LSA Communiqué

January 2007

Headlines

Last Call for SIO Awards Entries
Promotional Ideas to Start Year Strong
LSA Directory Update
Are You Receiving Networker?

Last Call for SIO Awards Entries

Last call! Last call for SIO awards entries!

Award	Definition	How to Enter
Silver Award for Excellence in Surety Bond Promotion	For LSAs that conduct 5 public relations activities to promote the value and benefits of contract surety bonds	Rules and Nomination Form
Gold Award for Excellence in Surety Bond Promotion	For LSAs that conduct 10 public relations activities to promote the value and benefits of contract surety bonds	Rules and Nomination Form
Platinum Award for Excellence in Surety Bond Promotion	For an individual NASBP or SFAA member who has undertaken special initiatives to promote contract surety bonds; based on the impact of a member’s actions to promote surety bonds, not simply on the volume of activities	Rules and Nomination Form
Tiger Trust	For an NASBP or SFAA member who convinced a private construction owner or lender to require bonding on a project	Rules and Nomination Form
Entries for the 2006 SIO Awards for Excellence in Surety Bond Promotion and Tiger Trust are due February 9, 2007. For more information, visit www.sio.org/surety/awards.html or call Marc Ramsey, SIO Communications Manager, at (202) 686-7463.

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Promotional Ideas to Start Year Strong

Start the new year strong! Here are two easy ideas for promoting contract surety bonds that can be included in your entry for SIO’s 2007 Silver and Gold Awards for Excellence in Surety Bond Promotion.

Jeff Cutshall, President, Alabama Surety Association, and Surety Manager, J. Smith Lanier & Co. in Birmingham, suggests promoting subcontractor bonding to your larger general contractor accounts. Be sure to use SIO’s:

“Reducing Subcontractor Financial Risk” (choose “Save” to download to your computer)
“Subcontractor Bonding: Everything You Should Know About This Important and Time-Honored Risk-Management Strategy” (Constructor, April 2003).

Another idea is to contact state agencies such as the Department of Transportation to see if they know of any minority or disadvantaged business enterprises needing help. Use SIO’s:

Contact Samuel A. Carradine, Director of Development & Diversity, The Surety & Fidelity Association of America (SFAA), at (202) 778-3638 for information about SFAA’s Model Contractor Development Program or for help implementing the program in your state.

For questions or more information, call Marc Ramsey, SIO Communications Manager, at (202) 686-7463.

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LSA Directory Update

Please take a moment to review your officers’ contact information listed in SIO’s online LSA Directory. If any updates are required, please have your LSA Secretary complete and submit this update form no later than January 19, 2007.

The LSA Directory on the SIO Web site received more than 4,100 visitors in 2006 (through November 30, 2006), so it’s important to keep the directory up to date for those who are looking for surety professionals locally or who have questions about surety bonding on a local level.

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Are You Receiving Networker?

SIO distributes two electronic newsletters, the LSA Communiqué and Surety Bond Networker, to our list of local surety association (LSA) officers. Please forward these free newsletters on to your LSA members or colleagues who may be interested in learning more about promoting surety bonding. Those wishing to subscribe to Surety Bond Networker should send an e-mail to sio@sio.org.

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