At the Austin Annual Meeting NASBP Officers, Robert Shaw, John Bustard, and Mark Munekawa, asked the Surety Industry Award winners to come to the stage to be commended for their work in promoting the surety product.

Tiger Trust Award (Criteria: The Tiger Trust is an award given to an individual employed by a NASBP or SFAA member who persuades a public or a private construction project owner or lender to require surety bonds on a project.)

Joshua A. Etemadi (pictured with then President Bob Shaw), Assistant Vice President of Construction Bonds, Inc., a Division of Murray Securus, was the latest inductee into the esteemed Tiger Trust. Etemadi was able to convince an owner’s representative of a private estate in Rhinebeck, New York, to mandate performance and payment bonds for the renovation of an historic skylight, a $1.2 million dollar project. Etemadi explained the advantages of bonding the contract, including that, in the event of a default, the surety can work with the owner to find a suitable replacement contractor, as this project involved specialized work. Through his contact with the owner representative and explanation of bond characteristics in detail, Etemadi was able to persuade the private project owner to require bonds.

Gold Award (Criteria: For local surety associations (LSAs) that conduct at least ten public relations and educational activities in a calendar year to promote the use of contract surety bonds in construction to non-surety, non-insurance, or non-lawyer audiences.)

This year’s winners were the Florida Surety Association and the Rocky Mountain Surety Association. LSA representatives are pictured above with Bustard and Munekawa.

Silver Award (Criteria: For local surety associations that conduct at least five public relations and educational activities in a calendar year to promote the use of contract surety bonds in construction to non-surety, non-insurance, or non-lawyer audiences.)

This year’s winners were the Surety Association of Ohio and the Surety Association of San Diego. LSA representatives are pictured above.

Advocacy Award (Criteria: For local surety associations that conduct significant activities advocating for suretyship, other than public relations or educational activities, such as fighting legislative efforts to waive bonds or to increase bond thresholds, or advocating for reasonable bond forms.)

This year’s winners were the Surety Association of St. Louis, Florida Surety Association, and Rocky Mountain Surety Association. LSA representatives are pictured above.

Please congratulate the NASBP & SFAA Surety Industry Award recipients! The Surety Industry Award Panel of Judges included representatives from members and staff of NASBP and SFAA. The NASBP Judges were: Mark McCallum, Bob Shaw, John Bustard, and Steve Spencer, and the SFAA Judges were: Lee Covington, Larry Taylor, Bill Waters, and Roland Richter.

Get a head start on preparing applications this year. Applications for Surety Industry Awards are due February 17, 2020.