NASBP has the following four virtual seminars scheduled that you won’t want to miss on Tuesdays from 2 to 3 pm Eastern Time. Click here to register.

Nov 9 Construction Activity Outlook Mark Sherwood, McGraw-Hill Construction On November 9, NASBP will present a NASBP Virtual Seminar on key insights surety professionals should take from the McGraw-Hill 2011 Construction Outlook Report that was released at the end of October, 2010. The presenter, Mark “Rusty” Sherwood, who is vice president of Channel Partners, McGraw-Hill Construction, will present the near-term and long-term prospects for a broad range of project types including public works, electric utilities, single and multi-family housing, and commercial, institutional, and manufacturing building. Sherwood is a 28-year veteran of the U.S. construction industry, and he co-founded and chairs the AEC Business Builder’s Forum, a consortium of senior level AEC marketing and business development executives convened for the purpose of debate and consideration of present trends, economic issues and best practices shaping our industry.

Nov 30 Customs Bonds Colleen Clarke, Roanoke Trade Services, Inc. and Bruce Haskell, C.A. Shea & Company, Inc. The NASBP Virtual Seminar being offered on November 30 is entitled “Customs Bonds in Today’s Environment.” If you’ve ever had a client call and ask about a U.S. Customs bond, anti-dumping or countervailing duties, reconciliation, PMS, or ISF, then this will be a valuable learning experience! The seminar will be presented by Colleen Clarke, Vice President, Surety for Roanoke Trade Services, Inc. and Bruce Haskell, President and CFO of C.A. Shea & Company, Inc., and discussion will include coverage and risk involved with customs bonds, anti-dumping and countervailing duty, how reconciliation and monthly statements can help your clients, new programs like ISF, and other bonds that may be less mainstream.

Dec 7 Enterprise Risk Management (Presented in collaboration with the Construction Financial Management Association) The panel of presenters will include Linda Conrad, Director of Strategic Business of Zurich; David Hewett, Executive Vice President of Zurich Financial Services; and Scott Rasor, President of Construction of Zurich North America Construction. A more detailed description of this Virtual Seminar will be forthcoming and posted at the NASBP web site.

Dec 16 The Year in Review and the Year Ahead: A Government Relations Town Hall Meeting Mark McCallum, Lawrence LeClair, Vanessa Stevens, NASBP Headquarters (Complimentary) NASBP will present a Virtual Seminar on December 16 from 2 to 3 pm EDT where NASBP Chief Executive Officer Mark McCallum, NASBP Director of Government Relations Larry LeClair, and Coordinator of Grassroots/Communications Vanessa Stevens will share their predictions about the federal and state legislation and industry issues that they believe the surety industry will face in 2011, as well as how you can keep up to date on issues and become more active. Be sure to bring your questions. This Government Relations Update is complimentary to all NASBP members, affiliates, and associates.

Audio Recordings of NASBP Virtual Seminars

Soon to be available to download is the October 26, NASBP Virtual Seminar titled, “A Contractor’s Perspective on Public-Private Partnerships–Opportunities and Pitfalls.” It addressed the latest development in project delivery systems being used by more states to address the burgeoning decay of our civil and social infrastructure. The presenter, J. William Ernstrom, who is Vice President, Strategic Major Project Advisor of The Walsh Group, explained what PPP’s are, the opportunities PPP’s offer surety professionals’ contractor clients, and the pitfalls these clients should be aware of in the new PPP world.

To order the recordings of other NASBP Virtual Seminars, click here.

These NASBP Virtual Seminars are a quick, economical, and effective way to help members, associates, and affiliates obtain current information on issues critical to their business success. They offer the membership an opportunity to bring their office staff together to hear an expert deliver a presentation, to ask questions, and to discuss a topic of immediate relevance to the industry. The typical format includes fifty minutes of information followed by five to ten minutes of questions and answers, at $65 per call-in line. NASBP occasionally provides complimentary seminars to the membership. An entire office can listen with a speakerphone in the same room. Recordings may be purchased by NASBP members, affiliates and associates.

For more information about these Virtual Seminars and to order the recordings, click here. For questions or suggestions about NASBP Virtual Seminars, contact Cathrine Nelson at cnelson@nasbp.org or 202-686-3700.