In today’s business environment, a single misstep by an employee can result in significant liability from workplace injuries and harassment claims to data breaches and regulatory fines. Many of these incidents are preventable with proper training.
In the competitive world of construction, government contracting, and other project-based industries, winning larger bonded jobs requires firms demonstrate both the capacity to perform and the qualitative strengths to deliver a project to the owner.
One of the most effective tools for showcasing these strengths is a well-crafted capability statement. This document is a strategic tool that communicates your core competencies, past accomplishments, innovative approach, quality of personnel, and unique value proposition.
The capability statement is also a great way to highlight your firm’s strengths to a surety to maintain support on bonded jobs. Below is a brief rundown of the critical aspects that should be included in a capability statement that would be reviewed with your surety:
Core Competencies: Clarifying What You Do Best
Your capability statement should clearly define your core services or trades. A contractor who can precisely describe its scope, whether it’s site work, vertical construction, electrical, or specialty installations, instills confidence in project owners and sureties alike. They know exactly what you bring to the table and can evaluate your fit for complex scopes of work.
Surety underwriters pay close attention to this section: it shows that you understand your business and are focused on the types of work you can successfully deliver at scale.
Past Accomplishments: Proving Performance History
Qualitative assessments often start with your track record. Highlighting key projects, especially those with similar size, scope, or complexity, demonstrates your ability to perform on larger, bonded jobs.
A strong capability statement will include select projects that showcase not just completion but success: on-time delivery, budget management, and safety records. These accomplishments help sureties justify higher bonding limits and reassure owners that you can handle larger responsibilities.
Innovative Approach: Differentiating Your Firm
Innovation isn’t only for technology companies. Construction firms should showcase how they deliver projects better. Maybe it’s through lean construction practices, advanced scheduling software, prefabrication capabilities, or sustainable building techniques.
Let your surety know how you approach problems creatively to deliver superior outcomes. This qualitative measure is critical for public owners and primes who want partners that add value, not just fulfill specs.
Quality of Personnel: Building Confidence in Your Team
Larger projects introduce greater risks, so sureties and owners want to know about your leadership, project management staff, and field supervision. Featuring credentials, licenses, certifications, and years of experience signals you have the bench strength to execute.
Highlighting your personnel quality demonstrates that you aren’t just a small, informal operation but a professional organization prepared to scale.
Unique Value Proposition: Answering “Why You?”
Just as you have sold a job to an owner, your surety should understand why your firm is the best fit. It might be your safety record, your specialty experience, local knowledge, cost efficiency, or a combination of these. It’s the compelling reason you’ll deliver superior value, manage risk effectively, and complete the job successfully.
Why This Matters for Bonded Work
Sureties don’t just underwrite your financial strength, they evaluate the whole picture, including these qualitative factors. A firm with a strong balance sheet but no clear demonstration of capability, experience, or differentiation may struggle to secure increased bonding capacity.
On the other hand, a business that can tell its story well, showing financial stability and qualitative strengths, has a better shot at growing its bonding program. That, in turn, enables you to bid on larger, more lucrative projects.
Take the time and invest in how you communicate these facets not just to your owners but also your surety.
When it comes to business insurance in Texas, it’s definitely gotten tougher, especially for certain industries and locations. Carriers are tightening their underwriting, rates are rising, and some coverage lines are getting harder to secure altogether.
What's Making Business Insurance Harder to Get in Texas?
Weather-driven claims
Frequent hurricanes, hailstorms, and extreme heat have made Texas one of the most disaster-prone states. Commercial property carriers are responding by:
- Pulling back in high-risk areas
- Increasing deductibles for wind/hail
- Requiring more documentation or inspections
- Sometimes declining to quote at all
Fewer carriers, less competition
Some major insurers have reduced their appetite for commercial risks in Texas, particularly for:
- Construction
- Hospitality
- Real estate/lessors risk
- Coastal properties
This has shrunk the market and given the remaining carriers more pricing power.
Skyrocketing premiums
Rates are climbing across almost every line, especially commercial property, liability, auto, and umbrella. If your loss history isn’t clean or if you operate in a high-risk class, expect double-digit increases or stricter terms.
Legal environment
Texas has a reputation for high litigation frequency and big verdicts (especially in auto and general liability claims). This has caused umbrella and excess liability markets to recoil or raise rates sharply.
Surplus lines growth
Many businesses are being pushed into the excess & surplus market, especially for property and high-limit liability. These carriers aren’t admitted in Texas and may offer less flexible terms, but they’re increasingly the only option.
What Can Businesses Do?
- Work with an independent agent or broker who can access a wide range of markets (not just direct writers).
- Get ahead of your renewal - start marketing your policy 90+ days out, especially if you’ve had claims or operate in a tough class.
- Invest in risk management- carriers reward businesses that can demonstrate loss control, especially in safety, cybersecurity, and fleet management.
Yes, getting business insurance in Texas is harder than it used to be, especially for property-heavy, high-risk, or coastal operations. But with the right strategy, proactive planning, and a knowledgeable partner, it’s still very possible to secure solid protection at competitive rates.
Need help navigating the changing insurance landscape in Texas? Let’s talk about your options.
