VETS First Decision is Blueprint for U.S. Small Businesses

Washington, D.C.—Today, small business owner and Veteran Marc Goldschmitt and National Veteran Small Business Coalition (NVSBC) Board Member Staci Redmon addressed members of Congress on the pertinence of the U.S. Supreme Court’s unanimous Kingdomware decision and how changes in government policies can strengthen Veteran-owned businesses and the larger small business community, and improve U.S. innovative entrepreneurship.

The House Small Business Committee held an invitation-only roundtable to discuss how to help service-disabled, veteran-owned small businesses and contractors succeed following the Supreme Court’s Kingdomware decision that ruled the Veterans Administration (VA) was ignoring the law by avoiding contracting with Veterans through the VETS First program for ALL contracts.

“The challenges of becoming Procurement Ready are common to all small businesses, whether Veteran-owned or otherwise. This is a case that addresses full compliance with the Small Business Act,” said Goldschmitt, a service-disabled Veteran and CEO of Goldschmitt and Associates LLC. “The Kingdomware decision provides the blueprint to anticipate and guide government-wide policies for all agency small business scorecards.”

The Kingdomware ruling on VETS First is designed to give preference to qualified Veteran-owned small businesses that continue to proudly serve their country. “We were pleased that the Supreme Court unanimously upheld the Kingdomware decision; it was a victory for all Veteran owned businesses,” said Redmon. “However, there are lessons to be learned from Kingdomware when examining how statutes, regulations and decisions help or hurt the ability for all small businesses to become more procurement ready.”

In 2012, Veteran-owned small business Kingdomware Technologies filed a lawsuit that went to the U.S. Supreme Court. The court unanimously ruled the VA was not fully implementing VETS First and directed the department to use the “Rule of Two” for all contracts before awarding a contract to a non-Veteran supplier.

About the National Veteran Small Business Coalition:

The National Veteran Small Business Coalition (NVSBC) is the voice of the veteran-and service-disabled, veteran owned small business (VOSB and SDVOSB) when addressing the Federal Government. NVSBC works to ensure that veteran small businesses are given first consideration for federal prime and subcontract procurement opportunities. These veteran owners continue to serve their country, putting the security of the United States above all else.