If you are a Veteran or Service Disabled Veteran entrepreneur, you’ll want to understand the programs and preferences in place to support your participation in federal government contracting. Two distinct programs – the government-wide Service Disabled Veteran-owned Small Business Concern Program (SDVOSB) and the Veteran Affairs’ Veterans First Contracting Program – have significantly different parameters and requirements.
To be eligible for the SDVOSBC, the following criteria must be met:
The Service Disabled Veteran (SDV) must have a service-connected disability as determined by the VA or Department of Defense (DoD)
Ownership by one or more service disabled veterans must be direct ownership. A concern owned principally by another business entity that is in turn owned and controlled by one or more service-disabled veterans does not meet this requirement.
One or more Service Disabled Veterans must unconditionally own 51% of the business, control its management – including long-term decision making – and daily operations, AND hold the highest officer position
The SDVOSBC must be small under the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code assigned to the procurement
Within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the procurement hierarchy for open market acquisitions places the highest priority on SDVOSBs, followed by VOSBs, putting Veteran-owned businesses ahead of 8(a), HUBZone, Woman-owned and other small businesses. This is the only program that gives first priority to veterans and the only program that provides a preference for veteran business owners who are not service-disabled. The VA is one of the largest federal procurement organizations, awarding over $3 billion to Veteran-owned small businesses.
Verification: To qualify for the Veterans First Contracting Program, businesses must be found eligible through the VA’s Verification process, which is administered by the VA’s Center for Verification and Evaluation (CVE). The core requirements are as follows (per 38 CFR part 74):
Did you know that 3% of all federal contracts must be set-aside to Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business?Recently SDVOSB certified? Interested in Joint Venturing with another firm to capitalize on opportunities? Then let Byerly Enterprises help you with your SDVOSB Joint Ventures. As former SBA employees, we understand the regulations and processes that SBA uses to approve your Joint Ventures.
Found the perfect Mentor? Let Byerly Enterprises prepare your Mentor Protégé Package for submittal to SBA. Interested in knowing the pitfalls of the Mentor Protégé Program? Let our experts walk discuss the pros and cons of the program.
Whether you are starting or growing a business, at Byerly Enterprises we will assist you with all your business certification needs.