Having trouble obtaining a performance bond for a project?

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and TriMet have established a strategic alliance to help small businesses obtain or increase bonding for the performance of TriMet Construction contracts over $100,000. SBA works with authorized sureties to provide a guarantee to the surety to make it easier for a small business to obtain bonding or increase current bonding levels. The partnership between SBA and TriMet can help your small business obtain bonding in as little as two business days.

Generally, in order to be eligible for the surety bond guarantee program, a business must:

  • Be a small business according to SBA’s size standards
  • Have a small contract or can show your small business is bidding on a contract (up to $6.5 million for non-federal contracts and up to 10 million for federal contracts)
  • Be able to meet the surety’s credit, capacity and character requirements

Learn more about the surety bond program at sba.gov

Required Documentation

Generally, the small business is required to submit the following documentation to the Surety – some of the documents may not be required depending on the size of the bond:

  • SBA Form 994 – Application for Surety Bond Guarantee Assistance
  • SBA Form 991 – Surety Body Guarantee Agreement Addendum
  • SBA Form 994F – Schedule of Work in Progress (only required for a full application)
  • SBA Form 413 – Personal Financial Statement
  • General Indemnity Agreement
  • Business Bank Line of Credit (if applicable – not a requirement)
  • Business Financial Statements Requirements
  • Audited financial statements are required for contracts from $6,500,001 to $10,000,000
  • Reviewed financial statements are required for contracts from $2,000,001 to $6,500,000
  • Compiled or in-house plus financials are required for contracts up to $2,000,000
  • Quality in-house financial statements are required for contracts up to $1,000,000
  • Contract and Bond Documents – may include SOW, period of performance, bonding requirements, the contract amount, liquidated damages provisions, and the parties to the contract

For applications where the bonding request is less than $400,000, small businesses may be able to submit a simplified quick application. For quick apps, much of the documentation above is not required and decisions are generally made within 24–48 hours.

Not sure of the surety bond guarantee program is right for you?

Call or email us to discuss how to position your small business to obtain bonding:

SBA Portland District

Joe Smetak
joseph.smetak@sba.gov
503-326-6692

TriMet

Les Spitler
spitlerl@trimet.org
503-894-3159

SBA logo

Use of the SBA logo is authorized by a Strategic Alliance Memorandum. Reference to SBA is not an endorsement of the views, opinions, products or services of any person or entity.