All posts by SEO Team

April 14, 2022

California High-Speed Rail

The California High-Speed Rail (CAHSR) grew out of a vision of a “bullet” train spanning the 800 mile distance from Sacramento to San Diego. The environmental benefits of a system of zero emission trains powered entirely by renewable energy are undeniable. When completed, the electrified high-speed rail will keep more than 3,500 tons of pollutants out of the air per year. Surety Bond Professionals is a family owned and operated bonding agency with over 30 years of experience. With access to a broad range of surety markets, our expert agents are ready to assist with all of your construction bond needs. When Phase 1 of the California high-speed rail system is completed, CAHSR will connect Los Angeles and San Francisco, allowing passengers to make the 380 mile trip, without transfers, in 2 hours and 40 minutes, with a maximum speed of more than 200 miles per hour. Phase 2 will extend the California High-Speed rail system southward to San Diego and northward to Sacramento. The project owner is the state of California, through the California high-speed rail Authority (CHSRA).  The Cost of the California High-Speed Rail The project is proceeding in segments as funding becomes available, with different contractors...

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April 14, 2022

Samsung Chip Factory

On November 24, 2021, South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics announced its selection of Taylor, Texas as the site for its new semiconductor manufacturing facility (Samsung Chip Factory), known as a “fab.” Its $17-billion budget makes it Samsung’s largest investment in the U.S. to date, with $6 billion allocated to buildings and property improvements and $11 billion to machinery and equipment. It is also the largest ever direct investment in Texas by a foreign company. Surety Bond Professionals is a family owned and operated bonding agency with over 30 years of experience. With access to a broad range of surety markets, our expert agents are ready to assist with all of your construction bond needs. Why Taylor for the Samsung Chip Factory? Taylor was selected by the Samsung Chip Factory for several reasons: Taylor is located about 35 miles northeast of Austin, which is home to an existing Samsung plant with over 3,000 employees fabricating sophisticated microchips, allowing the two sites to share some resources. The presence of several other tech companies and manufacturing facilities in the Austin area suggests that there is a local talent pool of individuals with some relevant experience. Taylor has a stable infrastructure and...

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April 14, 2022

Hyperloop Projects

The hyperloop project concept was inspired by an idea dating back to 1799 and further developed in 1904 by a freshman at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, who dubbed it the vactrain. It came to the attention of Elon Musk, who first mentioned it publicly in 2012. Initially, engineers from Tesla and SpaceX worked together on a conceptual model, the Hyperloop Alpha, which was released as an open-source design so that other companies and organizations can provide feedback on it and continue developing the technology, ideally in collaboration. Surety Bond Professionals is a family owned and operated bonding agency with over 30 years of experience. With access to a broad range of surety markets, our expert agents are ready to assist with all of your construction bond needs. How The Hyperloop Project Will Work A hyperloop high-speed transportation system has three components: a sealed, low-pressure tube or tunnel, a pod at atmospheric pressure that runs nearly free of air resistance inside the tube, and a source of aerodynamic or magnetic propulsion. A series of international hyperloop project competitions have showcased prototypes vying for first place in pod design and speed. Virgin Hyperloop conducted the first passenger test in 2020, reaching a...

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April 14, 2022

Edwards Sanborn Solar Storage Facility and Battery

Intended to help California reach its carbon reduction goals when completed in 2023, the Edwards Sanborn solar storage facility is expected to be the largest integrated solar-powered battery storage installation in the world! Terra-Gen, LLC, a leading independent renewable energy provider, is the project owner for the Edwards Sanborn solar storage facility and energy storage project, which is under construction on a 6,000-acre site in Kern County, California. Surety Bond Professionals is a family-owned and operated bonding agency with over 30 years of experience. With access to a broad range of surety markets, our expert agents are ready to assist with all of your construction bond needs. The Goal for the Edwards Sanborn Solar Storage Facility The project involves the development of a PV solar facility and all the infrastructure to support it—service roads, transmission lines both above and below ground, a conversion station, solar arrays, substation, battery storage, operations and maintenance facilities, interconnecting power (“gen-tie”) lines, etc. It will provide clean energy for more than 158,000 households and keep at least 307,000 tons of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere every year (the amount of CO2 from a comparable amount of traditionally generated electricity). The total estimated cost...

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April 14, 2022

U.S. – Mexico Border Wall

If there was ever a cautionary tale illustrating what can go wrong with a construction project, this is it—the US-Mexico border wall that was a major campaign promise and presidential goal of Donald Trump. Despite Trump’s insistence that Mexico would pay for the US-Mexico border wall, U.S. taxpayers paid for all construction work on the border wall. One of Trump’s first actions in office was to sign an executive order in January 2017 directing the federal government to begin work on the US-Mexico border wall using existing federal funding, but construction only started in June 2018. Upon his inauguration in 2021, President Biden halted all construction on the border wall. Surety Bond Professionals is a family owned and operated bonding agency with over 30 years of experience. With access to a broad range of surety markets, our expert agents are ready to assist with all of your construction bond needs. Funding Issues for the US-Mexico Border Wall The Department of Homeland Security estimated the original cost of the border wall in early 2017 at $21.6 billion, with a construction timeframe of 3.5 years. By December 2020, the total funding allocated for new barrier construction was about $15 billion, but...

