Tag Archives: SDVOSB eligibility

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.

Amended Bylaws Can’t Rescue Ineligible SDVOSB

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The regulations governing the SBA’s service-disabled veteran-owned small business program are clear: to qualify as an SDVOSB, a business must ensure that a service-disabled veteran serves as its highest officer.

The SBA will examine a SDVOSB’s bylaws to see whether the provision is met.  If not, belatedly amending the bylaws won’t save the business’s eligibility for a contract it bid upon before the amendment, as demonstrated by a SDVOSB appeal decision of the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals.

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False SDVOSB Certification Results in Criminal Conviction

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In this era of enforcement, lost contracts are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to false certifications of eligibility for the SBA’s and VA’s small business programs.  The story of John White and Mitsubishi Construction Corp. should serve as a dire warning about just how serious the consequences of false certifications can be.

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