Veteran owned small businesses deserve equal benefits.Current law regarding service-disabled, veteran-owned small businesses ultimately does not create the same benefits for them as those extended to other marginalized entrepreneurs. Since its inception in 1969, the mission of the Small Business Administration's 8(a) program has been to ease access to the economic mainstream for individuals subjected to racial or ethnic prejudice and diminished di·min·ish v. di·min·ished, di·min·ish·ing, di·min·ish·es v.tr. 1. a. To make smaller or less or to cause to appear so. b. capital and credit opportunities. Firms that qualify receive special access to federal contracting and management and technical assistance from the SBA SBA abbr. Small Business Administration Noun 1. SBA - an independent agency of the United States government that protects the interests of small businesses and ensures that they receive a fair share of government for up to nine years. In the program's nearly 30 years of existence, more than $65 billion in federal contracting has been channeled to 8(a) firms. During that period, the bar needed to prove social disadvantage is been lowered from "clear and convincing" to a "preponderance pre·pon·der·ance also pre·pon·der·an·cy n. Superiority in weight, force, importance, or influence. Noun 1. preponderance " of evidence. To qualify, an applicant's personal net worth must not exceed $250,000, not counting a primary residence or investment in the business. Contracts with an anticipated value of less than $3 million--$5 million in the manufacturing sector--may be awarded on a noncompetitive Adj. 1. noncompetitive - not involving competition or competitiveness; "noncompetitive positions"; "noncompetitive interest in games" competitive, competitory - involving competition or competitiveness; "competitive games"; "to improve one's competitive position" basis if the contract promotes the firm's business plan of growth and development. Contracts greater than these amounts can be awarded after competition among eligible 8(a) participants. In 1999, Congress said that, as a goal, 3 percent of all prime contracts should go to veterans. In 2003, it passed the Veterans Benefits Act, which added a contracting mechanism to help agencies reach the 3 percent level. Section 308 of that law established a sole-source and set-aside Set-aside A percentage of a municipal or corporate bond underwriting that is allocated for handling by a minority-owned broker/dealer firm. procurement The fancy word for "purchasing." The procurement department within an organization manages all the major purchases. program for service-disabled, veteran-owned small businesses concerns. Unlike the 8(a) program, which allows any qualified firm to receive sole-source contracts, the veterans measure requires agencies only to assert that the service-disabled, veteran-owned business receiving the sole-source contract is the only such firm that could provide the work or service. Our service-disabled veterans deserve, at the very least, equality in benefits to those granted in the 8(a) business development program. We should recognize that our service-disabled veterans gave a part of themselves in the defense of this nation. The National Defense Industrial Association strongly supports the value of the 8(a) Program, but also we also advocate parity parity or space parity, in physics, quantity that refers to the relationship between an object or process and the image that it can produce in a mirror. for service-disabled veterans in meeting the legislated 3 percent goal for contracting. NDIA NDIA National Defense Industrial Association NDIA New Doha International Airport (Qatar) GOVERNMENT POLICY Peter M. Steffes Vice President, Government Policy psteffes@ndia.org Ruth W. Franklin Director, Procurement rfranklin@ndia.org Ann ANN, Scotch law. Half a year's stipend over and above what is owing for the incumbency due to a minister's relict, or child, or next of kin, after his decease. Wishaw. Also, an abbreviation of annus, year; also of annates. In the old law French writers, ann or rather an, signifies a year. Stockwell Director, International Trade Policy and Programs astockwell@ndia.org Chandra Burnside Manager, Government Policy cburnside@ndia.org Meredith Kyttle Government Policy Staff mkytde@ndia.org Chandra Burnside is manager of government policy and director of NDIA's Small Business Division. For more information on the activities of that organization, please contact her at cburnside@ndia.org. |
|
||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion