Tag Archives: SDVOSB eligibility

VA CVE Rejecting 60% Of New SDVOSB Verification Applications

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The VA’s Center for Veterans Enterprise is rejecting about 60% of initial SDVOSB verification applications, according to Thomas Leney, the  VA OSDBU Executive Director.  Leney gave the figure in testimony before the House Veterans Affairs Subcommittees on Oversight and Investigations and Economic Opportunity on Friday, August 3.

In an excellent piece on Federal News Radio’s website, reporters Esther Carey, Ruben Gomez and Jared Serbu offer some other interesting insights from Leney’s testimony–including the incredibly broad definition of “unconditional” ownership and control used by the CVE.

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VA Replaces Annual SDVOSB Re-Verification With Two-Year System

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The VA has enacted an interim final rule changing the re-verification requirement for SDVOSBs.  Currently, SDVOSBs must be re-verified annually, a process some service-disabled veterans have complained is unnecessary and unduly burdensome.

In the preamble to the rule, the VA writes that although it initially believed annual re-verification would be necessary, “in administering this program since February 2010, VA has concluded that an annual examination is not necessary to adequately maintain the integrity of the program and proposes a 2-year eligibility period.”  The VA notes that although formal re-verification will only be required every two years, SDVOSBs must continue to maintain ongoing program eligibility throughout their terms.

The amendment to the VA’s system has been released as an “interim final rule,” meaning that it is effective immediately, but subject to change.  Comments on the rule (which I would expect will be overwhelmingly positive) are due by August 27, 2012.

SDVOSB Eligibility: Lack of VetBiz Verification Irrelevant for Non-VA SDVOSB Set-Asides

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“So what?”

That, in essence, is what the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals had to say in a recent SDVOSB appeal decision, in which the protester contended that the service-disabled veteran-owned small business in question was not listed in the VA’s VetBiz database.  The SBA OHA decision serves as an important reminder: CVE verification only matters for VA SDVOSB set-asides.  When another agency sets-aside a procurement for SDVOSBs, there is no requirement that the awardee be listed in the VetBiz database.

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SDVOSB Joint Ventures: JV Agreement Must Name Program Manager

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In Romeo and Juliet, the heroine famously muses “What’s in a name?”  Juliet’s point, as your junior high English teacher probably emphasized, is that the young lovers’ family names should not define them.  If Juliet had her way, names would be meaningless.

Tell that to the SBA’s Office of Hearings and Appeals.  (How’s that for a segue?)  SBA OHA has held that when it comes to service-disabled veteran-owned small business joint ventures, the parties must include the specific name of the SDVOSB employee who will serve as the project manager.  Without a name, the SDVOSB joint venture is invalid.

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Supermajority Voting and SDVOSBs: Another One Bites the Dust

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Unanimity and supermajority voting requirements are one of the most common ways for a service-disabled veteran-owned small business to find itself on the wrong end of an eligibility protest (or, in the case of the VA, a CVE verification denial). Case in point: the decision of the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals in SDVOSB Appeal of Rush-Link One Joint Venture, SBA No. VET-228 (2012).

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SDVOSB Eligibility: Veteran “Controls” Company Despite Living 900 Miles From Headquarters

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A service-disabled veteran “controlled” his company within the meaning of the SBA’s service-disabled veteran-owned small business regulations, despite living more than 900 miles from the company’s headquarters, according to a SDVOSB appeal decision of the SBA’s Office of Hearings and Appeals.

In SDVOSB Appeal of Command Languages, Inc., SBA No. VET-149 (2009), the SDVOSB performed contracts around the world, leading SBA OHA to conclude that the service-disabled veteran’s physical location was largely irrelevant to his ability to control his company.

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SDVOSB Protests Cannot Be Filed By Telephone

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If you want to file a SDVOSB protest with the SBA, put down the cell phone, because you cannot phone it in.

The SBA’s regulations governing size protests permit a protester to “file” its protest by telephone (and follow up by putting the protest in writing).  But the same regulations do not apply to protests of a service-disabled veteran-owned small business’s eligibility.

In SDVOSB Appeal of Veterans Construction of South Carolina, LLC, SBA No. VET-164 (2009), the SBA Office of Hearings and Apepals held that the regulation governing SDVOSB eligibility protests “simply does not allow protests by telephone.”  SBA OHA upheld the SBA’s dismissal of a SDVOSB  protest because the protester had attempted to file by telephone.

When it comes to SDVOSB protests, the rule is simple: put it in writing.