SIO Announces 2011 Excellence Award Winners

The Surety Information Office (SIO), operated jointly by NASBP and SFAA, recently recognized local surety associations (LSAs) and individual NASBP and SFAA members for their excellence in the surety industry.

The Gold and Silver awards recognize LSAs for conducting ten and five public relations and educational activities, respectively, in a calendar year to promote the use of contract surety bonds in construction to non-surety audiences. The Advocacy Award is awarded to LSAs that conduct significant activities advocating for suretyship, other than through public relations or educational efforts, by fighting proposed legislation that waives bonds or increases bond thresholds or by advocating for reasonable bond forms.

This year’s GOLD AWARD was given to the following:

• Florida Surety Association – The Florida Surety Association conducted numerous activities to promote the surety industry in Florida, including reaching out to Miami-Dade and Broward Counties regarding their accepting only letters of credit and cash bonds as security for developers. FSA is working with these counties to have surety bonds accepted. The Association also performed several activities that helped small and emerging contractors. An FSA member serves on the board that oversees the Miami-Dade Community Small Business Enterprise, which meets quarterly to discuss the benefits of bonding and how CSBE contractors can obtain bonding; additionally, FSA members and FDOT made five separate presentations on bonding to small and emerging contractors and provided bonding assistance, resulting in many contractors applying for and obtaining their first bonds. Furthermore, FSA’s tri-annual Bond Newsletter, which provides information to contractors on maintaining bond lines of credit and how to obtain bonds without a line in place, reaches 11,000 contractors across the state.
• Surety Association of Kansas City – The Surety Association of Kansas City made several presentations on the importance and benefits of bonding to new construction firm owners, entry-level construction employees, and small disadvantaged business owners and to nearly 40 small business owners participating in the KCMO Human Relations Department’s Small Local Business Enterprise Program. SAKC members discussed the benefits of bonding at the Kansas Contractor’s Association Fall Days event and during a webinar for the Ceilings and Interior Systems Construction Association. Members also spoke about the importance of bonding subcontractors at the Builder’s Association Estimating Academy in Kansas City.
• Surety Association of San Diego – The Association educated small contractors on the benefits of bonding through presentations to the San Diego Unified Schools’ and San Diego Library’s outreach programs for small and emerging contractors. Association members set up a booth at a San Diego Unified School District Vendor Fair and answered participants’ questions about bonding and gave presentations to explain the benefits of and promote bonding to the San Diego Airport Authority and the Joint Powers Authority of San Diego County Schools. An SASD member also spoke to a large group of private and public owners on the value of bonds at the Associated General Contractors of America’s conference.
• Surety Underwriters Association of Southern California – The Surety Underwriters Association of Southern California presented numerous programs on surety bonding and the value of bonds for various audiences, including a presentation at the Community Contractor Academy Program for the Pasadena Unified School District and the Native American Procurement Conference. Several activities were geared toward promoting bonding to small contractors and informing them about and assisting them with the bonding process. SUASC members set up an exhibit at the Hensel Phelps Construction Opportunity Outreach Event and at the City of Burbank Small Business Conference, gave a presentation to 8(a) contractors, and conducted six workshops as part of the Bonding Education Program.

The SILVER AWARD was given to:

