Annual Event to Increase Contract Opportunities for Veteran-Owned Small Businesses

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will sponsor the 5th annual National Veterans Small Business Engagement (NVSBE), November 17–19, 2015, at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh, PA.

This premier event for Veteran-Owned Small Businesses provides the opportunity to learn from federal and commercial procurement decision makers the most effective ways to compete for and win federal contracts. More than 400 exhibitors and 25 government agencies will also participate in the event. The 2015 theme, ACCESS, is focused on promoting and supporting Veteran-Owned Small Businesses’ access to economic opportunities.

Featured speakers include: VA Secretary Robert A. McDonald, General Dennis L. Via, Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration Maria Contreras-Sweet, and Lockheed Martin’s Vice President of the Health & Life Sciences, Horace Blackman.

For details about the 5th annual NVSBE, visit www.nvsbe.com.

By Debbie Gregory.

The Air Force has awarded the contract for the Long Range Strike Bomber, (LRS-B) to Northrop Grumman Corp.  Boeing, which along with partner Lockheed Martin submitted the losing bid, has filed a protest  with the Government Accountability Office (GOA) over the contract.

In a joint statement, Boeing and Lockheed Martin called the selection process for the LRS-B “fundamentally flawed.”

The contract is composed of two parts. The contract for the Engineering and Manufacturing Development, or EMD, phase. The second part of the contract is composed of options for the first 5 production lots, comprising 21 aircraft out of the total fleet of 100. They are fixed price options with incentives for cost.

Northrop Grumman won the award in part because of a projected cost per plane of $511 million in 2010 dollars, well below the Pentagon’s cost cap of $550 million in 2010 dollars. In fiscal 2016 dollars, those figures translate into $563 million and $606 million, respectively. The Boeing/Lockheed team bid $11 billion for EMD, but the Air Force calculated EMD at $21.4 billion, which shifts the risk from the contractor to the government.

“Although it is every competitor’s right to file a protest, the Air Force is confident that the source selection team followed a deliberate, disciplined and impartial process to determine the best value for the warfighter and taxpayer,” said US Air Force spokesman Maj. Robert Leese.

Boeing has little to lose and much to gain from a protest, but faces long odds of a successful outcome.

The LRS-B is designed to replace the Air Force’s aging fleets of bombers – ranging in age from 50+ years for the B-52 to 17+ years for the B-2 – with a long range, highly survivable bomber capable of penetrating and operating in tomorrow’s anti-access, area denial environment. The LRS-B provides the strategic agility to launch from the United States and strike any target, any time around the globe.

By Paul Mara

According to the Office of Advocacy for the U.S. Small Business Administration in their publication, Veteran-owned Businesses and their Owners, data from the Census Bureau’s Survey of Business Owners, Military Veterans are a driving force in our national economy. The census estimated that in 2007:

• There were 2.45 million businesses with majority ownership by veterans
• These veteran-owned firms had sales/receipts of $1.220 trillion, 5.793 million employees, and an annual payroll of $210 billion

The vast majority of military veterans business are small businesses. In 2007, for veteran owned firms:

• More than half (53.4 percent) had from one to four employees
• Businesses with fewer than ten employees accounted for 80.4 percent of firms
• Those with fewer than twenty employees accounted for 90.2 percent
• Businesses with twenty or more employees accounted for 9.8 percent of all firms
• Those with fifty or more employees accounted for only 3.6 percent

VAMBOA is committed to the success of these military veteran business owners, and does so by working with corporations to meet their military veteran supplier diversity goals, as well as their hiring initiatives for veterans. VAMBOA is also in the process of creating local infrastructures around the country to provide one-stop, turnkey resource/referral communities; the goal of which is the overall success of these veteran owned businesses.

VAMBOA is a California based 501 (c) 6 non-profit trade association, established in 2010, with a nationwide membership of over 6,000 Veteran & Service Disabled Veteran Business Owners.  Along with our sister site (www.MilitaryConnection.com), we have over 524,000 combined followers (and growing!) on Twitter and Facebook.   VAMBOA is quickly becoming the Go-To-Trade Association for Veteran and Military Business Owners, and those who want to support them.

