Mark Leskanic (left), Surety Bond Professionals, Inc.’s President, teaches recent hire, Greg Angel, the company’s proprietary underwriting approach and the tricks of the trade.

A Surety Bond Professionals, Inc.’s underwriter joins a client at a job site where dredging work is being performed.

Everyone in the public construction industry knows the importance of surety bonding in earning a job or winning a contract. But not all surety bond agencies are alike. Take, for example, Surety Bond Professionals, Inc., with its sole focus on construction bonding.

President Mark Leskanic likes to say, “If somebody needs something in the surety bond world and we can’t get it done, it’s doubtful anyone can.” That’s because the company’s single objective is to guide companies in the bonding process to maximize surety credit, bond capacity and, therefore, business potential.

Although he started Surety Bond Professionals in 2015, Mark brings more than 29 years of surety business experience to the table—the first 17 of those years spent in underwriting. The firm’s principals have more than 45 years of agency and underwriting experience serving those with construction and commercial surety bonding needs, including bid, performance, payment, subdivision, license and permit, and lien bonds, to name a few.

Located in South Natick, Massachusetts, the firm quickly outgrew its first office and moved into an 1,800-square-foot office space in July 2017. Its six employees serve New England, New York and New Jersey with surety bond underwriting services.

Laser Focus

Surety Bond Professionals’ expertise in construction bonding sets them apart. “We want to be the best at what we do and provide service better than anyone else,” Mark explains.

The firm’s work begins with the underwriting process. “When we speak with a contractor, we want to understand their goals and objectives and how we can get them to where they want to go in terms of growth and profitability,” Mark says.

With his underwriting experience and technical background, Mark has access to certain bond markets that others don’t. “A lot of insurance agents do not understand the product. It’s a niche and we have the technical expertise that gives our clients an advantage on getting bonds for larger jobs at more preferred terms, lower pricing and lower indemnity requirements,” he says.

Importance of Surety Bond Service

Surety bonding is required on all public construction projects at the federal, state and municipal level. Some private sector companies require it as well. In the simplest of terms, a surety bond is a guarantee to three parties in a legally bonded contract that payment will be made or parties compensated. “Surety bonding is a risk management tool that provides a safeguard if something goes wrong with the contractor they have hired,” Mark explains.

For example, when a contractor bids on the job, the company must provide a bid bond that guarantees performance should it be chosen for the project.

“The performance bond guarantees that the construction work is going to be done according to contract specifications,” explains Matt Leskanic, Mark’s son and Surety Executive at Surety Bond Professionals.

“A payment bond ensures that subcontractors, suppliers and firms providing labor and materials will be paid for their services.”

While most insurance transactions are a two-party arrangement, this is a three-party contract between the owner, contractor and surety. The underwriting process is similar to attaining a loan from a bank.

“We analyze the construction operation by reviewing the company and personal financial statements of owners and the schedules of their work,” Matt says. “We get other background information, such as their experience on other jobs, banking support from their bank and other areas of operations.”

“We’re committed to try to put together the best deals we can that will result in a win-win arrangement,” Mark says.

Family Business

The mission statement for Surety Bond Professionals says: “We view our clients, employees and underwriters as our ‘business family.’ We strive to offer each and every one of them unsurpassed attention and support to ensure a mutually beneficial relationship ...A truly satisfied customer, employee or vendor is the best business strategy of all.”

Mark says everyone at the firm is involved in the hiring process, an important step to fulfilling that mission statement. “Everyone has to be sold on a job candidate before we bring them into the business family.”

Training is integral in helping each employee succeed. “One thing the corporate world often falls down on is properly training and supporting its employees. For us, that’s a priority,” Mark says.

The firm pays 100 percent of its employees’ healthcare costs, and everyone participates in the company’s bonus pool. “We have a casual, friendly work environment. Everyone has the same priority and commitment to the business family,” Matt says.

Preferred Access for Clients

Projects being bonded can range from as small as $50,000 to more than $100 million. “Our sweet spot is any type of construction job. We work with general contractors as well as subcontractors, mechanical, electrical and specialty trades. We also work with heavy and civil contractors, such as paving, utility and pipeline contractors,” Mark says.

The key is matching each contractor with the right surety company. Because of its long-term experience, Surety Bond Professionals is capable of writing bonds throughout the United States. It has long-standing access to some of the nation’s best carriers and underwriters to get the required bonds for clients.

Ralph Dumke, founder and CEO of Waterline Industries Corporation, a leading water and wastewater treatment facility builder on the East Coast, appreciates the singular focus of Surety Bond Professionals. “Because it’s their only focus, they get you the best bonding that is out there.”

Ralph says that he’s worked with four to five bonding agencies during his 30 years in business and that Surety Bonding Professionals excels at executing bonds fast and properly. “They make it easy,” he says. “Basically all bonding is credit. You’re allowed to bid on jobs for which you have enough bonding or credit. So, having a bonding company that understands the business can really make a difference in getting work.”

Surety Bond Professionals has steadily grown over the past three years, with year-over-year growth of 25 percent. “We’ve added members to our team so we’re properly staffed,” Mark says. “We prefer to be overstaffed in order to provide committed support to our business family, contractor clients and underwriters, instead of the other way around and not having enough resources.”

Mark says that ultimately he’d like to expand the businesses regionally, with offices across the country. “We believe in sharing the ownership structure, so we’d do that with owner-employees in those locations,” he notes.

With almost 30 years of experience in the underwriting and surety bonding industry, Mark has developed a unique approach to securing bonds that allows contractors to bid larger jobs, take on larger backlogs of work and improve their profitability.

“With our proprietary approach, we help them in many ways, from leveraging our relationships with bonding companies, construction CPAs and lawyers to give them the best service possible, to providing advice on financial statements and operations,” Mark says. “Our goal is to help them set themselves up for success profitability-wise and get the most bonding support possible.”