Tag Archives: VA Center for Verification and Evaluation

VA CVE FOIA Email Unnerves SDVOSBs–Now What?

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On February 27, the VA CVE sent an email to companies listed in the VetBiz database, suggesting that all documentation submitted to the CVE may be subject to Freedom of Information Act requests.  Many SDVOSBs and VOSBs were outraged–was the VA really stating that tax returns, payroll, bank signature cards, and other closely-guarded information would be made available to the public?

Now, after push back from SDVOSBs and VOSBs, the CVE has issued a press release clarifying that some documentation submitted to the CVE may be withheld under FOIA on a “case by case basis” and that the CVE will seek to limit the exposure of proprietary and personally identifiable information.

The press release is a good start, but in the wake of its misguided email, the CVE needs to do more to assure SDVOSBs and VOSBs that their proprietary information is safe in the government’s hands.

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SDVOSB Confusion: A Federal News Radio Discussion

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The government’s use of two separate SDVOSB programs–with differing rules and requirements–has caused widespread confusion among the very veterans the programs were designed to assist.

Yesterday, I joined Francis Rose of Federal News Radio for a conversation about the government’s two SDVOSB programs.  You can download my audio segment on the Federal News Radio website, and catch Francis every weekday from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. Eastern on Federal News Radio.

SDVOSB Program: VA Must Pay Attorneys’ Fees in Ownership Transfer Case

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The U.S. Court of Federal Claims has ordered the VA to pay attorneys’ fees to Miles Construction, LLC stemming from the Court’s February decision that the company’s  “right of first refusal” provision did not render it ineligible for the VA’s SDVOSB program.

In ordering the VA to pay attorneys’ fees, the Court held that the VA’s defense of its broad interpretation of “unconditional ownership” was not substantially justified–but also suggested that the Court might not reach the same result under the SBA’s SDVOSB rules.

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SDVOSBs: Say Goodbye to the “Center for Veterans Enterprise”

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The “Center for Veterans Enterprise” is no more.  Technically speaking, anyway.

Tucked away in today’s interim final rule on SDVOSB protests and appeals is a notation that the VA CVE has renamed itself the “Center for Verification and Evaluation.”  According to the rule, the purpose of the new name is to “more accurately reflect the mission of this office which is to determine the status of SDVOSBs and VOSBs with respect to VA’s SDVOSB/VOSB set-aside acquisition program established by 38 U.S.C. 8127.”

As a practical matter, the name change will have no effect on SDVOSBs and VOSBs.  But perhaps in connection with other positive developments this year–most notably, the pre-determination findings program–the “new” VA CVE will begin to improve its standing with frustrated veterans.