Each year, more than 1.5 million Americans suffer a heart attack. And roughly one-third of those heart attacks are fatal. That’s a staggering number, and it’s one of the reasons I’m passionate about CPR training.
As someone who teaches CPR regularly, I’ve seen how powerful this simple skill can be. With the right technique, you can keep oxygen flowing to the brain and organs until help arrives. And the best part? It’s something anyone can learn.
Let’s walk through the basics.
Why CPR Matters
When someone collapses and their heart stops beating effectively, time is critical. The brain can only survive for about six minutes without oxygen before permanent damage begins. CPR helps bridge the gap between the emergency and the arrival of trained medical personnel by manually circulating oxygen-rich blood.
It doesn’t matter whether the heart stopped due to a blockage, an electrical misfire like ventricular fibrillation, or something else, CPR can restart circulation and dramatically increase survival odds.
When to Use CPR
CPR isn’t for someone who’s simply feeling faint or having chest pain. It’s for individuals who are unresponsive and not breathing.
You don’t need fancy equipment to assess the situation. Tap or shake the person. Call out loudly. If there’s no reaction, no movement, no sound, it’s time to act.
To check for breathing, hold your phone screen or glasses near their nose and mouth. No fog? No breath.
As soon as you determine they’re unresponsive and not breathing: call 911 and begin CPR.
Where to Press - And Why It Matters
Most people assume the heart sits on the left side of the chest. But in reality, it’s located right in the center, behind the breastbone. That’s exactly where you need to apply pressure.
To perform chest compressions:
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Place the heel of one hand in the center of the chest, just above the base of the sternum.
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Place your other hand on top and interlock your fingers.
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Keep your arms straight, lock your elbows, and position your shoulders directly over your hands.
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Use your body weight to press straight down, hard and fast.
Aim for a rhythm of 100 to 120 compressions per minute. A popular trick? Use the beat of the Bee Gees’ Stayin’ Alive as a guide.
Adding Rescue Breaths
While “hands-only” CPR is commonly taught, traditional CPR includes rescue breaths, which help deliver fresh oxygen to the lungs.
Here’s how to do it:
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After 30 compressions, tilt the head back to open the airway.
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Pinch the nose shut.
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Cover their mouth with yours and give two firm breaths, enough to make the chest rise.
Then immediately return to chest compressions.
Hands-Only CPR: When Breaths Aren’t Given
If you're not comfortable providing rescue breaths, or if you're unsure about the person's medical condition, hands-only CPR is still an excellent option. Just keep pushing hard and fast on the center of the chest without pausing for breaths.
Be warned, though: this method is physically demanding, and you’ll tire more quickly. But doing something is always better than doing nothing.
The Tools That Help You Learn
In our CPR trainings at DSP, we use positive feedback mannequins that light up to show if you’re doing it right. Green lights mean your compressions are the correct depth and speed. It’s instant feedback that builds confidence and skill.
Ready to Learn Hands-On?
CPR is one of the most valuable tools you can have in your back pocket. Whether you're on a jobsite, in the office, or just at home, knowing how to respond in a cardiac emergency can save a life.
If your team hasn’t been trained in a while, or ever, we offer on-site, in-person CPR training that’s hands-on, informative, and even a little fun.
We’ve got an upcoming CPR training on Monday, July 28th, from 8 to 11 a.m. at DSP HQ. Click the button below to learn more and save your seat.
You never know when you might need to act. Let’s make sure you’re ready.
Stay alert. Stay safe.
- Safety Steve
On May 22, 2025, the U.S. House of Representatives narrowly passed the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (H.R. 1). The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” aims to promote economic growth, simplify the tax code, and give individuals greater control over their financial and healthcare decisions.
When it comes to employee benefits, one thing hasn’t changed: people still don’t understand them.
On September 9th, 2024 the Departments of Labor, Treasury, and Health and Human Services released the final rule changes regarding the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act.
Soft landing… We’ve likely all heard these words with regard to the economy and the monetary policies employed to combat inflation while avoiding a “harder” recession. Bonding strategies in uncertain markets are crucial during these times. One of those economic levers being used is interest rates. The Federal Reserve is now moving carefully as indicated by the rate hold in September, but because jobs and consumer spending data continue to be strong, further adjustments may be on the docket.
Most homeowners and companies know that property insurance rates are rising in this “hard” market over the past few years. Navigating co-insurance challenges shows that hard markets come with increased premiums, increased deductibles, and stricter coverage terms. Catastrophic property losses from weather events are becoming more frequent, and the dollar amounts per loss continue to rise, forcing insurance companies to re-evaluate their property insurance portfolios. At the same time, the cost to rebuild properties has increased dramatically due to rising construction costs for material and labor. Additionally, replacement costs on an insurance policy might be significantly higher than the market/retail value of the property. Now more than ever, property owners need to review their property coverage limits and make sure they are carrying adequate limits to avoid a co-insurance penalty, truly navigating co-insurance challenges.
OSHA recently released an updated recordkeeping guide that details requirements for tracking employee injury and illness in the workplace via forms 300A, 300 and 301. The new guide adds recently incorporated changes to OSHA guidelines.
It also simplifies reporting guidelines by merging the previous four OSHA reporting documents into a single guide.