June 19 Presentation on Surety Bonds by Shawn Blume

The Small Business Administration hosted in Garden Grove their 9th Annual Government Contracting Conference.
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Recently one of my customers chose an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) to transfer the ownership of his construction company.
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Travelers Surety, through their subsidiary Family Business Institute (FBI), held a webinar moderated by 2 of FBI’s officers for its contractor accounts and agents. The topic was:
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Every year brings new laws. 2018 is no exception. The changes in 2018 will expand a general contractors’ wage liabilities of its subcontractors on private projects.
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The SBA is now supporting single size projects to $2,000,000 for contractors who only have internal financial statements. The limit in the past was $1,000,000. This applies to prime contractors as well as subcontractors.
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Travelers Surety has purchased The Family Business Institute (FBI) in Raleigh, N.C. FBI pairs non-competing contractors in similar trade and like size. The peer groups meet twice a year to discuss business issues of interest and concern. Information remains confidential and is never shared with Travelers Surety. [Read more…]

Win-Win: Shaun Borden, Borden Excavating

When you’re represented by a surety agent who is knowledgeable, experienced, and dependable—you win. My understanding of the construction business, the surety industry, and the underwriting process, and my commitment to the success of each of my customers provides you with a measurable advantage. And when you win, I win. [Read more…]

Successful contractors rely on their surety agent for:

On March 11, 2016, Clark Construction Company held a seminar for subcontractors interested in working with them. I served as the surety bond panelist and talked about the top traits successful contractors rely on their surety agent for. Here’s a summary of what I shared with the subcontractors in attendance. [Read more…]

Any contractor interested in bidding on public projects should be aware of the facts and issues surrounding prequalification questionnaires. This is an important issue to be well-informed on. There’s an excellent Legal Opinion Letter available from my Free Contractor Risk Reference Library and I encourage you to read it. [Read more…]

What Was Rio School District (RSD) in Ventura County Thinking?

How could they morally justify not releasing the contractor’s retention? My first six months in the surety business, as a surety underwriter for Chubb, I was taught the purpose and intent of retention. Apparently that training alone was enough to have given RSD something to think about. You don’t have to be a surety/construction professional to understand that what RSD was doing was wrong. [Read more…]