• Surety Association of Arizona – The Surety Association of Arizona taught a class on bonding and construction as part of MESA, the Management Excellence Series of the American Subcontractor’s Association of Arizona, which is geared toward specialty trade contractors. SAA members conducted educational presentations to contracting officers at Hill Air Force Base in Utah on the benefits of bonding and the prequalification process and to the Minority Business Development Association on bonding capacity and what companies are looking for from contractors seeking bonding. An SAA member also taught a project management certificate program on insurance and the value of bonding at ASU’s Alliance for Construction Excellence.
• Surety Association of Indiana – The Surety Association of Indiana performed numerous activities aimed at helping minority- and women-owned business enterprises (MWBEs) and other small contractors. The SAI partnered with the Indianapolis Black Chamber of Commerce to implement SFAA’s Model Contractor Development Program® (MCDP) for United Water. The Association also worked with SFAA to implement the MCDP® in Indiana, which launched on March 22, 2012. SAI members also put on several educational programs on the benefits of bonding, including presentations to the NFL’s Emerging Business Program and the Department of Homeland Security. The SAI also established a Memorandum of Understanding with the Indiana Minority Business Center and will be providing bonding seminars in 2012. Additionally, SAI set up booths and provided bonding information at the Indiana Minority Resource Fair and the Supplier Diversity Pulse Check for Citizen Energy Group.
• Surety Association of Ohio – The Surety Association of Ohio performed several educational activities on the basics and benefits of bonding, including presentations to a large mechanical contractor on the importance and benefits of bonding larger subcontractors and to the African American Chamber of Commerce on bonding minority contractors and how to grow surety support. An SAO member also met with senior management at Sherwin Williams, including the vice president of enterprise risk management, who considered doing away with bond requirements in exchange for an irrevocable letter of credit. SAO educated management on the surety product, protection, and the bonding process.
• Surety & Fidelity Association of Nevada – The Surety & Fidelity Association of Nevada conducted various activities promoting the value of surety bonds such as presenting on the transfer of risk and other bonding basics to the Nevada chapter of the Risk and Insurance Management Society and leading a discussion on bonds versus default insurance at a networking event. Association members also participated in Industry Appreciation Night for local contractors by giving a promotional speech on surety bonds and having an information table with materials on bonding. The Association also made a couple of presentations to general and artisan contractors on how to obtain bonding.
• Surety Association of St. Louis – The Surety Association of St. Louis made educational presentations to the Associated General Contractors of Missouri and the Young Executives of SITE, a construction trade association in St. Louis. During a presentation to the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Office, SASL members offered financial advice and information on mentor programs and other alternatives to bonding to firms trying to obtain bonding. Also, an SASL member’s letter convinced the City of Ferguson, which initially wanted payment and performance bonds along with a contract bond, to remove the contract bond from the requirement.

ADVOCACY AWARD’s were presented to:

• Florida Surety Association – The Florida Surety Association continued its long tradition of advocacy for the surety industry in 2011, including participation in NASBP’s National Fly-In and meeting with Congressional members to promote the use of surety bonds for public works projects in Florida and lobbied for the permanent repeal of the 3% withholding requirement. The Association also met with legislators in the State Capitol and addressed several pieces of proposed legislation. The focus of FSA’s many other activities were advocating for changes to bond forms, rating requirements, and onerous contract terms.
• Surety Association of Ohio –The Surety Association of Ohio convinced the City of Columbus to amend confusing language in their bond forms and remove language from the payment and performance bonds that held sureties liable for property and bodily damage. Association members, concerned that Cuyahoga County would eliminate the 100% bonding requirement in its construction reform, met with county officials to ensure that they understood the benefits of surety protection and also participated in efforts throughout the year to persuade the Ohio Department of Administrative Services of the importance of 100% bonding on design-building and CM at-risk projects.
• Surety Association of Wisconsin – The Surety Association of Wisconsin met with the WI DOT to address the surety underwriting process as it pertained to their contractors providing the state with finalized projects. They also discussed state prequalification versus surety prequalification, and SAW members explained it was not necessary for the DOT to obtain financials for prequalification purposes, since sureties monitor contractors’ financial standing on an interim basis. The Association succeeded in getting more favorable contract terms for contractors and subs on the Lambeau Field Expansion Project and also worked with Eau Claire County to deal with a spec requirement for multi-year warranties. After SAW explained the loss of competition and increased costs associated with the requirement, the spec was amended to a one-year term.

Reminder – Be on the Look Out for this Month’s issue of ENR!

SIO once again teamed up with Engineering News-Record (ENR) magazine to deliver the most widely distributed coverage of surety bonding of the year by producing its annual surety advertising supplement. SIO developed the editorial content for the special surety supplement, which will be published in the June 25, 2012, edition of the magazine. Written by SFAA and NASBP staff and surety industry professionals, the surety supplement will feature an overview of today’s surety marketplace, interviews with industry executives, and articles on this year’s theme: Surety and Infrastructure.