Helping Minority- and Women-Owned Contractors
Over the past decade, Travelers and the Minority Business Development Institute (MBDI) have partnered to help small minority- and women-owned contracting firms – often underrepresented in the construction marketplace – obtain access to surety bonds. This, in turn, can increase their economic sustainability and prospects for future success. Rather than waiving surety bond requirements, MBDI believes that education and one-on-one advisory consulting services will create sustainable minority- and women-owned contractors. Travelers participates on MBDI’s advisory board and has presented educational content to more than 350 minority- and women-owned contractors.
We are also now in the process of planning an MBDI CEO Bootcamp Scholarship Program to train 42 construction company leaders. Travelers will conduct this program over a two-year period through the Family Business Institute, a wholly owned Travelers subsidiary. The classes are scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2024.