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The Small Business Administration is working on major projects in the new year. It proves the veteran-owned status of small businesses looking to compete for federal contracts.
Beginning January 9, the SBA began accepting applications to certify new veteran-owned small businesses through the Veteran’s Small Business Certification (VetCert) program.
The agency has taken over this work from the VA as required under the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act.
Larry…
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The Small Business Administration is working on major projects in the new year. It proves the veteran-owned status of small businesses looking to compete for federal contracts.
Beginning January 9, the SBA began accepting applications to certify new veteran-owned small businesses through the Veteran’s Small Business Certification (VetCert) program.
The agency has taken over this work from the VA as required under the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act.
Larry Stubblefield, deputy administrator of the SBA’s Office of Government Contracting & Business Development, said before the NDAA in fiscal year 2021, veteran-owned small businesses will have to prove their status to obtain non-VA contracts. said I had to.
“We are taking steps to end self-certification in federal contracts for veterans by shifting responsibility to the SBA and establishing a federal-wide certification program,” Stubblefield said in an interview Monday.
The SBA’s VetCert program serves as a government-wide hub to verify the status of Veteran-Owned Small Business (VOSB) and Veteran-Owned Small Business with Disability Services (SDVOSB) status.
Both classifications allow qualified vendors to compete for sole source and federal contracts.
Certified Veteran-Owned Small Businesses are eligible to compete for Sole Source and Pending Contracts at the VA, whereas Certified Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses are Government-wide Sole Source and Reservation Contracts. Pending contracts can be contested.
Federal agencies spent $25 billion on government contract spending with SDVOSB in fiscal 2021.
SBA is migrating approximately 2.2 million records from VA to launch the VetCert program. However, he has taken over his VA team that was responsible for this work and is expanding the work.
The agency brought in 13 former VA employees and hired seven more. Also, previously she handled application processing at VA and ran a call center where she brought over 50 contractor employees.
SBA has chosen not to migrate VA’s certificate management system. Instead, the agency will move all certification and loan programs to her unified digital platform called MySBA.
“This is what we at SBA do, and we know we have to do it. From a customer experience standpoint, it’s the right thing to do,” Stubblefield said.
VetCert is the first certification program built on the MySBA platform and is expected to be fully operational by Spring 2024. Stubblefield said he is considering HUBZone certification as his second program for the SBA to move to the new platform.
“This will give them access through a single portal. They can download documents, register, and then have access to all programs on this single platform,” Stubblefield said. I’m here.
By bringing all the programs together on one platform, Stubblefield said eligible small businesses will be able to apply for multiple certifications without having to resubmit information that the SBA may already have on file. That’s it.
“veteran [small business] The owner applies for a certificate, perhaps a woman-owned small business certificate. And in the next year or two, she hopes to apply for HUBZone certification,” he said. “The look is that we’re in business [as] A separate entity, a separate office, which consolidates all certification and financing programs. ”
SBA held several listening sessions with the veterans community during the development of the MySBA platform, inviting veterans to observe how the system operated.
“This is a program that we have developed with input from the seasoned small business community every step of the way,” says Stubblefield.
SBA sees MySBA as an opportunity to attract more veterans into federal contracts. Approximately 21,000 veteran-owned small businesses have self-certified on the General Services Administration’s SAM.gov website.
“We want to use technology and MySBA to increase these numbers and the pool of federal contractors,” said Stubblefield.
The SBA is currently only processing certification applications for new veteran-owned small businesses.
The SBA has granted a one-time, one-year extension to current Veterans Affairs Small Businesses verified by the Center for Veterans Affairs (CVE) as of January 1, 2023.
The SBA and VA said the VetCert program demonstrates the Biden administration’s commitment to improving the customer experience in government through interagency collaboration.
“Veteran-owned small businesses are entitled to major benefits and the support they deserve because their owners selflessly serve our country,” said Veterans Secretary Dennis McDonagh. “Certification is an important part of that process and we encourage all eligible veterans to submit a verification application to the Small Business Administration today.”
SBA Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman said the SBA’s new Veteran Small Business Certification Program reflects “the agency’s commitment to providing exceptional support to seasoned entrepreneurs from America’s military community.” rice field.
“By supporting these veteran entrepreneurs with access to government contracts, we can help build the much-needed infrastructure for manufacturing, retail, research and development, or to fuel America’s long-term growth and job creation. Whether you support them or not, they will be able to continue providing valuable services to the American people, and wealth generation,” Guzman said.
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