For many new contractors, the link presents the possibility of tender for larger or public public contracts. But the lack of familiarity with the subscription requirements (financial declarations, current working hours, character and credit history) can retain them and prevent them from obtaining safety bonds.
To help overcome these barriers, various leading groups and carriers are intensifying their educational efforts, especially for small businesses and owned by minority groups, veterans or, otherwise. The programs aim to explain the link process, clarify what subscribers are looking for and helping new companies “ready for bonds”.
SFAA / NASBP contractor education and tutoring program
The Surety & Fidelity Association of America (SFAA) and the National Association of Surety Bond Producers (NASBP) have jointly developed a free Education and Tutoring Program in Contractor Linking Lead emerging contractors, particularly minority, women and veteran -owned companies. The program offers two main components:
- Elearning modules on DemandAvailable 24 hours a day, which cover basic topics: what safety links are for, how to apply, for which documentation is required and how the subscription of traditional and transactional good good works. From the user’s situation, one of the various learning paths is recommended
- Mentor For industry professionals, they are offered after the educational modules, so that emerging contractors can get advice on the next steps to get their first link or improve their link program.
This program reflects an effort to close the knowledge lagoons, as well as to create relationships between contractors, agents and subscribers.
Government Resources / SBA
The administration of small businesses in the United States (SBA) plays a role in supporting contractors and security agents to understand the contingency programs that guarantee good, especially for small businesses.
- SBA offers Training of security memberswhich covers how security agents prepare guarantee applications, how to use their eaplication system, how to determine the eligibility of size and how to browse both fast and standard applications.
- The SBA Guarantee Bond Guarantee Program (SBG) The same provides the contractors who could not qualify in the standard market conditions of the deposit access to the obligations, the performance and the payment obligations, guaranteeing a part of the risk of the guarantee.
Training directed by carriers: For guarantee agents to attend contractors
Carriers acknowledge that guarantee agents often need more practical and updated knowledge to better care for their contracting customers. Some of them, such as link traders, have been active in this space:
- Internal Traders’ Program, Merchants UniversityIt offers education for agents, including web seminars and live training that cover topics such as subscription criteria, good form language language, claim processes, basic foundations for the guarantee of contracts and commercial deposit.
- Continuous training seminars (EC) are also part of the offer; For example, a recent webinar covered the bonds and test good, giving the extra hours of CE credits approved by the state, while also extending their skills sets.
Why these efforts matter
For contractors, these education programs aim to reduce surprises, allow better applications and help create confidence.
Agents and subscribers also benefit, as best -prepared applicants mean faster decisions, less corrections and stronger relationships. And from a perspective of the industry, the extension of the set of qualified contractors of good promotes competition, diversity and value potentially best in construction contracts.
With many of these ongoing and evolving programs, the guarantee industry seems to be more and more serious about dissemination and training. For small contractors who ask how to get into ties, it’s no longer just knowing who to ask: it is to be willing to fulfill the criteria and there are more tools than ever before helping them to do them
