Program areas at NASBP
The Association conducts meetings during the year for staff, members, affiliates, and associates featuring speakers on matters of interest to the Surety industry, including the annual convention and fall meetings. The Association had two fall meetings (east and west) in 2022 with approximately 500 Surety professionals in attendance. The annual meeting, which is held in the spring of each year, had close to 850 attendees in 2022.
In march 2020, the Association launched a podcast, let's get Surety - let me hear your bonding talk featuring industry leaders and experts providing an insider look at the Surety industry. Since its inception, there have been more than 30,000 downloads of the more than 80 episodes. The Association hosts a website which features a blog providing timely information on issues of importance to the Surety industry. The Association distributes various communications to its members, affiliates, and associates. Among the communications is our newsletter, pipeline, distributed electronically every other month, which features news and developments that affect the industry. Also, focal point is an electronic bulletin that focuses on federal and state legislative and regulatory affairs. This e-bulletin is produced once or twice a month during the legislative season. Nasbp smartbrief is a weekly, electronic newsletter that provides a brief synopsis of news sources' stories about the people, markets, and policies impacting the Surety product and Surety industry. To receive nasbp smartbrief, a recipient must sign-up. The nasbp Surety Bond quarterly magazine, published four times a year, offers insights and information for Surety professionals as well as others who need to stay up to date on the industry's latest news and developments. The magazine is distributed for free digitally and in print to the nasbp membership as well as project owners, public officials, subcontractors, contracting officers, and others who are affected by developments in the Surety industry. The highlights - year in review is an annual publication produced at the end of the year that summarizes the year's important accomplishments. Nasbp provides the year in review in hardcopy and on the website. An on-line membership directory lists members and is accessible by the public and by those seeking to form business relationships with Surety professionals.
The Association also provides educational programs, including workshops and schools, with various levels of curriculum based on the experience of the student. Some of the curriculum qualifies for continuing insurance education. In 2022, there were three level i schools, three level ii schools, one level iii school and one commercial Surety school. More than 230 professionals attended these educational programs. The Association also presented 21 live virtual seminars with over 11,000 registrants. These events, along with close to 300 recorded sessions, are available on the Association's suretylearn platform. Nasbp also launched an online and on-demand contractor bonding education and mentoring program to take contractors step-by-step through the bonding qualification process. At the end of 2022, 82 contractors have started the comprehensive program and almost 50 nasbp members had volunteered to be mentors.
In addition, the Association conducts myriad outreach and advocacy activities to influence decision-makers in industry and government, to increase the awareness and use of Surety bonding in the public and private sector, and to improve communications with the media.