WASHINGTON, Dec. 05, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, the U.S. Small Business Administration announced its most active surety companies and agencies for fiscal year 2023. The SBA’s Surety Bond Guarantee (SBG) Program allows small businesses to receive critical backing to compete for major federal, state, and local contracts. In fiscal year 2023, with the assistance of the SBG Program and its surety and bonding agency partners, small businesses bonded over $2.2 billion in contracts nationwide.

“This past fiscal year marks the best-performing year in 25 years for guaranteeing bid and final bonds, thanks to the unwavering dedication of our surety partners and agencies. Their efforts in utilizing the SBA for bonding have been pivotal in our success,” stated Jermaine Perry, director of the Office of Surety Guarantees. “As we move into fiscal year 2024, the Office of Surety Guarantees looks forward to continuing our collaboration with these outstanding partners, aiming for even more significant achievements in enhancing surety credit for small businesses.”

The SBG Program, in partnership with surety companies and their agents, provides surety bond guarantees for small businesses on federal, state, local, and private projects. The SBA’s surety partners often go above and beyond to help small businesses, providing education on the bonding process, advising small business owners on increasing their bond limits, and connecting them with other important business partners like construction attorneys and CPAs.

“Our active SBG Program partners help the SBA open doors to bonding for small businesses, creating new jobs, and growing local economies,” said Katie Frost, acting associate administrator for the Office of Capital Access.

In fiscal year 2023, the SBA guaranteed bid and final bonds totaling more than $7.3 billion in contract value. Over 1,800 small businesses received assistance through SBA’s surety partners and bonding agencies, and more than 37,000 jobs were supported by small businesses receiving SBA bond guarantees.

The top-performing surety company partners for fiscal year 2023 are: 

1. American Contractors Indemnity Company, CA
2. Merchants Bonding Company, IA
3. U. S. Specialty Insurance Company, CA
4. Gray Insurance Company, LA
5. United States Fire Insurance Company, PA
6. Markel Insurance Company, TX
7. Travelers Casualty & Surety Company, CT
8. Ohio Casualty Insurance Company, PA
9. Contractors Bonding and Insurance Company, WA
10. Gray Casualty & Surety Company, LA

The top-performing bonding agencies for fiscal year 2023 are:  

1. CCI Surety, Inc., MN
2. Nielson, Hoover and Company, FL
3. Preferred Bonding & Insurance Services, CA
4. KOG International, Inc., PA
5. Valley Surety Insurance Agency, CA
6. Allstar Surety Company, Inc., NC
7. The Bond Exchange, Inc., NC
8. The Fedeli Group, OH
9. R. A. Brunson, Inc., LA
10. Pinnacle Surety & Insurance Services, Inc., CA

The standing of each surety partner and bonding agency was determined by the number of bond guarantees they wrote through the SBG Program. The mission of the SBA’s Office of Surety Guarantees is to provide and manage surety bond guarantees for qualified small and emerging businesses in direct partnership with surety companies and their agents. 

The SBA helps small businesses by guaranteeing bid, performance, and payment bonds issued by participating surety companies for contracts and subcontracts up to $6.5 million. The SBA can guarantee bonds for federal contracts up to $10 million if a federal contracting officer certifies that the SBA’s guarantee is necessary for the small business to obtain bonding. The SBA also offers a simplified bond guarantee application under its QuickApp, accommodating contracts up to $500,000 with limited paperwork and approvals in about one day. 

For questions regarding the program, please visit the program website at sba.gov/osg or contact Jermaine Perry, OSG Director, at jermaine.perry@sba.gov or (202) 401-8275.

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About the U.S. Small Business Administration
The U.S. Small Business Administration helps power the American dream of business ownership. As the only go-to resource and voice for small businesses backed by the strength of the federal government, the SBA empowers entrepreneurs and small business owners with the resources and support they need to start, grow, or expand their businesses or recover from a declared disaster. It delivers services through an extensive network of SBA field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations. To learn more, visit sba.gov.

Christina Saah-Nazer
U.S. Small Business Administration
202-657-0304
christina.saahnazer@sba.gov