Mayor Gray and SFAA Launch Partnership to Increase Competitiveness of Local Business

CONTACT

Stephanie Robichaux (SFAA) 202.778.3629; srobichaux@surety.org
Dian Herrman (DSLBD) 202.741.0860;dian.herrman2@dc.gov
Monica Hernandez (DDOT) 202.671.2261 monica.hernandez@dc.gov

MAYOR GRAY AND THE SURETY & FIDELITY ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA LAUNCH PARTNERSHIP TO INCREASE COMPETITIVENESS

OF LOCAL BUSINESSES

"Bond Your Business: Road Map to Success” Bonding Program Will Increase Bonding Capacity, Competitiveness, and Help Spur Growth of District Small Businesses

(Washington, D.C.)–Mayor Vincent C. Gray, The Surety & Fidelity Association of America (SFAA) President Lynn Schubert, Department of Small and Local Business Development (DSLBD) Director Harold Pettigrew, and District Department of Transportation (DDOT) Director Terry Bellamy today announced the launch of the "Bond Your Business: Road Map to Success” Bonding Program, a new partnership designed to increase the competitiveness of District-based small businesses through bond readiness training.

"The District’s economy is fueled by small businesses and this partnership exemplifies our shared commitment to ensuring that our business community is offered the best available resources to lay a strong foundation and improve their capacity to grow and compete,” said Mayor Vincent C. Gray. "SFAA has been a recognized leader in the surety industry and we are very fortunate to have their expertise.”

The "Bond Your Business” Initiative is developed from the SFAA’s Model Contractor Development Program® (MCDP), a series of workshops designed to educate small and emerging contractors on improving their bonding capacity. The program will provide small businesses with assistance for qualifying in the surety market and gaining access to surety credit. Bonding readiness helps small businesses secure surety bonds for construction projects, and includes workshops on accounting and financial management, insurance requirements, safety management, credit repair, cost estimating, and more.

"DSLBD is committed to helping Certified Business Enterprises with competing for and winning work in the District,” said DSLBD Director, Harold Pettigrew. "It is critical for small businesses to access the capital they need and the bonding to compete on the many construction projects underway across our city. Helping firms to navigate the process of becoming bond ready will further alleviate one of the biggest challenges facing small contractors. The ‘Bond Your Business’ initiative will ensure that our firms are equipped with the tools necessary to be successful and help to further strengthen the District’s local economy.”

"The Surety & Fidelity Association of America is pleased to enter into this Agreement, which formalizes our ongoing efforts with the District of Columbia to make bonding more accessible to DC-based contractors,” said SFAA President Lynn Schubert. "For the past several years, our Model Contractor Development Program® successfully has been implemented throughoutthe country, including in D.C., and these initiatives have resulted in more than $400 million in bonding to small and emerging contractors. We are excited about our partnership with the DC Department of Small and Local Business Development and the District Department of Transportation and look forward to continued success under this Program.”

"Bond Your Business” consists of seven highly interactive classroom workshops that will provide a range of information related to improving the company’s operations. Each workshop features presentations by professionals in the field, and will consist of one-on-one interactions between business owners and surety bond producers and underwriters, during which they address issues in the application process that could pose challenges to the underwriting of a bond for small businesses. DSLBD’s program will launch in March 2013, with a complimentary program administered by DDOT in the fall of 2013 for small businesses focused on construction opportunities in the transportation sector.

The deadline for the 2013 Bond Your Business program is March 21, 2013. For more information on and how to apply for the Bond Your Business program, please visit www.dslbd.dc.gov.

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About the District of Columbia Department of Small and Local Business Development-The District of Columbia Department of Small and Local Business Development (DSLBD) fosters the economic growth, development, and retention of District of Columbia based businesses, and promotes economic development throughout the District’s commercial districts. DSLBD envisions a business environment in which DC businesses are connected in real-time with local, federal, and global business opportunities; businesses navigate government quickly, confidently, and effectively; and, every entrepreneur and business with a great idea and a great plan has the capital to make it happen. To learn more about DSLBD, please: visit http://dslbd.dc.gov, follow DSLBD on Twitter at @SmallBizDC, or like our Facebook page http://facebook.com/bizDC.

About The Surety & Fidelity Association of America- The Surety & Fidelity Association of America (SFAA) is a trade association of more than 450 insurance companies that write the vast majority of surety and fidelity bonds in the U.S., is a licensed rating or advisory organization in all states, including the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, and is designated by state insurance departments as a statistical agent for the reporting of surety and fidelity insurance. Follow SFAA on Twitter at @SFAA or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SuretyFidelity.

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