Va Vets First Verification Program
The Vets First Verification Program affords verified firms owned and controlled by Veterans and Service-disabled Veterans the opportunity to compete for VA set asides. During Verification, the Center for Verification and Evaluation verifies Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses and Veteran-Owned Small Business to ensure veteran eligibility, ownership, and control. In order to qualify for participation in the Veterans First Contracting Program, eligible SDVOSBs/VOSBs must first be verified.
To learn more about the program or begin the certification process click the link below.
Special Government Contracting Programs For Veteran
Veteran business owners and entrepreneurs interested in doing business with the U.S. Government need to understand the programs and preferences that have been established to support veteran participation in federal government contracting.
Let us help you understand the preference programs established for veteran-owned businesses and explain the distinctions and differences between the Veterans First Program established by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the government-wide Service Disabled Veteran-owned Small Business Concern Program administered by the U.S. Small Business Administration .
Date: Thursday November 19 2020time: : 30 Am To : 00 Am Est
To help provide a level playing field for women business owners in industries where they have been historically underrepresented, the federal government limits competition for certain contracts to businesses that participate in the womens contracting program. This free workshop, presented by a member of the local SBA team, will explain that program known as the Women-Owned Small Business Federal Contracting Certification Program — and how that certification can help your small business grow.
This overview presentation covers:
- The WOSB Programs purposes and benefits i.e., why you should be interested
- Considerations for deciding if certification is appropriate for you, including the industries/NAICS codes included in the program
- Eligibility requirements for certification
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Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business
Fortuna BMC is honored to be certified as a Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business . Through the SDVOSB program, we are eligible to apply for government contracts, maintain prime contractor partnerships, enjoy exclusive funding opportunities, and help boost local economic growth. Teaming up with a trusted SDVOSB can provide your company with special tax incentives, a simplified contracting process, and additional sources of revenue.
What Is A Vosb Set
Every year the federal government spends about $600 billion on contracts with the goal of spending 3% on Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses . The Department of Veterans Affairs has an increased incentive to work with Veteran-Owned Small Businesses through the Vets First Contracting Program.
A System for Award Management registration is required to qualify for set-aside contracts.
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What Is Sdvosb Designation
The SDVOSB designation is reserved for small businesses owned and managed by service-disabled veterans. As a SDVOSB recipient, Fortuna BMC is automatically entitled to acquire up to $4M worth of sole source contracts and pursue SDVOSB government Set-Aside contracts. Under the Vets First Contracting Program established by the Department of Veterans Affairs , awarding contracts to SDVOBs is the highest priority among other small business initiatives within the VA. In fact, SDVOBs are given special emphasis over other set-asides including VOSB, WOSB, HUBZone, and Disadvantaged. This puts us in a better position to help partners stay competitive and increase their profitability.
Government Contracting Programs: Programs For Your Veteran
Rhode Island District Office – November 17, 2020
Every year, the federal government spends over $600 billion on everything from space heaters to space shuttles. Why shouldn’t your small business have a chance to get your piece of the government contracting pie? It should, can, and will. The SBA has created government contracting programs that help level the playing field for your small business so you can compete in this lucrative market.
Below, we will highlight one of those programs: The Service Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Program.
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Service Disabled Veteran Business Sdvosb Far Market Research Requirements
An SDVOSB small business filed a GAO protest challenging the VAs decision to limit under the FAR and VA associated regulations to the local area. The GAO applied the rule for SDVOSB small business set-asides which states that under the VA Acquisition Regulation, 48 CFR 819.7004, 819.7005, the VA was required to set aside acquisitions for service disabled veteran-owned businesses whenever it determines that there is a reasonable expectation that offers will be received from at least two SDVOSB firms and that award can be made at a fair and reasonable price. 38 USC 8127 48 CFR 819.7005. See additional FAR information about total small business set aside decisions.
Although the contracting officer has great discretion in deciding whether there is a reasonable expectation that the government will receive bids from two or more small businesses, the decision must still be reasonable. See the rule of two and more information on how to bid on government contracts.
Federal Contracts For Disabled Veterans
Under the Service Disabled Veteran-owned small business concern Program13 CFR gives the legal definition of what is a veteran. A veteran is a person that has served in any of the military branches. This includes active military, naval, or air force, navy, marines or other branches. Veterans must also be discharged or released under conditions other than dishonorable.
When it comes to setting aside federal contracts for disabled veterans, the definition of a veteran may change because the VA has certain criteria to meet under the SDVOSB Program. See Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business SDVOSB Fraud.
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Sdvosb Set Aside Service
A question often arises as to whether in a service-disabled veteran owned business SDVOSB set aside contract the federal government can restrict market research to a local geographic area. These are tough issues to address in bid protest litigation.
