SBA-Authorized Bond Agents Given Opportunity to Access New Clients

By Tamara E. Murray, U.S. Small Business Administration

The U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Surety Bond Guarantee (SBG) Program is collaborating with the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) to prepare small businesses to bond federal and state infrastructure projects. The collaboration creates opportunities for SBA-authorized bond agents to work with new clients performing work in transportation and associated industries.

How can your agency capitalize on this opportunity?

USDOT’s Bonding Education Program (BEP) includes bonding workshops presented by knowledgeable surety professionals and small business counseling opportunities, matching small businesses interested in establishing or growing bonding capacity with a participating bond agent. Through its collaboration with SBA, USDOT prioritizes the placement of a local SBA-authorized bond agent for each workshop, giving them unique access to potential clients who may also benefit from SBA’s bond guarantee.

What is an SBA-authorized bond agent?

SBA defines an authorized agent as one that:

• Has been granted access to the SBG Program’s electronic application system,
• Submits bond guarantee applications to SBA on behalf of a Prior Approval surety partner, and
• Actively supports small businesses by obtaining at least one bond guarantee each year.

SBA-authorized bond agents receive additional advantages beyond this collaboration, including being connected to small businesses through SBA’s website and working with local SBA District Offices and resource partners as a preferred bonding resource. This is an excellent opportunity to reach new small business clients, currently accessible to a select group of about 100 SBA-authorized bond agents.

Why should your agency be interested in being an SBA-authorized agent?

Mike Williams of NASBP member CCI Surety, Inc. knows a lot of ways the SBG Program can benefit your business. He’s been writing bonds under the program for more than 30 years and can tell you how it has made his company, and the small businesses he serves, stronger and more profitable. “For small businesses, there’s a struggle to get enough money to level the playing field with bigger contractors,” Williams said. “With the SBG Program we’re able to help them compete for bigger contracts.” When Williams first started writing SBA-guaranteed bonds, he says it took a day and a half just to fill out the application forms. “Today there’s no paperwork—it’s all electronic, and we can write much bigger bonds without CPA audits and smaller bonds with even fewer hurdles,” he said. “The SBG Program is one of the best government programs out there because it creates jobs through small businesses and makes money for them and for surety agents and companies.”

“The SBA is an excellent place for bond agents to connect with small businesses that can perform a job but may need additional financial support,” said Jermaine Perry, Director of the Office of Surety Guarantees. “Most importantly, SBA is an excellent place for agencies to support and grow their book of business. The SBG Program is a long-standing financial assistance program that has helped bond agencies secure up to $2 billion in payment and performance bonds per annum. In addition, SBA’s processes and policies support the industry’s need for quick application decisions, providing application decisions in two days or less. SBA invites all non-SBA bond agencies to a conversation to learn about SBA’s mission and industry alignment.”

Interested in becoming an SBA-authorized agent?

It typically takes less than 2 days and it’s all done via email.

1. Review the list of SBA Prior Approval Partners.
2. Contact the Prior Approval sureties your agency wishes to represent.
3. Obtain the SBA Profile and Certification forms from the surety.
4. Complete and return the two forms to the surety. The surety sends the request to SBA.
5. Check your email for instructions from SBA guiding you through the SBA account setup process.

That’s all it takes to become an SBA-authorized bond agent and access new small business clients. It’s even simpler for agencies that were previously SBA-authorized but have not been active in over a year – just reactivate access and submit a new bond guarantee application to SBA. Interested agents can contact the SBG Program office at suretybonds@sba.gov.

Tamara E. Murray is the Underwriting & Marketing Specialist for the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Surety Bond Guarantee Program. Murray began her career in the surety industry in 1990 as the bond manager for a small agency in Fort Worth, TX before moving to Denver, CO to become a contract bond underwriter. She joined SBA in 2007 and is responsible for outreach to the surety industry and small business community nationwide. Murray works closely with bond agents and surety companies that provide over $7 billion a year in bond guarantees to small businesses and counsels thousands of small businesses each year on the value and importance of bonding to their future growth. She can be reached at tamara.murray@sba.gov or 303.995.5786.