NASBP, in partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Surety Guarantees (OSG), concluded its fourth bonding educational program of 2018 on August 8 in Dundalk, MD. The other three programs were held in Las Vegas; Cary, NC; and Milwaukee, WI. During each of these programs, subcontractors and small business owners participated in a half-day event, titled “Your Path to Surety Bonds: What Small Businesses Need to Know,” to learn more about obtaining bonding and how to pursue public construction work. NASBP and the SBA began planning the four programs in late 2017 after signing a memorandum of understanding.
During the Program small and emerging contractors had the opportunity to listen to the success story of contractor Maria Patricia Corrales, who is Vice 
President of Capital Construction Enterprises and the founding member of the DC Chapter of the Hispanic Contractors Association. Corrales worked with Josh Etemadi of NASBP member firm Construction Bonds Inc., to secure a bond through the SBA Office of Surety Guarantees. Corrales also shared her unique journey to contracting, beginning with her initial exposure to the industry at the age of six and how she learned to build both buildings and her business from the ground up. She explained how Etemadi helped her through the process of providing the proper paperwork to secure a bond, and she encouraged other prospective small contractors to do the same by saying, “If I could do it, you [program attendees] can do it too.” Corrales is pictured left speaking at the Program and pictured right talking with Etemadi.
Etemadi and Edin Zukanovic, who is also with Construction Bonds, continued the discussion on obtaining surety bonds by highlighting the process for small businesses, detailing construction accounting principles and the necessary business insurance for contractors. They were followed by Jon Williams, a partner with the law firm of PilieroMazza of the firm's Government Contracts Group, who provided insight on performance risk, construction law, and contracting issues as well as remedies available to small businesses involved in legal disputes. The program also included featured speakers from the SBA who discussed their expertise concerning bond and loan guarantees to assist small, emerging, and underserved contractors, while the General Services Administration and Maryland Procurement Technical Assistance Center walked attendees through the federal procurement process and discussed ways that a small business can access state, local, and private contracting opportunities. Below, Zukanovic is pictured (standing on the far right) with NASBP CEO Mark McCallum (middle) and NASBP Director of Government Relations Larry LeClair (far left).
NASBP is devoted to providing resources to small and emerging contractors. All four programs were led by a team of experienced surety professionals, covering the basics of contract bonding and other key topics with a primary focus on establishing surety credit relationships and providing information to small businesses that plan to pursue contracts that require bonding. NASBP will continue its commitment to provide essential information about surety bonds and to make emerging and disadvantaged small businesses aware of the SBA Surety Bond Guarantee (SBG) Program. For additional information about these programs, visit www.nasbp.org/bondingacrossamerica.
Etemadi and Zukanovic are two of several NASBP members working with the SBG Program to help small contractors. Devin Moore of NASBP member firm Moore Surety Bonds Agency also has helped small and emerging businesses access capital and grow revenue through the SBA program, often securing bonds for small contractors. Moore has a proven commitment to ensuring the success of small contractors. Recently, Moore helped a company grow its revenue to over 100% percent. Moore also has participated in U.S. Department of Transportation bonding educational programs, where he helped small contractors develop strategic plans for their firms. In addition, Michael Williams of NASBP member firm CCI Surety, another firm focused on bonding success for small businesses, has been helping the Acting Director of the OSG, Peter Gibbs, to meet with and be introduced to personnel of surety companies interested in participating in the SBA SBG Program.
For more information about the SBA’s SBG Program, visit the SBA website. Be sure to read the Capitol Hill Update in this issue of Pipeline to learn about the proposed SBA Bond Guarantee Temporary Fee Reduction and NASBP's comments on the proposal.