The first thing that potential bidders must realize as a Veteran Owned Small Business is that there is concern about the terms of the solicitation, then it should consider filing a bid protest that challenges the terms of the solicitation .
In one case, the Veterans Administration published an SDVOSB small business set aside RFP where it limited market research to the local area. Its primary concern was that it wanted the contractor to perform the contract in its own facilities. GAO found that the VAs market research was insufficient to conclude that the agency could receive proposals from at least two responsible SDVOSB concerns that could meet the requirements in the solicitation at a fair market price. GAO then decided that the agencys decision not to set aside the solicitation for SDVOSB small business was unreasonable.
Joining Prime Contractors On Large Jobs
If your company has a SDVOSB classification, then many larger companies will seek out your company to act as sub-contractor for their larger projects. This is because large contracts typically mandate that the prime contractorship, the large company who originally takes the contract, must meet a small business participation goal as a percentage of its overall contract. Within the construction industry and several other NAICS codes, this can result in dramatically improved chances to be a sub-contractor on large projects and gain some meaningful workshare. However, in some industries the large companies just abuse the small business entities by including them in the team and promising them lots of future opportunities, but then refuse to give them any true or meaningful workshare after the contract is awarded.
Thus, entering into large contracts with prime contractors requires the deft negotiation skills of a small company before the contract award to ensure that their ‘boatspace’ is sufficiently identified such that future opportunities actually come. If not, it will be an exercise in pissing in a dark suit and you will feel good about being on a team contract, but won’t expand your revenues.
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How To Become Certified As A Small Minority Woman Or Veteran
For a vendor, being certified as a small business, MWBE, VBE or other special designation has many benefits when it comes to bidding on government contracts. When a government agency posts a bid, they are obliged to award 23% of all contracting dollars to small businesses in addition, they have award sub-goals that they must meet for each small business category. For example, women-owned and small disadvantaged businesses must each be awarded 5% of a contracts total dollar value, while Service Disabled Veteran-owned and HUBZone businesses must each be awarded 3% of the total contract.
Government agencies also administer what are called Set-Asides, contracts that are reserved exclusively for small businesses, MWBEs or veteran-owned businesses.
If youre new to government bidding, you might have been unaware of the benefits that certification provides for your business. Becoming certified can take time, but its worth the effort because it guarantees you a fair shot at bidding on, and winning, government contracts.
One question that many small business owners have is How do I get certified? In this article we will discuss the steps you need to take in order to get certified, and link to some resources that will help you with your application and answer any questions you may have about the certification process.
Register Your Business
Working with the Federal Government
Eligibility Requirements
The Application and Certification Process
Am I Eligible To Register My Business As A Veteran
You may be eligible if youre a Veteran, and you or another Veteran at your company meet all of the requirements listed below.
All of these must be true of you or another Veteran at your company:
- One of you owns 51% or more of the company you want to register, and
- One of you has full control over the day-to-day management, decision-making, and strategic policy of the business, and
- One of you has the managerial experience needed to manage the business, and
- One of you is the highest-paid person in the company , and
- One of you works full time for the business, and
- One of you holds the highest officer position in the company
To be considered a Veteran, at least one of these must be true:
- You served on active duty with the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard for any length of time and didnt receive a dishonorable discharge, or
- You served as a Reservist or member of the National Guard and were called to federal active duty or disabled from a disease or injury that started or got worse in the line of duty or while in training status
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Does The Veteran Owner Have Control
Does the veteran owner have control of the Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business? That was the key issue In the Matter of: Battalion, LLC, Appellant. This case arosefrom a Dept. of the Air Force SDVOSB set aside. The SBA’s OHA decided this case pursuant to the Small Business Act of 1958. The bid protest arose when an unsuccessful offeror, Douglas P Fleming, LLC, filed a protest challenging appellant’s size and status as an SDVOSB. Fleming alleged in part that the appellant’s majority owner, Mr. Jason Harris, was a full-time employee of Sota Construction Services, Inc., a firm controlled by appellant’s minority owner, Mr. Earnest Sota.
Date: Thursday November 19 2020time: : 00 Pm To : 30 Pm Est
Job costing, a direct requirement for the SF 1408, involves the gathering of the costs of materials, labor, and overhead associated with a particular job. It is needed for the incurred cost proposal and provides an excellent tool for tracing specific costs to individual jobs and scrutinizing them to determine if the costs can be reduced in future jobs, and vice versa, to see if any excess costs incurred can, in turn, be billed to a customer.
This webinar will:
- Identify the requirements of job costing
- Review the advantages, and show you how to use job costing to improve your companys profitability.
- Target Audience: Small business owners, accountants, contract managers.
