November 4, 2012 - Westminster, MD
The Barbour Group Delivers Technical Assistance Workshops to Advance Construction Firms Operating in U.S. Territories
The Barbour Group, a surety bond and commercial insurance agency known for its passionate approach to delivering bonding solutions, conducted surety bond technical assistance workshops in St. Croix, Virgin Islands (USVI) and San Juan, Puerto Rico. The workshops were co-organized by The Virgin Islands Small Business Development Center (SBDC) and The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) – Puerto Rico District.
Access to bonding is a major barrier to the growth of small, minority, woman-owned and veteran-owned and service disabled veteran-owned construction firms operating in the region. Workshop participants gained a thorough understanding of how best to satisfy the underwriting expectations of surety companies, familiarity with the benefits of utilizing the SBA Surety Bond Guarantee Program, and exposure to actionable strategies to maximize bonding capacity.
“Many small contractors encounter difficulties when bidding on a project, due to lack of adequate bonding,” said SBA Puerto Rico & U.S. Virgin Islands Deputy District Director María de los Ángeles de Jesús. “SBA can guarantee a surety bond in less than two days through its Surety Bond Guarantee Program, and we encourage small business owners in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands to take advantage of this great tool to further increase their contracting opportunities.”
“Demystifying the surety bond underwriting process to help small businesses in the U.S. territories was an honor for us,” said Karen Barbour, President of The Barbour Group.
“The presentation on Practical Strategies to Maximize Bonding Capacity given by Karen Barbour captured our procurement guests, including representatives from the Virgin Island Economic Development Agency’s State Small Business Credit Initiative Program,” said Dr. Anita Roberts, Procurement Consultant for the USVI SBDC. “The discussion regarding common barriers to bonding from an underwriter’s perspective; the red flags, and how The Barbour Group can overcome common underwriting objections by working proactively with small business owners was very well received.”
