Bonding Education Program (BEP) at a glance

Overview

The Bonding Education Program (BEP) process includes:

Stakeholders meeting

Members of the transportation-related services industry and small business resource providers meet to review the parameters of the BEP implementation in the local market, determine resource requirements, and ascertain the role in which each stakeholder will play in carrying out the educational component and ensuring program’s success.

Educational Workshops Component

This component offers a set of comprehensive workshops:

1. An introductory workshop on intake and logistics
2. Business and federal transportation project specific training; each designed to provide information to the small businesses related to improving their company’s operations, making it easier to be bonded or to increase their bonding capacity
3. A closing workshop focused on networking and next steps

The Bond Readiness Component

This component offers one-on-one interactions with local surety bond producers who volunteer to help small businesses. The surety bond professionals will work with the small businesses, on a case-by-case basis, to assemble the materials necessary for a complete bond application, and address any omissions or deficiencies that might impede the successful underwriting of a bond. To deliver this component, the Small Business Transportation Resource Centers (SBTRC) use the network of local surety associations to identify surety professionals in each local area, who volunteer to assist the small businesses to become bondable or increase their bonding capacity.

Follow-up and Assistance

This component offers coordination and monitoring of technical assistance provided to participants in the program. The SBTRC will help the small business identify and secure bonding for subsequent transportation-related projects. An element of the follow-up assistance may include the match making of program participants to transportation-related contracting opportunities available.