Washington, D.C. – Today Chief Counsel for Advocacy Dr. Winslow Sargeant praised Congress’ repeal of the three percent contractor withholding requirement. The requirement would have required federal, state and local governments to withhold three percent of nearly all payments made to contractors, placing a burden on numerous small businesses. By a vote of 95 to 0, the Senate passed the Government Contractor Withholding Repeal Act. The House has already passed a similar piece of legislation. The Office of Advocacy has consistently worked with small businesses for the elimination of this unfair burden. The Chief Counsel called for its elimination in May of this year.

“The repeal of the three percent withholding requirement is a victory for small business,” said Dr. Sargeant. “For small businesses to thrive in government contracting they need an environment that is clear, transparent and predictable.”

The three percent withholding requirement would have adversely affected the accounts all small businesses that provide services to government entities. Most of the small businesses would have had to increase their debt level in order to ensure sufficient cash flows and thus pass these additional expenses on to their government customers. If small firms were unable to secure additional debt, the three percent withholding requirement might force them out of the Federal contracting market.

The three percent provision was included in the Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act of 2005 in an effort to ensure that individuals and companies that receive new payments from the federal government did not accrue tax debt. The law mandated that federal state and local governments with expenditures of more than $100 million withhold three percent of payments for products and services worth more than $10,000. The requirement was scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2013.

The Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is an independent voice for small business within the federal government. The presidentially appointed Chief Counsel for Advocacy advances the views, concerns, and interests of small business before Congress, the White House, federal agencies, federal courts, and state policymakers. Regional advocates and an office in Washington, D.C., support the Chief Counsel’s efforts. For more information, visit http://www.sba.gov/advocacy, or call (202) 205-6533.

The

Conference, with America’s Money Answers Man Jordan Goodman
Motivational Speaker Linda Larsen and Speakers from: SBA, VA, DOL, & Top Corporations took place on Tuesday, April 26th, 2011 at Amgen’s Corporate Conference Center in Thousand Oaks.

The conference focused on Certification/Verification, Financing, and Winning Government and Private Sector Business.

Sponsored by:

In partnership with:

We hope to make this an annual event.

Washington, D.C. – Fourteen major contracts to transform information technology in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) have been awarded for an estimated program ceiling of $12 billion. The Transformation Twenty-One Total Technology program, known as T4, will consist of 15 prime contracts, including seven awards reserved for service-disabled Veteran small businesses and Veteran-owned small businesses.

“This five-year program will help VA transform into a 21st century organization and enable us to deliver the high-quality health care, benefits, and services Veterans have earned,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. “In addition, it opens an opportunity for Veterans in business to grow and claim a share of VA’s business.”

Calling the program T4, VA awarded 14 prime contracts together as a tool to close gaps in acquiring IT services to integrate systems, networks and software. A fifteenth contract is pending resolution of a protest filed with the Government Accountability Office. The companies selected will have a fair opportunity to compete for work under T4 over five years. Their services and products may cover the life cycle of a computer system, and include program planning and management, systems and software engineering, cyber security, operation and maintenance, and support to facilities.

One of VA’s main goals is to provide timely access to benefits and high-quality health care to Veterans over their lifetimes, from the day they enter military service until the day they are laid to rest. T4 will be a major tool enabling VA to meet those goals by closing gaps in transforming programs.

The combined contracts will allow the most efficient use of technology to reduce the backlog of benefit claims and delivers real value to America’s taxpayers.

The T4 program will be a single focal point for managing the multiple contracts; give VA access to the best industry capabilities without the traditional long acquisition lead time; and help the department meet its Veteran small-business goals.

Unsuccessful competitors will be notified once the fifteenth, final award is made. They will be given the opportunity to receive a debriefing about their respective proposals and learn how they might improve their future submissions.

By Allison Bruce
Posted April 18, 2011

Owners of minority-, women- and veteran-owned businesses will have a chance to learn about pursuing contracts with the government and private companies, as well as ways to secure loans and funding, at a daylong conference in Thousand Oaks on April 26.

The Power Your Business event, hosted by Amgen in the biotechnology company’s conference center, will highlight how small-business owners can capitalize on their status as diverse suppliers.

A wide range of business owners have signed up for the event, said Debbie Gregory, owner of MilitaryConnection.com, an online directory of resources, and founder of Veteran and Military Business Owners Association, an organizer of the event.

“Veterans make wonderful entrepreneurs,” Gregory said, emphasizing the skills and discipline they bring to their work.

The idea of the conference is to give them and others resources they can use in their businesses.

