Congress Increases the Government-Wide Goal for Awards to Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses From 3% to 5% in a Victory for NVSBC, Veterans and American Small Businesses

WASHINGTON, Dec. 26, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- For years, the National Veterans Small Business Coalition (NVSBC) has advocated that Congress increase the Government-wide goal for awards to Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSB) from three percent to five percent. NVSBC is excited to announce this change in the signed version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2024.

"This milestone victory comes at a time when Veterans in government contracting are providing tremendous value to our nation and to the government, serving again, this time as business owners," says Scott Jensen, NVSBC's Executive Director. "We Veterans look forward to continuing to deliver value to federal agencies and the American people."

Throughout 2022 and 2023, NVSBC leadership collaborated with Members of Congress and Professional Staff on the Senate and House Small Business and Armed Services Committees, urging them to increase the SDVOSB set aside goal and to act more decisively to eliminate self-certification by SDVOSB subcontractors.

Together with the five percent increase, the Fiscal Year 2024 NDAA prohibits the government from counting awards to self-certified SDVOSBs toward its prime and subcontracting goals, closing a major loophole in certification requirements.

"Our coalition represents the 40,000 Veteran owned firms across America seeking to do work with the federal government," explains NVSBC's Scott Jensen. "About 12,000 of these Veteran business owners currently have contracts to provide products or services to federal agencies. Federal agencies contract with SDVOSB firms to support every category of products and services including construction, information technology, home health services, supply chain logistics, and janitorial services. SDVOSB firms support every agency in every state and all US 14 territories."

The five percent goal becomes effective with the President signing the NDAA into law. In addition, the prohibition on the government counting awards made to self-certified SDVOSBs at the subcontract level is expected to be effective October 1, 2024. Of note, government awards of prime contracts to self-certified SDVOSBs were prohibited in the 2021 NDAA which became effective January 1, 2024. 

Adds Jensen, "It's been a long road, but SDVOSBs – Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Businesses – can look forward to our long-desired five percent set-aside. It's smart policy to use Veteran entrepreneurs, known to deliver the best-in-class performance."

Said NVSBC's Board President, Ed Tuorinsky in a statement: "This is a huge win for us, a win for Veterans, their families and an economic boon for communities across America."  

ABOUT NVSBC

NVSBC, founded eleven years ago as a grassroots industry group, pivoted in recent years to become a significant force in federal contracting serving Veterans. The organization's Executive Director, Scott Jensen, is a frequent figure on the Hill and a known expert on Veteran owned business issues. NVSBC's training, mentoring, and networking programs were recognized by the Small Business Administration and supported through SBA's recent "Community Navigator" national initiative. NVSBC works to:

• Advocate with Federal agencies, the White House, and Congress on behalf of SDVOSBs, to increase the set-aside program from 3 percent to 5 percent and to maintain parity if those percentages are increased;
• Bring equity and access to ALL transitioning service members, pragmatically supporting their entrepreneurship journey;
• Provide procurement training, networking, and mentoring to ALL veterans serving Federal agencies, running virtual trainings and two national conferences;
• Support the hiring of our heroes by boosting Veteran owned GovCon businesses who hire other Vets (many located in economically needy areas of the country)
• Partner with the Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University to collect key data for researchers, analysts, policymakers, and service organizations on veteran entrepreneurs (and their families) who serve the federal government.

For more information contact:
Scott Jensen (703) 889-5742
[email protected]

SOURCE National Veterans Small Business Coalition (NVSBC)