On Veterans Day, U.S. Representative Trey Hollingsworth (R-Indiana) introduced the Veteran Entrepreneurial Talents Act (VETs). The VETs Act raises the federal government contracting goal for service-disabled veteran-owened small businesses to 5%. 

The focus of the bill will be on Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSBs) which is a federal certification type administered by the Small Business Administration.

In order to ensure SDVOSBs funding is properly allocated, the VETs Act includes a certification protocol to ensure procurement goals are met with real opportunities for service-disabled veterans. “The Investing in VETs Act is a great step in the right direction to show appreciation to those who made the commitment to our country and to honor their ongoing, innate commitment to continuing that service.”, said Erick Hedrick, a service-disabled veteran-owned small business owner.

Although Congress has made steps to help SDVOSBs, this would entail a larger step toward ensuring veteran owned small businesses have opportunities in contracting with their local governments. Currently there are over 25,000 SDVOSBs registered with the federal government. 

A number of state governments, and some county and city governemnts, also have programs benefiting veteran and disabled veteran owned companies. 

Source: NaVOBA. For more details on veteran programs in each state see this tracker published by the National Veteran-Owened Business Association:

For full press release from U.S. Rep. Hollingsworth see: https://hollingsworth.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=1036