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Who We Are

About Cornerstone Surety Bonds

The right bond, issued fast, backed by carriers you can trust

Our Mission

Surety Relationships, Built Over Decades

Cornerstone Surety Bonds is the bond placement arm of Cornerstone. Direct appointments with A-rated carriers and a team that has placed bonds across every state means we get yours done quickly and at the right rate.

  • Direct appointments with every major A-rated surety carrier

  • Underwriters on staff who can structure complex contract bonds

  • Bonds placed across all 50 states, D.C., and U.S. territories

  • 24-hour standard issuance with same-day rush service available

Cornerstone Surety Bonds team

By the Numbers

What Our Clients Rely On

Years Experience

28

Years Experience

Filings Completed

525,000+

Filings Completed

States Covered

50

States Covered

Active Clients

1000+

Active Clients

Our Values

What Drives Us Every Day

  • Integrity

    We do what we say, every time. Compliance work has zero tolerance for surprises.

  • Expertise

    Decades of regulatory experience, kept current with every state rule change.

  • Responsiveness

    Specialists answer in hours, not days. Renewals are tracked weeks ahead.

  • Partnership

    Your business is unique. We build a plan that fits how you actually operate.

  • Accuracy

    Every filing is reviewed before it leaves our desks. No retries, no penalties.

  • Transparency

    Atlas gives you real-time visibility into every license, bond, and renewal.

Why we built it this way

Getting bonded should not feel like a runaround.

A broker who owns your placement, holds direct carrier appointments, and answers when you call.

  1. What you usually get

    A quote engine, then silence.

    You fill out a form, get a single rate, and never speak to a person who understands surety. When a question comes up, there is no broker who knows your trade or your financials to answer it.

  2. And the worst part

    Underwriting goes quiet and the job waits.

    The submission sits with a carrier that may not even want the risk. You resend the same financials, chase for a status, and watch the deadline move closer while no one tells you where it stands.

  3. How we staff it

    Here, a named broker owns the placement.

    The same broker who takes your submission picks the carrier, negotiates the terms, and hands you the bond. They have a phone number, they reply the same day, and they watch the renewal so it never lapses.

  4. And they are never alone

    Direct appointments with A-rated sureties.

    Decades of placements taught us which carrier wants which risk, down to the bond type and the trade. Those direct relationships are how we get a clean approval at the right rate instead of a slow no from the wrong market.

    Meet the team
Why we built it this way
What you usually get

A quote engine, then silence.

You fill out a form, get a single rate, and never speak to a person who understands surety. When a question comes up, there is no broker who knows your trade or your financials to answer it.

Our Pillars

The People at Our Core

These three have each spent well over a decade at Cornerstone. They have seen the rules change and the industry shift, and they still set the standard the rest of the team works to.

  • Christy Barger

    Christy Barger

    CRO

    Shapes how Cornerstone works with every client, so the relationship stays as dependable as the filings.

    With Cornerstone since 2005

  • Denille Bickford

    Denille Bickford

    Director of Operations

    Keeps the licensing teams trained and the day to day running, so your work is handled right the first time.

    With Cornerstone since 2008

  • Carly Pearson

    Carly Pearson

    Initial Licensing Manager

    Leads the team that gets new licenses filed correctly from the start, which cuts back and forth and prevents problems later.

    With Cornerstone since 2012

All three began as licensing specialists, and each has spent well over a decade with Cornerstone.

