety industry to obligees and legislatures. These awards were first announced at the NASBP Virtual Event: Bonding with Bandwidth on May 20, 2020.

Gold Award

The Gold Award recognizes LSAs for conducting at least ten public relations and educational activities in a calendar year to promote the use of contract surety bonds in construction to non-surety audiences. Two were honored this year:

Florida Surety Association—FSA offered educational presentations to accountants, bankers, owners, and contractors, including Miami Dade Public Schools, CFMA, and AGC of South FL.

Rocky Mountain Surety Association—RSMA did educational presentations for multiple entities, including the U.S. Department of Transportation, Colorado Procurement Technical Assistance Center, and Colorado State University.

Silver Award

The Silver Award recognizes LSAs for conducting at least five public relations and educational activities in a calendar year to promote the use of contract surety bonds in construction to non-surety audiences. Three were honored this year:

Surety Association of Kansas City—The Surety Association of Kansas City made educational presentations to multiple groups, including the Society of American Military Engineers (SAME), students at Kansas State University, and Kansas City Strategic Partnership Program.

Surety Association of Ohio—SAO made multiple education presentations, with audiences including the Builders Exchange of Central Ohio, contractors at the U.S. DOT Bonding Education Program, and SAME.

Surety Association of San Diego—SASD offered educational presentations to Associated General Contractors members, Construction Financial Managers Association (CFMA) members, subcontractors, and students.

Advocacy Award

The Advocacy Award recognizes LSAs conducting activities, other than public relations or educational, to advocate for suretyship. Four were honored this year:

Florida Surety Association—FSA met with over ten Florida state legislators on Legislative Day and wrote letters to multiple government entities about member concerns.

Rocky Mountain Surety Association—RMSA visited the Colorado legislature and offered testimony and support to HB 19-1043, a bill that offered a surety bond as an option of financial assurance required for Life Care Institutions. The bill was later passed.

Surety Association of Georgia—Surety Association of Georgia contacted multiple counties and cities regarding onerous bond forms, extended warranty time frames and other outdated provisions

Surety Association of Puerto Rico—SAPR had meetings with the Puerto Rico Housing Authority, General Services Administrastion of PR, and the Infrastructure and Finance Authority of PR.

Congratulations to all the winners!