Keynote speakers will include personal finance expert Jordan Goodman, known as the “money answers man”; motivational speaker Linda Larsen; and Rocky Chavez, acting California Department of Veterans Affairs secretary.

Gregory said the day also will include panel discussions covering certification and verification, finance and loans, government contracting and how to win business from top corporations. Corporate participants will include Toyota, Microsoft, AT&T, Pfizer and others. The federal Department of Veterans Affairs, Labor Department and Small Business Administration also will be involved.

Goodman has written several books and co-wrote the Barron’s Dictionary of Finance and Investment Terms.

He said personal finance is closely tied to business finances when it comes to small-business owners. He said his role is to make them aware of programs that can help land jobs with government agencies or large corporations.

“They offer great services, the companies need them and they just don’t know how to reach each other,” he said. That’s what the conference and organizations such as the Veteran and Military Business Owners Association are all about, he said.

Veterans in particular bring great technical and management skills to their businesses, but sometimes have the challenge of not having worked in the corporate world, he said. Many don’t realize that companies are looking for them as suppliers to meet certain requirements and mandates — something that can provide opportunities for their businesses.

“These programs exist, but in many cases, they’re not really communicated well to veterans and minorities,” he said.

Farryn Melton, Amgen’s vice president of strategic sourcing, said Amgen seeks to enhance its own supplier diversity program through partnerships and by hosting events, such as the conference.

Gregory commended Amgen for its role in the conference.

“Amgen reaches out and is a company that doesn’t just talk, but walks the walk when it comes to supplier diversity,” she said.

The conference is open to a limited number of attendees in person as well as online.

In addition to Amgen and the Veteran and Military Business Owners Association, the event is being organized by the National Association of Women Business Owners, Ventura County; National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce; Southern California Minority Business Development Council; and Women’s Business Enterprise National Council.

PRESS OFFICE/LOS ANGELES

Los Angeles – Whatever the war or conflict, Americans have always believed that America’s military veterans should return home to jobs and opportunity.

Since 1953, the U.S. Small Business Administration has been providing entrepreneurial assistance to veterans and service-disabled veterans to start, resume and grow their businesses.

“We know that veteran business owners often have different needs and that is why the SBA is here to assist veterans in acquiring capital and technical assistance to grow their  companies,” said Theodore Holloman, district director (acting), Los Angeles SBA District Office. “The Los Angeles District Office has funded 857 veteran entrepreneurs during the last five fiscal years, injecting $217 million into their enterprises.”

With respect to the Patriot Express Pilot Loan Program, the SBA has combined elements of its 7(a) loan program (higher guarantee) and its SBA Express product (simplified processing and greater availability) to create the most compelling and attractive product available.  Patriot Express loans can go up to $500,000, and because it is an Express loan product, lenders and borrowers benefit from expedited and streamlined processing, meaning they will get an answer in most cases in a day or so.

The SBA also offers a targeted loan program, the Military Reserve Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, to help keep businesses operating during the critical months when their key employees or owners are called to active duty.  This SBA loan program has been vital to keeping businesses whole and afloat while saving jobs in local communities.

The SBA continues to provide other veteran-related services by working across federal agencies to increase technical assistance for starting and growing veteran companies.  For example, the SBA and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs have an ongoing Partnership Agreement to increase contracting opportunities for 8(a) firms, service-disabled and other veteran firms.

Recently, the West Los Angeles Medical Center has teamed up with the SBA Los Angeles District Office to bring business counseling directly to veterans at the medical center through their Setting Your Compass workshop every third Thursday of the month on the campus of the West Los Angeles VA Medical Center in the Post Deployment Clinic in Building 401 at 10:00 a.m.

Locally, the Los Angeles District Office offers one-stop assistance through its dedicated veterans outreach team and easily accessible technical assistance providers: Small Business Development Centers, Women’s Business Centers, SCORE Chapter branch offices and the Veteran Business Outreach Center.  These technical assistance providers and programs are a cooperative effort of the private sector, the educational community and federal, state and local governments.

For more information you can contact Patrick Rodriguez, Veteran Outreach Coordinator, Los Angeles SBA District Office at 818-552-3222.

VAMBOA is the fastest growing trade association in the country for Veteran Business Owners and Service Disabled Veteran Business Owners.   We are becoming the Go To organization for resources and information.   The site features tons of valuable information.   Veteran, military and service disabled veterans resources will find all types of resources including government contracting contacts.   Membership is free.  We hope you will register for membership.  We also invite you to fill out the survey that will let us know what is important to you and a little about you.  VAMBOA is about Uniting Veteran and Military Business Owners For Collaboration, Connections and Contracts.