For information about corporate sponsorship and local associate memberships, contact Mr. Paul F. Mara, Director of Development at paulmara@vamboa.org or 612-889-5887.

VAMBOA, the Veteran and Military Business Owners Association, a 501(c) 6 non-profit trade association, is committed to the development, growth and prosperity of Veteran Business Owners, Service Disabled Veteran Owned Businesses (SDVOB) and Military Business Owners. Small businesses are not only the backbone of our economy, they are also responsible for job generation.

VAMBOA recognizes that these business owners are highly qualified to build successful businesses as a result of their leadership abilities, and a work ethic second to none

Also championing their success is the Small Business Administration (SBA). Created in 1953, the SBA has numerous programs and resources to help veterans start or expand a small business, including loans, mentoring and training. Especially useful to active-duty members preparing to transition to civilian life is the SBA’s entrepreneurship training program, Boots to Business.

The curriculum of the three year old program leads participants through the key steps for evaluating business concepts and provides the foundational knowledge to develop a business plan.

“The ‘can do’ approach that served them well during their military careers can also be applied to their new businesses,” said VAMBOA founder Debbie Gregory. “When they were in the military, these entrepreneurs were part of a team. Surrounding themselves with people who can give them a hand up as they start or grow their business will help contribute to their overall success.”

Many Veteran entrepreneurs have found success by taking practices, standards and ideologies from their military service and applying them to their civilian companies.

We salute these business owners during their designated week, and all year round.

About VAMBOA
VAMBOA, a 501(c) 6 non-profit organization, has been providing its members with knowledge of government provisions that help service-disabled veteran business owners, Veteran business owners and military business owners since 2010. VAMBOA’s mission is to help drive the success of these veteran business owners. VAMBOA also connects it members to contacts within large corporations and government agencies who can mentor members, and in some cases, can even directly provide members with government contracts and vending contracts within large corporations. Membership in VAMBOA is complimentary.

The Veteran and Military Business Owners Association (VAMBOA) is pleased to announce the appointment of Paul F. Mara as the Director of Development.

VAMBOA is one of the fastest growing 501(c)6 non-profit trade associations for Military Business Owners, Veteran Business Owners, and Service Disabled Veteran Business Owners. Mr. Mara will help expand VAMBOA in the Midwest to further support the vision and mission of assisting military and veteran business owners thrive.

A military veteran, having served in the Army as both a Military Policeman and Military Police Investigator, Mr. Mara is uniquely qualified for this role. With more than 30 years as a serial entrepreneur, having started, operated, funded and sold many small businesses, Mara understands the challenges these business owners face. His concurrent position as a Senior Business Advisor/Coach for a national business coaching franchise will be a great asset to the VAMBOA membership.

“As we prepare to expand the resources and capabilities of VAMBOA, we look forward to the expertise that Paul brings to the table,” said founder Debbie Gregory. “Paul has walked the walk, and who better to lead the way than someone who has already been down the same path?”

With a nationwide membership of over 5,000 Military, Veteran & Service Disabled Veteran Business Owners, and over 175,000 followers on Twitter, VAMBOA is becoming the Go-To trade association for Veteran and Military Business Owners to address their unique needs. VAMBOA’S vision and mission is to spearhead, cultivate and support the entrepreneurial success of all Veteran and Military business owners with a turnkey community of resources, referrals, advice, coaching and support.

If your corporation is looking to connect with a diverse supplier network of Veteran and Military Business Owners, please consider becoming a corporate sponsor.

About VAMBOA
VAMBOA, a 501(c) 6 non-profit organization, has been providing its members with knowledge of government provisions that help service-disabled veteran business owners, Veteran business owners and military business owners since 2010. VAMBOA’s mission is to help drive the success of these veteran business owners. VAMBOA also connects it members to contacts within large corporations and government agencies who can mentor members, and in some cases, can even directly provide members with government contracts and vending contracts within large corporations. Membership in VAMBOA is complimentary.