DoD Promoting Businesses Owned by Wounded Vets

American Forces Press Service ^ | Sgt. Sara Wood, USA

[SandRat]

WASHINGTON, Dec. 1, 2006 -- In an effort to increase the supplier base in key acquisition areas and smooth the transition of wounded veterans into the civilian business world, the Defense Department is showcasing its program aimed at small businesses owned by service-disabled veterans.

DoD’s Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Program, developed in response to a 2004 executive order and subsequent legislation, helps wounded veterans start their own businesses, get certification to bid on DoD contracts as a prime or subcontractor, and network with other DoD prime and subcontractors. The organization is sponsoring a conference to showcase what they do in Dallas Dec. 4 to 7.

“I think that if there’s any program that I have to manage here that has the greatest amount of job satisfaction and purpose of being in this position, it’s the service-disabled veterans program,” Frank Ramos, director of small business programs for DoD, said in a media roundtable yesterday.

Ramos, whose family has a rich history of military service, said the veterans of today’s conflicts come home to a much more welcome reception than those of other decades, and DoD is trying to make sure they have business opportunities as well.

“When I reflect on what we’re trying to do with the service-disabled veteran program, there’s a vast difference in terms of how the country, and the public, and the Department of Defense, and the federal government, and the Congress, and the president are seeking to find innovative and fresh approaches to giving these warriors a sense of a transitional role for them to come back into the mainstream community,” Ramos said. “We’re trying to find niche industries that this new era of service-disabled veterans can come into the entrepreneurial mainstream.”

Under this program, DoD drafted a five-year plan to reach a goal established by Congress to have 3 percent of DoD contracts go to service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses. The plan was stretched over five years because DoD officials knew it would take time to build a base of veteran-owned businesses with the expertise and knowledge to supply to DoD, said Charles Cervantes, director of the Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Program.

To qualify for the program, businesses must be at least 51 percent owned and controlled by a service-disabled veteran.

Since its inception, the program has achieved some significant accomplishments, Cervantes said. In the past year, the organization grew from 5,000 member businesses registered in DoD’s centralized contractor registry to more than 12,000. The contracts landed by these companies grew from $513 million to $1.1 billion, he added. This is still only a fraction of the 3 percent goal, he noted, but is still strong progress.

Another notable accomplishment in the first year was the beginning of the Mentor-Protégé Program, in which a small, veteran-owned business is matched with a large corporation, Cervantes said. In the first year, two small businesses -- one in information technology, the other in construction -- participated in this program. Their success stories will be on display at the conference to encourage more participation, he said.

Also under this program, DoD is encouraging teaming agreements, which are partnerships between multiple small businesses to increase capacity and capabilities, Cervantes said. Army Materiel Command recently took a $1.2 billion contract for bullets and split it between five small service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses, he said.

At the conference in Dallas, DoD plans to focus on the three major niche areas for service-disabled veterans: information technology, manufacturing and construction. Many veterans bring unique expertise to these fields, and DoD has a large need in these areas, Ramos said.

The conference will feature many high-level experts in procurement and acquisition, Cervantes said. “This is a terrific faculty, and it shows the commitment of our director … to make these numbers go up dramatically within our five-year plan,” he said.

For those small-business owners who can’t make it to the conference, the eight key training modules will be taped and put into the Defense Acquisition University’s online catalogue, Cervantes said. All of this is part of the effort to educate more service-disabled veterans about how to do business with DoD, he said.

“We want people to know that they can come back, they can have a serious disability and do business,” he said. “This statute, this executive order, this plan is not going to go away. It’s here for the long term; it’s here for people that haven’t even been born yet that will fight wars that we haven’t even conceived of yet, and they will be beneficiaries of these programs.”

In addition to the conference, DoD is working with other agencies and veterans service organizations to promote the service-disabled veteran-owned small business program, Ramos said. Each of the military services has a robust program to educate veterans and servicemembers about their opportunities in doing business with DoD, he said.

Biographies:
Frank Ramos

Related Sites:
Department of Defense Office of Small Business Programs
Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Program
Mentor-Protégé Program

[SandRat]

Proper DoD Sole Source Contract Awardees

[KC Burke]

Being in the construction business and having some dealings with military contracts, I can tell you that they VERY favorably look upon any incorporation of this classification of subcontracting. In certain bid situations, I can award a contract for $1,100,000.00 to a service disabled veteran company and show the government that this award was made when there were bids available for up to ten percent less from non-select bidders and they wil pay up to the ten percent difference. In other instances, they will announce that the contract letting has given special preference to such businesses and that non-qualifying businesses must be prepared to loose the job to a qualified business of this classification should they chose to bid and should the competition not be over ten percent less.

While it is a preference, they clearly announce when it is a limitation on low-bid analysis, so I think it is certainly suitable to conservative and business practices for a military project.

[Gaffer]

I don't have a problem with this. It doesn't choose or provide an edge because of sex, religion, or race, or archaic historical inequities such as slavery to fabricate a basis for preference for award. It is based on ACTION, SERVICE, and GRATITUDE for SACRIFICE. Good for them...

[B4Ranch]

The DoD’s Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Program is one outfit that I will never belittle for favoritism. Any veteran who has walked those rough roads deserves a break in my view.

[centurion316]

This article is missing a few key facts, typical of the ignorant press.

First, this is not a program for "wounded vets". The qualification is that the veteran be "disabled" as determined by the VA. There is a difference, disability must be service related, but is not necessarily a direct result of combat. I'm not saying this to disparage the program - just to get the facts straight.

Second, Most of these contracts limit awards to companies that have less than $6.5 million in revenue. That sounds like alot, but win one contract like the one described in the article and you are no longer eligible. Most businessmen know that the hardest thing to do is to sustain that initial burst of success - hard to do when for your next job you have to compete with Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics.

Finally, these small business set aside contracts have been great for veteran start-up businesses. But this has come at the expense of minority owned businesses, the so-called 8A businesses. With the Democrats back in charge at the Congress, you can bet that they are going to do everything that they can to help their special interest groups at the expense of the evil veterans (military people, don't you know, and probably Republicans)

[darth]

Shameless, self-promoting plug: My company is the ONLY service disabled vet owned electoplating company (NAICS 332813) in the Central Contractor Registry. If interested see our website at www.deltaspecialtycoatings.com Any disabled vet looking for a job can contact me via FR mail.