The Team

Specialists Behind Every Filing

  • Anna Agee

    Anna Agee

    Researcher

  • Monica Anglin

    Monica Anglin

    Licensing Specialist

  • Christy Barger

    Christy Barger

    CRO

  • Denille Bickford

    Denille Bickford

    Director of Operations

  • Susan Blair

    Susan Blair

    Accounting Specialist

  • Reilly Boehm

    Reilly Boehm

    Customer Success Specialist

  • Jeff Brewer

    Jeff Brewer

    President & CEO

  • Maggie Brown

    Maggie Brown

    Licensing Specialist

  • Gail Burgess

    Gail Burgess

    Licensing Specialist

  • Nathan Carver

    Nathan Carver

    Principal Software Developer

  • Kendrah Cox

    Licensing Specialist

  • Jennifer Cristao

    Jennifer Cristao

    Licensing Specialist

  • Dawn Graham

    Dawn Graham

    Training Manager

  • Michaela Gruber

    Michaela Gruber

    Licensing Assistant

  • Sumita Hunter

    Licensing Specialist

  • Esther HwangBo

    Licensing Specialist

  • Angela Johnston

    Angela Johnston

    Marketing Coordinator

  • Kaylah Jones

    Kaylah Jones

    Licensing Specialist

  • Shayna Kaul

    Shayna Kaul

    Account Executive

  • Claudia Keirn

    Claudia Keirn

    Director of Finance

  • Leslie Keneely

    Leslie Keneely

    Office Manager

  • Jennifer Kim

    Jennifer Kim

    Renewal Department Manager

  • Joe Liffrig

    Joe Liffrig

    CTO

  • Caroline Long

    Caroline Long

    Controller

  • Sheri Long

    Sheri Long

    Staff Accountant

  • Danielle Longamore

    Danielle Longamore

    Licensing Specialist

  • Jody Loyd

    Senior Insurance Agent

  • Jack Lucas

    Jack Lucas

    Full Stack Developer

  • John McKinney

    John McKinney

    CMO

  • Cami Merges

    Bonds Specialist

  • Teri Milhollin

    Licensing Specialist

  • Lauren Murphy

    Lauren Murphy

    Licensing Specialist

  • Brandi Palladino

    Brandi Palladino

    Researcher

  • Whitney Palladino

    Whitney Palladino

    Licensing Specialist

  • Sylvia Park

    Sylvia Park

    Licensing Specialist

  • Carly Pearson

    Carly Pearson

    Initial Licensing Manager

  • Brooke Scheumann

    Brooke Scheumann

    Licensing Specialist

  • Madison Sherer

    Madison Sherer

    Licensing Specialist

  • Jung Shin

    Licensing Specialist

  • Michelle Simpson

    Michelle Simpson

    Business Services Specialist

  • Penny Siniard

    Licensing Specialist

  • Angela Slagle

    Angela Slagle

    Licensing Specialist

  • Candice Smith

    Candice Smith

    Licensing Specialist

  • Paige Stegall

    Senior Licensing Specialist

  • Sydney Strickland

    Sydney Strickland

    Licensing Specialist

  • Meredith Walters

    Meredith Walters

    Initial Registration Specialist

  • Suzanne Weaver

    Suzanne Weaver

    Sr. Account Executive

  • Christina Whitenton

    Christina Whitenton

    Licensing Specialist

  • Gabbrielle Davis Williams

    Gabbrielle Davis Williams

    Licensing Specialist

  • Nicole Womack

    Licensing Specialist

  • Andrea Woodbury

    Andrea Woodbury

    Bond and Insurance Agent

  • Heather Zambrano

    Heather Zambrano

    Licensing Specialist

How we use AI

The tools changed. The judgment did not.

Cornerstone has been issuing surety bonds since 1998. We use AI the way any experienced team uses a good tool: as an assistant that helps our specialists work faster, not as a replacement for their judgment. The models run on Cornerstone infrastructure, not public LLMs, because we take client data seriously. Every application and renewal is reviewed by a licensed specialist before it reaches a regulator.

  • On Our Infrastructure

    Our models run on Cornerstone servers, not public chatbots. Your business information is not sent to a third-party LLM or used to train anyone else's product.

  • An Assistant, Not an Operator

    AI helps our bonding team start their research in the right place and surface the resources to look at. Specialists vet what comes back and make the call.

  • Less Duplicate Work for You

    Atlas figures out what data each form needs, then reuses what you have already given us so the same question does not come around twice. That is how approvals come faster.

Ready to Talk?

Cornerstone Surety Bonds is the bond placement arm of Cornerstone. Direct appointments with A-rated carriers and a team that has placed bonds across every state means we get yours done quickly and at the right rate.

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