The U.S. Small Business Administration Surety Bond Guarantee Program (SBG) recently announced the most active agencies and sureties for fiscal year 2018, which contributed to a 7% increase in total contract amount guaranteed in the Program from the previous year. The standing of each agent and surety partner was determined by the number of bond guarantees they wrote through the SBG program. The mission of the SBA's Office of Surety Guarantees is to provide and manage surety bond guarantees for qualified small and emerging businesses in direct partnership with surety companies.
"The significant growth experienced by the SBG program in FY 2018 is a direct result of the great partnership with our sureties and authorized agents. Small businesses are more competitive, are impacting the marketplace, and are creating more jobs," said Peter C. Gibbs, Acting Director for the Office of Surety Guarantees.
“While we’re proud and honored to make the list for the second year in a row, I was equally proud to see that six of the top ten producing agents are members of NASBP, " said Joshua A. Etemadi, Assistant Vice President of Construction Bonds, Inc. of Herndon, VA. "It continues to show that NASBP members lead the industry with their innovation and commitment to excellence.”
Jeremy Crawford, President of CCI Surety, Inc. of Golden Valley, MN, said, "We are proud to be the single largest bond agency in the SBA Surety Bond Program. With the help of Peter Gibbs and his staff, our surety partners, and NASBP agents throughout the country, we have been able to assist many small businesses in obtaining surety credit that they otherwise wouldn’t qualify for."
In FY 2018, the SBA's guaranteed bid and final bonds reached more than $6.5 billion in total contract value, up $500M from FY 2017. With the work of the SBA's top performing surety partners and bond agencies, over 1,800 small businesses were assisted and over 31,000 jobs were supported.
"NASBP members are dedicated to meeting the bonding needs of small construction businesses," stated NASBP CEO Mark McCallum. "I extend my hearty congratulations to the NASBP firms that were among the top ten in participation through the SBA SBG Program."
As indicated in the SBA press release, the top performing bond agencies for FY2018 are:
CCI Surety, Inc. – Minn.
KOG International, Inc. – Del.
The Fedeli Group - OH
Nielson, Hoover and Company – Fla.
Preferred Bonding Services – Calif.
Valley Surety Insurance Agency – Calif.
Brunswick Companies - OH
Pinnacle Surety & Insurance Services, Inc. – Calif.
Surety Placement Services, LLC – Ariz.
Construction Bonds, Inc. – Va.
As indicated in the SBA press release, the top performing surety partners for FY2018 are:
American Contractors Indemnity Company – Md.
Travelers Casualty & Surety Company – Conn.
United States Surety Company – Md.
United States Fire Insurance Company – Del.
U.S. Specialty Insurance Company - TX
SureTec Insurance Company - TX
Contractors Bonding & Insurance Company – Ill.
Navigators Insurance Company – N.Y.
Developers Surety & Indemnity Company – Calif.
The Guarantee Company of North America – Mich.
The SBA guarantees surety bonds with surety companies and their agents by guaranteeing bids, performance, and payment bonds issued by participating surety companies for contracts up to $6.5 million and can guarantee a bond for a contract up to $10 million if a federal contracting officer certifies that SBA's guarantee is necessary for the small business to obtain bonding. The SBA also guarantees bonds under its QuickApp for contracts of up to $400,000 with limited paperwork and provides approvals within hours.
For questions regarding the program, visit the program website at www.sba.gov/osg or contact Peter Gibbs at peter.gibbs@sba.gov or 202.205.6540.