March 2008

Home | Handbook | Free Stuff | PPTs | News | Awards | About | Update

Headlines

• Awards Honor 10 LSAs, 7 Surety Professionals
• Resources You Can Bank On
• Accessed Online LSA Handbook Yet?

Awards Honor 10 LSAs, 7 Surety Professionals

The Oscars are over, but the excitement is just beginning. SIO will present the 2007 Awards for Excellence in Surety Bond Promotion to 10 LSAs and seven surety professionals at the annual meetings of the National Association of Surety Bond Producers (NASBP) and The Surety & Fidelity Association of America (SFAA). Three individuals will be inducted into the Tiger Trust, an elite honorary society of surety industry professionals who work with private construction project owners or lenders to ensure that contract surety bonds are specified on their projects.

Gold & Silver Awards

Recipients of the Gold award are:

• Florida Surety Association
• Surety Association of Illinois
• Surety Association of Indiana
• Surety Association of Kansas City
• Surety Association of Nevada
• Surety Association of Ohio
• Surety Association of St. Louis
• Surety Underwriters Association of Southern California

Recipients of the Silver award are:

• Alabama Surety Association
• New York City Surety Association

Platinum Award

Seven surety professionals will receive the Platinum award for their successful actions in promoting the value and benefits of contract surety bonds:

• Mike Battenfield, The Hartford, Heathrow, FL
• Matt Curran, CNA Surety Corp., Maitland, FL
• Michael Dennis, Liberty Mutual Surety, Maitland, FL
• Steve Nelson, SureTec Insurance Co., Austin, TX
• Michael Youngblut, Hess Egan Hagerty & L’Hommedieu, Chevy Chase, MD
• Two others will be announced at the NASBP annual meeting.

Tiger Trust

Three individuals will be inducted into the prestigious Tiger Trust:

• David G. Miclette, Bowen, Miclette & Britt Inc., Houston, TX – Texas Children’s Hospital Neurological Research Institute Project (Phase I), $26 million
• Matthew J. Rosenberg, Rosenberg & Parker, Bala Cynwyd, PA – SAP America Headquarters Expansion Project, $100 million+
• Michael A. Viner, HRH of Northern New England, Auburn, ME – LL Bean Order Fulfillment Center Expansion, $20 million

The awards and Tiger Trust plaques will be presented April 16, 2008, at the NASBP Annual Meeting Awards Breakfast in Miami, FL, and the SFAA 100th Anniversary Annual Meeting May 8, 2008, in Washington, DC.

Back to top

Resources You Can Bank On

Surety executives tell SIO that more and more bankers and lenders are specifying performance and payment bonds as a condition of a construction loan. And while this is good news for the surety industry, they say much more work needs to be done to explain to bankers and lenders the value and protection surety bonds provide them.

That’s why SIO offers a wealth of resources for surety professionals to make promoting surety bonds to bankers and lenders as easy as 1, 2, 3:

1. Lender CD – SIO’s CD Surety Bonds: A Guide for Lenders contains the one-hour Webinar “Banking and Bonding: How to Mitigate Construction Risk,” which SIO developed for the Risk Management Association (RMA). The Webinar features Ed Heine, Payne Financial Group, and Gary Dunbar, Great American Insurance Co. The CD also includes two PowerPoint® presentations, “Managing the Surety Claims Process” and “Case in Point: Surety’s Involvement Saves Projects,” as well as links to resources such as Contract Surety Bonds: Protecting Your Investment. Order free copies of the CD, then meet with a banker or lender to explain the value of requiring a surety bond as a condition of a construction loan. The CD can be viewed online.
2. Articles – SIO has published four articles in RMA Journal:
• “Surety Bonding in Today’s Construction Market” (May 2005)
• “Mitigating Real Estate Construction Risk” (November 2005)
• “Our Letters Are Not Their Bonds” (February 2006)
• “Red Flags & Warning Signs of Contractor Failure” (March 2008) – available on the SIO Web site in April
3. PowerPoint® Presentations – Three of SIO’s presentations are of particular interest to bankers and lenders:
• Investment Protection for Today’s Construction Lender
• Why Do Contractors Fail?
• Informed Decisions: Surety Bonds or Bank Letters of Credit

For more information or questions, contact Marc Ramsey at (202) 686-7463.

Back to top

Accessed Online LSA Handbook Yet?

The LSA Handbook is available online to provide LSAs with a central source of information related to development, stewardship, and expansion of their associations.

Designed to view online or download as a Microsoft Word document, the Handbook contains:

• History
• LSA Directory & Update Form
• LSA Web sites
• Administrative & Legal Issues
• Membership
• Program Development
• Marketing & Public Relations
• Best Practices

SIO will update the Handbook regularly. Be sure to add www.sio.org/Surety/lsa_handbook/index.html to your Web browser “Favorites” and forward this link to your members.

Comments and suggestions for additional information are always welcome. Please contact SIO at (202) 686-7463 or sio@sio.org with ideas.

Back to top