Multiple award winners were honored during the 2024 NASBP Annual Meeting & Expo. 2023-2024 NASBP President Patrick Pribyl presented the NASBP Bruce T. Wallace Award and the John "Jack" J. Curtin, Jr. President's Award, and the Surety Industry Awards were also announced at the Meeting.
NASBP Awards
The Bruce T. Wallace Award was established in 1990 in memory of the Association’s first executive vice president, who served for over 29 years, and is awarded by the Executive Committee to an individual who has distinguished himself or herself through years of exceptional service to NASBP and to the surety industry. The recipient is an individual who has performed throughout his or her career in accordance with the highest ethical standards and demonstrated a service characterized by commitment, consistency, intensity, and impact.
This year's winner is Sarah Finn, retired from IMA, Inc.
Pictured, from left: 2023-2024 NASBP President Patrick Pribyl, Bruce T. Wallace Award winner Sarah Finn, and then NASBP Third Vice President Monica Donatelli.
The John “Jack” J. Curtin, Jr. President’s Award honors an individual who is chosen by the NASBP President for his or her outstanding service contributions during the President’s term to the Association and to the surety industry. The award was first presented in 2007 to John "Jack" J. Curtin, Jr., for whom the award is named.
This year's winners were the NASBP Staff and NASBP Meeting Planning Consultant Bethany Jones.
Surety Industry Awards
The NASBP & SFAA Surety Industry Awards recognize surety professionals and local surety associations for promoting the value and protections of contract surety bonds in construction to non-surety audiences and for advocating on behalf of the surety industry to obligees and legislators.
Winners of the Tiger Trust Award, the Gold Award, and Advocacy Award were recognized at the 2024 NASBP Annual Meeting & Expo and the 2024 SFAA Annual Meeting.
The Tiger Trust Award is given to an individual who persuades private owners or lenders to require contract surety bonds on their projects. This year the Tiger Trust was awarded to Kevin Garrity, Vice President, Surety & Construction Services of NFP in Albany, NY. Garrity succeeded in persuading a college to require a performance bond on a $35 million dollar construction project at the college. He met with the college's Risk Officer and VP of Finance to discuss the differences between SDI and a performance bond, and the leaders decided that the performance bond would work better for the owner (the college), which was working with multiple stakeholders. Congratulations, Kevin!
The Gold Award is given to Local Surety Associations (LSAs) that conduct at least ten public relations and educational activities in a calendar year that promote the use of contract surety bonds in construction to non-surety, non-insurance, or non-lawyer audiences. Two LSAs were honored this year:
Florida Surety Association presented to contractors and government officials on the basics of bonding. Other educational presentations to contractors included a webinar series for government contractors, growing bonding capacity, prequalifying subcontractors, and the benefits of surety bonds.
The Surety Association of Ohio made educational presentations about the value of surety bonding to minority contractor groups, construction management students, and multiple community groups. They also educated these groups on the lifecycle of a bond request and the differences between private and public construction.
The Advocacy Award recognizes LSAs that conduct significant activities advocating for suretyship, other than public relations or educational activities, such as fighting legislative efforts to waive bonds or increase bond thresholds or advocating for reasonable bond forms. One LSA was honored this year:
Florida Surety Association met with multiple legislators on Legislative Day in January 2023. The Association wrote letters to government entities regarding member concerns and led a Zoom call with a community-owned utility to discuss onerous bond forms.