On average, $4.65 billion in contracts is awarded to Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSB) per year. A SDVOSB is characterized as a company that is owned by one or more Veterans who were injured or disabled during their military service. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has four requirements that must be met for verification.

• BE CLASSIFIED AS A SMALL BUSINESS BY THE SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION (SBA)

• BE AT LEAST 51% OWNED BY ONE OR MORE SERVICE-DISABLED VETERANS (SDV) WHO CONTROL MANAGEMENT AND DAILY BUSINESS OPERATIONS

• THE SDV MUST HOLD THE HIGHEST OFFICER POSITION AT THE COMPANY

• THE COMPANY MUST BE ASSIGNED TO THE NORTH AMERICAN INDUSTRY CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM (NAICS)

An SDVOSB Procurement Program was developed to allow contracting officers to award companies such as, USVetServ, a “sole source” or “set-aside” contract to reduce competition. Additionally, set-aside requirements are placed on contracts based on the value of the goods and services the government wants to purchase. For example, any contract under $150,000 must be set-aside exclusively for small businesses. Also, any contract over that limit will go to a small business if there are two or more qualified, competing small businesses with similar market price, quality and delivery, which is known as the “Rule of Two”.

The amount in contracts going specifically to SDVOSB companies and partnerships is rising. Ultimately, government agencies prefer to award their contracts to SDVOSB companies to meet their contracting goals and small business quotas. This results in a higher number of SDVOSBs being chosen for prime contract and subcontract awards.

Partnering with a SDVOSB such as, USVetServ, dramatically increases your chance to win contract awards. Since opportunities contain set-aside requirements that allow only small businesses to respond as the prime contractor, a partnership with an SDVOSB would provide the highest contracting status, limit the competition available and strengthen your likelihood for success.

From the viewpoint of government agencies, these partnerships are also more desirable since companies can use their unique capabilities to offer the best combination of performance, cost and delivery. In short, you’re more likely to win a contract with, USVetServ, as the prime or subcontractor since many opportunities require a small business. As a result, this restricts the pool of possible competitors, and it allows the two companies to share the risk of the project.

Being an SDVOSB company offers many advantages. First, some agencies favor companies with the SDVOSB status. The VA, for example, sets priority for SDVOSBs, which means that each set-aside or sole source contract created by the VA goes directly to a qualified SDVOSB. In addition, DoD contracting officers tend to prefer SDVOSB companies since the SDV better understands the military’s needs. There are not many companies, in general, that are SDVOSB certified. This presents, USVetServ with ample opportunities for sole source and set-aside contracts.

For your next RFP, choosing to partner with an SDVOSB company will greatly improve your chance of winning the contract award. If you want to know more about how, USVetServ can help you with your next contract, please Contact US.