SOURCE: www.va.gov
Leads Federal Agencies In Awarding Contracts To Veteran-Owned Businesses
Washington, D.C. . . . VA has been recognized by the Small Business Administration with a rating of ‘A’ on its Small Business Scorecard for its success in contracting with small businesses. VA’s Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) collaborated with other VA acquisition professionals to achieve the high rating.
“Through hard work and commitment, VA excels in its procurements with small business,” said Secretary Eric K. Shinseki. “VA is committed to improving Veteran-owned small business contracting and promoting the many rewards of that community’s entrepreneurial spirit.”
VA led the federal government in procurements with service-disabled Veteran–owned small businesses. While the government-wide statutory goal for contract awards in this category was 3 percent of all agency procurements, VA awarded nearly 17 percent of its acquisition dollars to service-disabled Veteran-owned small businesses.
Each agency’s small business procurement performance was assessed along three quantitative measures – prime contracting, subcontracting and progress achievement. Previous scorecards only addressed prime contracting achievement and did not offer an overall grade. SBA’s Small Business Procurement Scorecard reports for all federal agencies can be found on the SBA.gov web page under “Goaling Program.”
The Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization serves as VA’s advocate to assist and support the interests of Veteran-owned small businesses. A related mission of that office is to provide outreach and liaison support to businesses (large and small) and other members of the private sector concerning acquisition-related issues. In addition, the office is responsible for monitoring VA implementation and execution of the small business procurement programs.