Opportunities Available for Minority Owned Businesses through the Mississippi Minority Surety Bond Guarantee Program
Program Will Increase Minority Participation in Construction and Building Contracts with Federal, State, and Local Governments
For Immediate Release: February 7, 2013
Contact:MBA, 228.295.7117, mbainfo@magnolia-ba.biz
Bay St. Louis, MS–The Magnolia Business Alliance Minority Enterprise (MBA ME) is pleased to announce the continuation of the Mississippi Minority Surety Bond Guaranty Program for minority owned businesses. The program, administered by the Mississippi Development Authority, provides financial assistance to help minority and women’s business enterprises secure surety bonds and state contracts. One of the biggest challenges facing minority businesses is securing credit. In turn, that makes it more difficult for them to secure state contracts.
“The program was developed to help small and minority contractors who cannot obtain surety bonds through regular commercial channels,” said Darren Daniels of the Magnolia Business Alliance Minority Enterprise.
Surety bonds have become harder for certain contractors to obtain without a guarantee from the SBA. The application process for a surety bond can be confusing and frustrating to complete. To make matters worse, few surety agents provide their customers access to the SBA guarantee program. As a result, small businesses frequently miss out on the kinds of lucrative contract opportunities that can help them grow and increase their capacity.
Mississippi is rich in diversity and has a proven track record of creating innovation and entrepreneurship. This program goes a step further in removing any obstacles for minority businesses and helps open up doors for economic opportunity and job creation in areas that need it most.
The program provides surety companies with reimbursement protection in the event of contractor default. The maximum guaranty amount for a company new to the program is $175,000. After the first year of participation, the amount increases to $250,000. Maximum percentage guarantee for any bond is 90%.
If you or your company is interested or to see if you meet the eligibility requirements, visit http://www.mississippi.org/mda-library-resources/finance-tax-info/loan-programs/minority-surety-bond-guaranty-program.html
Once eligibility has been determined, contact a participating financial institution to apply. The Minority Surety Bond Guaranty Program is authorized under Section 69-2-13(5) MS Code, Annotated.
For more information, contact the Minority and Small Business Development Division of the Mississippi Development Authority, 601.359.3448, minority@mississippi.org
