Surety bonds help small businesses secure contracts by providing the project owner with an assurance that the work will be completed and free from liens. Many public and private contracts require surety bonds, especially construction contracts.
SBA guarantees contract surety bonds to help small businesses access contracting opportunities when they are unable to meet a surety company’s typical qualifications.
SBA’s Surety Bond Guarantee Program partners with 31 active surety companies represented by more than 80 authorized bonding agencies nationwide. SBA’s bond guarantee allows surety companies to offer bonds to small businesses in construction, manufacturing, service, and supply industries that might otherwise be unable to obtain bonding or sufficient bonding capacity.
SBA’s work with its surety and agency partners is truly rewarding, especially seeing firsthand how SBA and the surety industry actively invest in and support small contractors.
This month we recognize the great work of our surety partners with Surety Partner of the Year, Surety Bond Agency of the Year, and Surety Agent of the Year awards based on their participation, activity, and commitment to helping small businesses. We’re also recognizing one business as the Small Business of the Year based on its growth and positive impact on the local economy since entering the Surety Bond Guarantee Program.
The 2026 Surety Partner of the Year awardee, Contractors Bonding and Insurance Company, surpassed last year’s small business support by 23%, providing $321 million in SBA guaranteed bonds to 71 small businesses. As a result, these small businesses retained 1,700 employees and hired 60 new employees to support local economies.
Contractors Bonding and Insurance Company Vice President and Head of Surety Brian Schick shared that SBA’s Office of Surety Guarantees has played a very important role in the company’s history going back to the 1970s. For nearly 50 years, SBA has partnered with Contractors Bonding and Insurance Company to provide bonding capacity to contractors who otherwise would not qualify for surety support, most of whom build sustainable business practices and ultimately graduate from the SBA program.
The 2026 Surety Bond Agency of the Year awardee, South Coast Surety Insurance Services LLC dba Boss Bonds Insurance Agency, provided SBA guaranteed bonds to 21 small businesses in fiscal year 2025, totaling nearly $40 million in contract value. Boss Bonds producer Zach Bradley shared that the Surety Bond Guarantee Program plays a critical role in helping contractors secure the bonding support they need to bid, win, and successfully complete projects. The agency’s partnership with SBA allows them to open doors for small businesses that might otherwise be turned away — providing them with a clear path to build capacity, strengthen their financial position, and take on larger work with confidence.
The 2026 Surety Agent of the Year, Todd Stein, CEO of Brunswick Companies, secured over 200 SBA guaranteed bid and final bonds in fiscal year 2025, nearly doubling last year’s SBG Program support for his small business clients. Stein emphasized that this recognition reflects a true team effort. Brunswick’s SBA bonding team brings decades of combined industry expertise and has been instrumental in the agency’s continued growth and success in SBA’s Surety Bond Guarantee Program.
The Office of Surety Guarantees’ 2026 Small Business of the Year, Tekton Construction LLC, grew its bonding capacity from $0 to $1.45 million in its first year of performing bonded contracts with SBA support. Tekton is a veteran-owned small business established in 2023 that experienced challenges obtaining bonding as a new emerging small business. SBA’s backing through the Surety Bond Guarantee Program aims to support the company’s growth and provide access to new revenue streams through bonded contracts.
SBA's Surety Bond Guarantee Program guaranteed 11,727 surety bonds, the greatest number of bonds supported in the last 10 years, with a contract value exceeding $10.5 billion in fiscal year 2025. Learn more about the SBA’s Surety Bond Guarantee Program. Questions may be sent to suretybonds@sba.gov.