A Message from CVE regarding their activities in response to letter received from HCVA. CVE asks that you PLEASE provide feedback, especially as it relates to the Self Assessment Tool and Proposed Regulation Changes.
We need feedback, and we ask that Veterans communicate with us by making sure they specify a “special subject line” for each subject. For the Self Assessment Tool, the subject should be Self Assessment Tool feedback. For the Regulations Change, the subject line should be Proposed Regulation Change submission. Please send all comments to osdbu@va.gov
What we have been doing –
· We hope that you have had a chance to look at our Self Assessment Tool. It is an interactive tool that walks an owner through all the documentation and asks questions about all of the parts of each document that are examined by CVE. It was developed to bring a little more transparency to the examination process, so that Veterans will know what is being look at/for in the documentation that they submit. It gives them a chance to review everything and make any updates or necessary changes in their documentation before submitting an application. It alerts an owner to areas in the documentation that would place the firm at a high risk of denial. The Self Assessment Tool can be found on the home page of VetBiz.gov in the Helpful Links column. Look for “Verification Assessment Tool.” This is version 1.0, and it is built on a platform that we can easily update. If there are questions (or answers) that are confusing, we can look at rewriting to give better clarity. If we are missing any issues that should be addressed, we can add those. This is a living tool that we expect will evolve and improve as it is used. We are collecting feedback on it, and if there are any specific suggestions, please send to me. Please avoid general comments like “This is not helpful,” or “Your answer is stupid.” All the interpretations contained in the tool are those of the VA General Counsel, and are the same as used by CVE examiners.
· Our Verification Education Partners program kicked off in Detroit. We have recruited counselors from PTACs and VSOs and given them the same training that our examiners receive. They are available to assist Veteran owners with putting together their verification application and reviewing/adjusting documentation before the application is submitted. We recommend that Veterans either go through the Self Assessment Tool first or together with a counselor prior to applying for verification. This program seems to show some success. In the last month or so that it has been in existence, the quality of applications submitted has increased dramatically. There is a marked improvement in the percentage of applications approved.
· We have been meeting with SBA to do a crosswalk between the regulations that govern the VA VOSB Verification program (38 CFR 74) and the regulations that govern SBA’s SDVOSB program (13 CFR 125) and the 8(a) program (13 CFR 124). We expect that the project will be complete by early August, and we will be posting the results both on VetBiz.gov and SBA will post on their Web site.
· Secretary Shinseki has directed us to take a careful look at our regulation (38 CFR 74) and begin the process of improving it via a rule change. This is not a quick process, so it will not be changed in the very near term. Our approach is to gather specific input from our stakeholders on suggestions for change. Ideally, interested stakeholders will provide suggestions such as “change the language of 74.4(f)(1)(ii) from ‘xyz...’ to ‘abc…’”. I am collecting all the suggested changes into a master document. All suggestions are numbered and not attributed to any individual. We will continue to collect changes for about the next 6 weeks. After that, we will hold a series of roundtables to discuss the merits of each suggested change and whether it should be incorporated into the new proposed rule. The rule change will then go out for public comment, so there is one more opportunity for stakeholders to weigh in on the regulation before it is implemented.
VETWorking Networking Breakfast at Tyson’s Corner, Fairfax, VA on Tuesday, July 24, 2012. Dear Friends, only a few days till VETworking. Lee Dougherty, myself, and our other Veteran regulars, encourage you to come and meet with your fellow small business owners and other attendees. Based on the current registration, Lee expects more than 50 Veterans to attend next week. That means 50 other businesses for you to connect to and 50 other Veterans to build relationships with to help you grow your business and achieve greater success. Our speakers are going to provide timely information that will be of enormous benefit, but the real value of VETworking continues to be the relationships you can form with other Veterans committed to success in business. If you are looking for a VOSB or SDVOSB to team with there is no better place to connect with quality Veteran owned companies than at VETworking. Get registered and join us for a great morning of fellowship and Networking (and great Chow as well!) Sign up here July VETworking
Agencies At Impasse As GAO Again Backs Veteran Set-asides. Please see attached article and interview with Mr. Rodney Marshall, USMC Veteran, and President/CEO of Aldevra, a SDVOSB that has filed and won numerous GAO Decisions relative to VetsFirst not being practiced at VA IAW Public Law 109-461.
United States Army Small Business Conference, August 2-3, 2012 at Pentagon. Suggest you Vets in Business try and make this gathering! http://www.armysbconference.com/
A welcoming home for our Troops.
