NASBP Has Launched the Year with a Terrific Lineup of Events and Activities!
Each year, as the snow slowly melts away, NASBP activities begin to awaken as we move closer toward our NASBP Annual Meeting. This year’s activities are a mix of in-person and virtual events.
2022 Winter Session of the NASBP Surety School
We recently completed the 2022 NASBP William J. Angel Winter Surety School in Dallas–you know, that big city to the east of Fort Worth! This year’s Winter School was a huge success but had to overcome many obstacles. Matt Cashion, Chair of the NASBP Professional Development Committee, shared his thoughts on the Winter School:
“The 2022 William J. Angell Winter Surety School Session was a challenge during the Omicron variant surge. Due to the perseverance of the registered students, NASBP staff, and the volunteer faculty, both sessions of Level I and II were a success. The virus surge caused many people to adjust their schedules; however, due to the popularity of NASBP’s Surety School, each session remained at capacity. Some students weren’t notified of their acceptance until a few days prior to the School start due to others having to cancel at the last minute. As a group, however, these students were diligent in their safety precautions, respectful of all, and eager to get back to an in-person educational program. Their engagement level during class was outstanding!
Many faculty members also had to make adjustments because of the virus, but due to the Professional Development Committee’s continued development of excellent teachers and the passion of the volunteers, each class had the industry’s best talent teaching, leading, and engaging. These selfless individuals are the backbone of NASBP’s educational efforts.
Keeping everything running smoothly before, during, and after the School is our professional NASBP staff of Kat Shamapande and Bethany Jones. They probably faced the biggest tasks in pulling the School off due to the virus and its impact. Enough can’t be said about their efforts.”
For more details, see the article about the award winners from this Winter Session of the School in this issue.
PAC Events
Virtual Legislative Fly-in
NASBP and SFAA will hold the Legislative Fly-in as a virtual event again on May 25, 2022. Monica Donatelli, NASBP Government Relations Committee Vice Chair, voiced some of her feelings about her first time participating in a NASBP Fly-in:
“When I think about President Tracy Tucker’s theme, “Better Together,” I immediately reflect on the contacts and relationships NASBP forged over the years at the annual Legislative Fly-in. While my opinion may be somewhat biased, as Chair of the Government Relations Committee (GR), nevertheless, I have seen the positive results of building long-term relationships on Capitol Hill. Those relationships were established not by happenstance–rather by NASBP Government Relations Committee (GR) and NASBP rank-and-file members, along with SFAA members, year after year, sometimes in the sweltering heat and humidity of Washington, DC, united together on a particular policy issue(s) on behalf of the industry. Whether the united effort was to defeat and/or support legislation, NASBP and SFAA members are stronger and better together.
Our legislative successes have been plentiful over years, beginning with requiring individual sureties to furnish legitimate assets to support their bonds, and capping off 2021 with two huge victories, which included: (1) a provision in the annual defense spending bill to exempt the Miller Act from threshold adjustments based on inflation; and (2) a provision in the bipartisan infrastructure bill to require payment and performance security on all federally financed infrastructure projects receiving loans and grants under the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act, including public-private partnership projects. As GR Chair, I am proud of these legislative accomplishments, and I have come to realize that enacting legislation is extremely difficult and success is only achievable when there is a united, full-throttled effort, because we all are “better together.”
NASBP Membership Questionnaire
Another initiative that NASBP has undertaken is being led by Patrick Pribyl, NASBP’s Third Vice President. Pribyl is heading a task force to look into our membership structure and evaluate the points where members see the value of NASBP. The task force developed a questionnaire to assess your feelings concerning the events, services, and publications that NASBP produces. I hope you took the time to participate in the online questionnaire, which was originally emailed to you on the morning of February 9, 2022. We really want as much participation and feedback as possible to better understand what you value about your membership in NASBP.
2022 NASBP Annual Meeting
Be sure to be on the lookout for more details from NASBP about our 2022 NASBP Annual Meeting held from May 1 to 4 at the JW Marriott in Palm Desert, CA. The opportunity to network face-to-face, catch up with old friends, and collaborate on current industry topics will prove the truth of my theme for the year–that we truly are “Better Together.”
Tracy Tucker is President of Tucker Agency, Ltd. in Fort Worth, TX. He can be reached at tracy@tuckeragency.com or 817.336.8520.
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