News Release

For Immediate Release
Contact: Marc Ramsey 202-686-7463
mramsey@sio.org

NEW SIO CD FOR BANKERS, LENDERS
PROVIDES CLARITY ON CONTRACT SURETY BONDS

JULY 24, 2007, WASHINGTON, DC—In today’s growth construction market, contractors risk spreading themselves too thin by taking on more work than they can manage. More and more bankers and lenders are turning to a risk mitigation tool that has been relied on for years by the public and private construction sectors: performance and payment bonds.

The Surety Information Office (SIO), the leading source for information on contract surety bonds in construction, has developed a new CD especially for bankers and lenders featuring the Risk Management Association’s (RMA) “Banking & Bonding” Webinar and other resources that explain how bankers can protect their lending capital by specifying contract surety bonds as a condition of a construction loan. Surety bonds ensure completion of the contract and prevent subcontractors from filing mechanics’ liens on the project.

For a free copy of “Surety Bonds: A Guide for Lenders,” contact SIO at (202) 686-7463 or sio@sio.org. To order the CD or any of SIO’s free materials for bankers and lenders, visit the SIO Web site at www.sio.org and select “Free Brochures and CDs.” SIO also can arrange for a surety professional to give a presentation on surety bonding to bankers and lenders.

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SIO was formed in 1993 to disseminate information about the benefits of contract surety bonding in private and public construction. Located in Washington, DC, SIO is supported by the National Association of Surety Bond Producers (NASBP) and The Surety & Fidelity Association of America (SFAA). Surety bonding is a careful, rigorous, and professional process in which sureties prequalify contractors and assure project owners that these contractors are capable of performing the contract and will pay certain subcontractors and suppliers associated with the project.