Surety bonds help small businesses win contracts by providing the customer with a guarantee that the work will be completed. Many public and private contracts require surety bonds offered by surety companies.
To help small businesses increase contracting opportunities, the SBA guarantees contract surety bonds, allowing surety companies to offer bonds to small businesses in construction, manufacturing, service and supply that might not meet their standard qualifications. The agency’s Surety Bond Guarantee Program partners with 31 active surety companies represented by over 100 authorized agents nationwide.
SBA’s work with surety and agency partners is truly rewarding, especially seeing firsthand how the SBA and surety industry actively invest in and support small business contractors. Every year we celebrate their ongoing efforts to help small businesses obtain contract surety bonds and increase their competitive advantage.
“With this SBA program, small businesses can be more competitive in areas where they may have previously not made inroads. With SBA-backed surety bonds, these small businesses can now enter into such areas as manufacturing to strengthen our economy,” said SBA’s Office of Capital Access Associate Administrator Thomas Kimsey.
This month, the SBA is recognizing the great work of our surety bond partners with Surety of the Year, Surety Agency of the Year and Surety Agent of the Year awards based on their participation, activity, claims, recovery, and commitment to helping small businesses obtain contracts with government and private-sector entities. One small business also is being named the Office of Surety Guarantees’ Small Business of the Year based on its growth since entering the Surety Bond Guarantee Program and work supporting the local economy.
The 2025 Surety of the Year awardee, Great Midwest Insurance Company, joined the SBA’s Surety Bond Guarantee Program in 2021, issuing its first SBA guaranteed bond in February that year. Great Midwest Insurance Company has prospered in the program and in fiscal year 2024, it surpassed last year’s small business support by more than 230%.
Great Midwest Insurance Company Surety Division President Matt Semeraro shared that the award reflects its unwavering commitment to delivering best-in-class surety solutions and innovative options for their agents and customers. Semeraro said partnering with the SBA plays a vital role in expanding opportunities.
The 2025 Surety Agency of the Year awardee, The Fedeli Group, has been an SBA authorized bonding agency since 2016. The Fedeli Group’s participation in the program doubled in fiscal year 2024 and it secured more than $27 million in SBA bond guarantees on awarded contracts for 28 small businesses supporting more than 500 employees primarily in Ohio.
The Fedeli Group Senior Vice President Kevin Keller recognizes access to capital and bonding can be the biggest challenges to small businesses, adding that SBA’s surety program is essential for the development of new construction companies because their success relies on their ability to grow.
Active in the surety industry for over 35 years, Surety Agent of the Year Alicia Marasco of Capstone Risk Management Insurance wrote her first SBA guaranteed bond in 2009. In fiscal year 2024, she secured over 200 SBA guaranteed bids and final bond guarantees supporting 23 small businesses through SBA’s program. Marasco will be recognized for her expertise and passion during SBA’s National Small Business Week celebration in May.
The Office of Surety Guarantees Small Business of the Year, Miller Electric Company Inc., grew its bonding capacity from $28,000 to over $4 million over eight years. It is an 8(a) and HUBZone certified firm supporting the local economy in Reno, Nev., and across the western U.S. Miller Electric Company leverages SBA-backed surety bonds to support its bonded projects to add to its growth and access new revenue streams.
SBA’s Surety Bond Guarantee Program guaranteed more than 11,000 bonds with a contract value exceeding $9.2 billion in fiscal year 2024. Learn more about the SBA’s Surety Bond Guarantee Program. Send questions by email to Office of Surety Guarantees Director Jermaine B. Perry.