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April 14, 2022

Amazing Construction Projects to Watch in 2022

There are few achievements that demonstrate human ingenuity and accomplishment as impressively as the feats of engineering, architecture, and construction projects that house businesses, link cities, and transform skylines throughout the nation. Major construction projects bring together an amazing collection of talent, skills, knowledge, and resources and require a high degree of coordination and oversight to make all the moving parts mesh to produce the desired outcome. Surety Bond Professionals is a family owned and operated bonding agency with over 30 years of experience. With access to a broad range of surety markets, our expert agents are ready to assist with all of your construction bond needs. Construction Projects To the average person, the size of the capital investment involved is mind-boggling, and there is always the risk of financial loss stemming from delays, errors, and all sorts of unforeseen events. For example, look at the cost of each of these construction projects currently underway or slated to launch in 2022.  Amazon HQ2—Arlington, Virginia, $2.5 billion + Amazon’s highly publicized search for an east coast home for its second headquarters, dubbed Amazon HQ2, ultimately resulted in a plan for construction on two sites in Arlington, Virginia. Buffalo Bills Stadium—Buffalo,...

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April 14, 2022

Performance Bonds for Private Construction

Surety Bond Professionals is a family owned and operated bonding agency with over 30 years of experience. With access to a broad range of surety markets, our expert agents are ready to assist with all of your construction bond needs. What Are Performance Bonds? Performance bonds are surety bonds commonly used in the construction industry to protect project owners against the risk of default by contractors who cannot complete a job under contractual requirements. A performance bond transfers that risk from the project owner to a “surety,” typically an insurance company or division of an insurance company. Surety bonding dates back over 4,000 years to the ancient Babylonians and has developed over the millennia to its current form. Since 1893, law has mandated performance bonds for federally funded projects. Under the Miller Act of 1932, performance bonds and payment bonds are required for all federal construction contracts valued in excess of $100,000. At the state level, similar legislation, commonly referred to as “Little Miller Acts,” requires both performance and payment bonds for state-funded public works projects. Today, performance bonds, once exclusively used in taxpayer-funded construction, are increasingly required by private construction project owners. Why Are Performance Bonds Now Being Required...

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February 15, 2022

How to Get a Lottery Agent License in Arkansas

Surety Bond Professionals is a family owned and operated bonding agency with over 30 years of experience. With access to a broad range of surety markets, our expert agents are ready to assist with all of your lottery bond needs. How Do I Get a Lottery Agent License? If you are interested in becoming an Arkansas Scholarship Lottery (ASL) retailer, you’ll need to call ASL Sales at 501-683-1884 or Retailer Licensing at 501-978-3950 to obtain an application. What Does the Licensing Process Involve? The application package includes several forms that must be filled out and submitted for the application to be considered complete—a landlord approval form, record check form, fingerprint verification form, and electronic funds transfer form. In addition to completing and submitting an application, applicants for a retail lottery license in Arkansas must either be approved to participate in the ASL’s Self-Bond program or obtain a surety bond or deposit interest-bearing or accruing securities with the ASL. ASL will let every applicant know whether or not they are eligible for the self-bonding option, which involves a $50 per month payment to ASL for each of the retailer’s locations. If a surety bond is required, ASL will inform the...

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December 12, 2021

Hawaii Auto Dealer License Guide

Hawaii Auto Dealer License Guide In this article, we’ll walk you through everything you need to get a Hawaii car dealer license. Surety Bond Professionals is a family owned and operated bonding agency with over 30 years of experience. Our expert agents are ready to assist with all your Hawaii car title bonds needs. What Are the Different Types of Hawaii Auto Dealer Licenses? The Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Professional & Vocational Licensing Division, licenses all the state’s motor vehicle dealers. However, the license types and licensing procedures vary depending on whether the dealer will be operating in Honolulu County or on another island. The three main categories are new vehicle dealers, used vehicle dealers, and auction dealers, with the new and used vehicle categories subdivided into licenses for Honolulu dealers and licenses for dealers on other islands. Auction dealer licenses are the same for all islands.  This article focuses on the most common license type—Honolulu licenses for used vehicle dealers.    What Are the Steps in the Licensing Process? You can download the application for a Hawaii used vehicle dealer license, which includes instructions for completing it and a checklist of required documents. Among those...

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