The Department of Veterans Affairs plans to boost contractual partnerships with veteran-owned and service-disabled, veteran-owned small businesses. The VA said Monday it aims to provide 17 percent of its contracts to businesses owned by veterans while 15 percent will be allocated to service-disabled veteran-owned businesses in a move to reinforce its contracting goals by five percent.
“We have increased the dollars awarded each year, but now it’s time to update the goals to reflect this new commitment,” said Robert Wilkie, secretary of VA. “We need to lock in the gains we have made and continue to build for the future.”Â
VA noted that the agency is required by law to prioritize members of both communities prior to considering other small business preferences. In addition, the agency provided contracts worth $5.4B to veteran-owned businesses and $5.1B to service-disabled, veteran-owned businesses in 2017.
