November 2006

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• This Year’s ABC Surety Supplement A Must Have!
• SIO Awards: Still Time to Promote Surety Bonds
• Keep Up with the Joneses: Order New SIO Vehicle Today
• On the Move? Let SIO Know!
• SIO Wins Award for ENR Surety Supplement
• SIO Wins Risk Management Association ‘Best Series’ Award
• Free PDA Cases: While Supplies Last
• Up for Grabs! SIO Donating Exhibit Booth

This Year’s ABC Surety Supplement A Must Have!

There’s no doubt about it. The construction industry is booming. The question is, “how are contractors going to manage their growth and the risks associated with an economic cycle that is booming?”

SIO recently interviewed about 20 surety executives for their perspectives on the current construction environment and the outlook for the surety industry for its annual surety supplement for the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) Construction Executive. The executives agreed surety capacity is available to meet qualified contractors’ needs, regardless of whether they are small, middle, or jumbo contractors.

A bigger concern for contractors, some executives said, is growing too fast. Any commercial contractor can grow in a booming construction environment, but those who look to a professional surety bond producer and underwriter to help them manage their growth in a disciplined manner are better prepared for the long-term.

SIO developed the editorial content for the surety supplement, which has just been published and may be ordered via SIO’s online store or downloaded. In this issue, executives address:

• The current state of the construction environment, surety availability, and outlook for the surety industry;
• What sureties look for in a bond-worthy contractor;
• Questions contractors should ask their surety underwriter and bond producer;
• Why a contractor’s financials are so important to the surety;
• The role of the construction accountant;
• How safety affects a contractor’s ability to obtain a bond;
• How bonding private projects opens doors to more work;
• The differences between contract surety bonds and bank letters of credit;
• Key events that cause contractor failure;
• What contractors should know to prevent default;
• What the surety industry is doing for emerging contractors;
• Legislation affecting contractors; and
• What’s going on with electronic surety bonding.

“The support we have received from sureties and agencies this year is unprecedented,” said Marla McIntyre, SIO Executive Director. “This is the biggest surety issue ever, and it simply would not have been possible without their participation. I know we say it every year, but the surety supplement keeps getting bigger and better!”

ABC published more than 50,000 copies of the November issue, which features the 64-page supplement and reaches an estimated 114,000 key construction decision-makers. The surety supplement is an extremely popular tool for contractors and subcontractors. If you’re giving a presentation, meeting, or exhibiting to this audience, order copies to distribute today.

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SIO Awards: Still Time to Promote Surety Bonds

Don’t sweat it! Local surety associations and individual members of The Surety & Fidelity Association of America (SFAA) and National Association of Surety Bond Producers (NASBP) still have about two months to complete promotional activities to count toward the 2006 Awards for Excellence in Surety Bond Promotion. Meanwhile, SFAA and NASBP members also need to convince a construction owner or lender to require a surety bond on a project by the end of the year to be eligible for the Tiger Trust.

• Silver Award – for LSAs that conduct at least five activities;
• Gold Award – for LSAs that conduct 10 or more activities; and
• Platinum Award – for an individual member of SFAA or NASBP who has undertaken special initiatives to promote contract surety bonds; is not based simply on volume, but takes into account the impact of the member’s actions in promoting the value and benefits of contract surety bonds.

Entries for the SIO awards are due February 9, 2007. For more information, visit SIO’s Web site or call Marc Ramsey, SIO Communications Manager, at (202) 686-7463.

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Keep Up with the Joneses: Order New SIO Vehicle Today

SIO has just rolled two shiny new vehicles onto its show room floor. Don’t you want to be the first on your block to park them in your driveway?

The first, Helping Contractors Grow: Surety Bonds for New & Emerging Contractors, is a multipurpose vehicle especially for new and emerging contractors and comes well-equipped with options including bonding assistance and support programs, bond guarantee programs, and mentor-protégé and training programs. Helping Contractors Grow is available free via SIO’s online store or may be downloaded.

The second is a remake of a classic, SBA’s Surety Bond Guarantee Program. This vehicle features fine detailing and exquisite handling ideal for small contractors. It is also available free via SIO’s online store or may be downloaded.

Be the Joneses. Drive these must-have vehicles off the SIO lot today!

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On the Move? Let SIO Know!

Remember the Seinfeld episode where Jerry bounces a check at a convenience store? His mother insists on sending him $50, and to further humiliate him, the shop owner posts his bounced “clown” check on the wall behind the cash register and all his friends see it.

Perhaps SIO should publish a wall of shame in LSA Communiqué of all the bounced e-mails to local surety association officers who change addresses or contact information without notifying us!

Of course, circumstances aren’t so bad that SIO will have to go to that extreme, but we do need your help keeping us posted of your comings and goings. After all, there are 183 LSA officers involved in 47 active local surety associations.

Please take a moment to review your officers’ contact information listed in SIO’s online LSA Directory, and if any updates are required, please have your LSA Secretary complete and submit this update form.

Sorry, sending you 50 bucks is not an option!

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SIO Wins Award for ENR Surety Supplement

SIO was awarded first place in the Advertorial category of the Construction Writers Association’s (CWA) 2006 Marketing Communications Awards for its surety supplement published in Engineering News-Record.

Judges called the surety supplement entry “extremely informative” and said “a broad selection of industry experts was represented.”

Marc Ramsey, SIO Communications Manager, accepted the award at a dinner presentation during CWA’s midyear meeting October 19, 2006, in Chicago.

A PDF of the surety supplement, published June 5, 2006, can be downloaded via SIO’s Web site. Since the PDF was posted online, it has been downloaded almost 6,800 times!

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SIO Wins Risk Management Association ‘Best Series’ Award

SIO took first place in the Risk Management Association’s Journalistic Excellence Award for “Best Series” for two articles published in The RMA Journal by Marla McIntyre, SIO Executive Director, and Dev Strischek, SunTrust Bank. “Surety in Today’s Construction Market: Changing Times for Contractors, Bankers, and Sureties” appeared in the May 2005 issue, and “Mitigating Real Estate Construction Risk: How Surety Bonds Protect Borrowers and Bankers” ran in November 2005.

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Free PDA Cases: While Supplies Last

SIO has a supply of PDA cases to give away. If you would like some as a giveaway item for your next presentation to contractors, project owners, or other construction-related audiences, call SIO at (202) 686-7463 or send e-mail to sio@sio.org and let us know how many you need.

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Up for Grabs! SIO Donating Exhibit Booth

The 4-foot by 6-foot tabletop exhibit booth that SIO has made available to LSAs for trade shows and exhibits needs a permanent home. SIO will donate the exhibit to the first local surety association that contacts SIO at (202) 686-7463 or sio@sio.org. SIO is replacing the tabletop exhibit booth with professional posterboards that target specific audiences and that are easier and more cost-effective to mail.

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