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Register As A Small Women
Have you heard that federal procurement is an opportunity for your small, women-owned, minority-owned or disabled veteran-owned business, but don’t understand the advantages or how to register? This overview serves as a starting point for small business owners interested in learning more.
How do I register as a small, women-owned, disadvantaged minority-owned or disabled veteran-owned business at the federal level?
The SBA has a great resource that walks you through the process.
- The SBA has a great resource that walks you through the process.
Who can help?
- The SBA has many online resources to help small businesses register for doing business with the government.
- With over 300 locations, Procurement Technical Assistance Center are a great, free way to get detailed help in registering and marketing to the Federal, State and local government.
- By law, each Federal agency must have an Office of Small Disadvantaged Business Utilization which assists small disadvantaged businesses with getting contracts.
- The GSA is a government agency that delivers high-quality, cost effective services for customers across Federal Government through a pre-approved list that serves as a contracting vehicle. GSA has local branches that help small businesses get on the list.
Benefits for small businesses:
What is a set-aside?
- Competitive set-aside:
- When two or more small business compete for a contract
- Small business compete only with other small businesses – not larger corporations
Does Your Business Qualify As A Vosb Or Sdvosb
As with many federal government programs, the process of getting certified as a VOSB can be confusing, time consuming, and then you still have to find contracts and learn how to be a federal contractor. US Federal Contractor Registration can quickly determine if your business structure qualifies as VOSB or SDVOSB and get you started in federal contracting.
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Is Sdvosb Certification Directly Needed For Your Business
Based on the clients you are attempting to reach and the items/administrations you give, confirmation could possibly be directly for you. A decent spot to begin is to ask yourself these inquiries:
- Do huge companies or government offices buy my products or administrations?
- Does my organization have the important protection, holding and regulatory capacities to perform work for the legislature or huge partnerships?
If you addressed “YES” to these inquiries, getting confirmed will probably open up new opportunity for your business.
Winning Government Contracts As A Veteran Owned Business
This webinar is now available ON DEMAND by completing the form below.
Businesses that receive Veteran-Owned Small Business certification gain an advantage when competing for federal contracts. A similar certification further qualifies a business as Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business . Receiving either of these designations limits the competition on many government contracts, making it easier to be considered for a large, long-term federal award. Agencies and prime contractors will also have an added incentive to work with your business in order to meet their SD/VOSB quotas.
Its easy for businesses to overlook this certification step or fail the eligibility check because of a clerical error. Youve heard of businesses and veterans who have been lost in the paperwork because of backlogs and disorganization. This is a disappointing fact for our veterans. Even after getting the SD/VOSB certification, a new challenge is sorting through thousands of daily solicitations to find the best contract opportunities. We’ll address this challenge as well.
In this webinar, you’ll learn the VOSB and SDVOSB certification process, the methods for finding specific solicitations that SD/VOSB businesses are eligible to win, and an easy way to do these tasks with one application.
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Sdvosb Denial For Implausibility Is Insufficient
The U.S. Court of Federal Claims remanded an OSDBU determination in CS-360 v. U.S. Dept of Veteran Affairs, where the cited reason for denying certification was the posited implausibility that a non-veteran participant would make capital contributions without control. The Court ruled To the extent the CVE intends to suggest that investment generally must be accompanied by some level of control over a company’s affairs, it must explain why it believes that to be the case and indicate how it applies to CS360. CS-360, LLC v. U.S. Dep’t of Veteran Affairs, 846 F. Supp. 2d 171, 191 The Court has already found that this cursory statement fails to provide a sufficiently reasoned explanation. To the extent the CVE intended to rely upon some other underlying implausibility, it has failed to identify it with sufficient particularity to permit this Court to exercise its function of judicial review. CS-360, LLC v. U.S. Dep’t of Veteran Affairs, 846 F. Supp. 2d 171, 189
Veteran Minority & Women Owned Business Resources
Veteran, minority and women-owned small businesses in Texas have a major impact on the states economy. Texas is home to some of the top cities for Hispanic and minority entrepreneurs, and we have frequently been named one of the best states for black entrepreneurship. In addition, Texas is #1 for jobs created by African American, Hispanic and Veteran women business owners. Governor Greg Abbotts goal is for Texas to be the #1 state for veterans, minority and women-owned businesses in the nation.
Here are some of the resources and organizations dedicated to helping veteran, minority and women-owned businesses start-up and grow in Texas.
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Am I Eligible To Register My Business As A Service
You may be eligible if you meet all the requirements of a VOSB listed above, and either you or another Veteran owner of the company meets at least one of the requirements listed below.
You or another Veteran owner of the company must have at least one of these:
- A disability rating letter from us confirming that you have a service-connected disability rating between 0 and 100%, or
- A disability determination from the Department of Defense
