Serving Those Who Served

1
Serving Those Who Served

• The New Contracting Priority for Service-Disabled
  Veteran-Owned Small Businesses

2
Developing Veterans Entrepreneurship

• Veterans Entrepreneurship and Small Business
  Development Act of 1999 (Public Law 106-50)
• Veterans Benefits Act of 2003 (Public Law
  108-183)
• Executive Order 13360 (October 20, 2004)
• Veterans Benefits, Healthcare, and Information
  Technology Act of 2006 (Public Law 109-461)

3
VA Hierarchy of Programs

• Service-disabled veteran-owned firms
• Veteran-owned firms
• HUBZone firms and 8(a) participants (tied)
• All others (including general small business)
• Public Law 109-461, 502

4
Definitions

• Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business
• One or more service-disabled veterans
• Own 51 or more of the firm
• Manage and control the daily operations of the
  firm
• Firm must be small under relevant industry
  (NAICS) code
• Firm must register and be verified in VetBiz
  Vendor Information Pages
• FAR 2.101, VAAR 802.101

• Veteran-Owned Small Business
• One or more veterans
• Own 51 or more of the firm
• Manage and control the daily operations of the
  firm
• Firm must be small under relevant industry
  (NAICS) code
• Firm must register and be verified in VetBiz
  Vendor Information Pages
• FAR 2.101, VAAR 802.101

5
Acquisition Planning

• Market Research
• Shall consider service-disabled and
  veteran-owned firms first
• Shall document that research for file
• Shall keep records of VIP queries done to
  determine acquisition strategy
• Shall document consideration of IDIQ orders
  from veteran contract holders only
• Shall obtain HCA and OSDBU review and approval
  before soliciting from all contract holders
• VAAR 807.103, 807.105, 810.002

6
Required Sources of Supplies

• Agency inventories and excess
• Service-disabled veteran-owned small firms
• Veteran-owned small firms
• Federal Prison Industries
• JWOD
• Wholesale supply sources
• National committed use contract awarded by VA
  National Acquisition Center
• Mandatory Federal Supply Schedules including VA
  Schedules in Groups 65 and 66
• Optional Federal Supply Schedules
• Indefinite Delivery / Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ)
  contracts
• Commercial sources and open market purchases
• Existing FAR 8.002(a)(1)
• New VAAR 808.002(a)

7
Required Sources of Services

• Service-disabled veteran-owned small firms
• Veteran-owned small firms
• JWOD
• Mandatory Federal Supply Schedules
• Optional Federal Supply Schedules
• Federal Prison Industries or commercial sources
• Existing FAR 8.002(a)(2)
• New VAAR 808.002(b)

8
Federal Supply Schedules

• May set-aside task or delivery orders, or BPAs,
  for service-disabled or other veteran-owned small
  firms
• Previously, could consider socioeconomic
  factors
• Shall include evaluation factors in Requests
  for Quotations (RFQs)
• Give maximum consideration for service-disabled
  and veteran-owned firms
• VAAR 808.405-5

9
Sole Source Authority

• May sole-source to service-disabled veteran
  firm if
• Price not more than 5 million
• Firm determined responsible
• Award at fair and reasonable price
• May sole-source to veteran small business if
• No responsible service-disabled veteran firm
  identified
• Note
• Noncompetitive actions exempt from synopsizing in
  FedBizOpps
• VAAR 805.202, 819.7007, 819.7008

10
Set-Aside Authority

• May set-aside for service-disabled veteran
  firms if contracting officer has reasonable
  expectation of
• Receiving two or more offers
• Making award at fair market price
• May set-aside for veteran small businesses if
• Contracting officer first considered
  service-disabled veteran set-aside
• Note
• Micro-purchases eligible for set-aside
• Interested party may protest decision not to
  set-aside, if over simplified acquisition
  threshold FAR 19.1405, VAAR 813.202,
  819.407, 819.7005, 819.7006

11
Subcontracting Plans

• Contracting officer shall ensure offerors have
  goals at least commensurate with prime
  contracting goals
• OSDBU shall review achievement reports to
  ensure subcontracts awarded to eligible firms
• VAAR 819.704

12
Reporting Requirements

• Federal Procurement Data System Revised
• New fields to collect information on use of new
  authorities
• VA Contracting Accomplishments Reported
• Mandates annual report to Congress by December 31
• Heightens importance of FPDS entries by October
  31
• VAAR 804.6, 804.604

13
Protests and Debarment

• Eligibility of firms may be protested
• Misrepresentation of service-disabled or
  veteran-owned status is cause for debarment at VA
• Firm shall be debarred for 5 years
• Information will be shared with other agencies
  for making responsibility determinations
• VAAR 809.406-2, 819.307

14
VA Mentor-Protégé Program

• Goals
• Encourage large businesses to provide mutually
  beneficial developmental assistance
• E.g., Mentor receives evaluation points toward
  award of negotiated contracts, credit toward
  subcontracting plan achievements, and
  awards/recognition
• E.g., Protégé may receive management guidance,
  technical assistance, temporary assignment of
  personnel for training
• Note Protégé must be service-disabled or other
  veteran-owned small business
• Improve prime contractor and subcontractor
  performance
• Foster long-term business relationships
• Strengthen and improve prime contracting and
  subcontracting opportunities at VA
• VAAR 819.7101, 819.7105, 819.7106, 819.7111

15
Questions?
Office of Small Disadvantaged Business
Utilization (OSDBU) U.S. Department of Veterans
Affairs 810 Vermont Avenue, N.W.
(00SB) Washington DC 20420 202.461.4300
www.va.gov/osdbu