OpenSource Connections
Category: Uncategorized
We are here at the National Veteran Small Business Conference for Day 1 of the three day conference. The agenda today focused mainly on legislative activities aimed at helping service disabled veteran owned businesses get more access and opportunity with the federal government. The main conference speakers focused on the accountability aspects of existing directives and new legislation that was working its way through Congress. The piece of legislation which got the most commentary (and vituperation for its current unpassed status) was H.R. 3867, the Small Business Contracting Program Improvements Act. This act would create parity in sole source authority with 8(a) firms. Currently, contracting authorities can sole source work up to certain thresholds ($3.5MM for services) to any 8(a) firm, whereas they can only sole source to service disabled veteran owned small businesses (SDVOSB) if and only if there is one responsive SDVOSB; otherwise, the work must be set-aside and competed.
While I appreciate the work that Congress is performing to take care of veterans, particularly given a rapidly growing population of new, freshly minted veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan, I am as perplexed today as I was last year about the entitlement mentality that these companies have. Yes, they are veterans who served their country with dignity and honor and made sacrifices that others generally dont make. Yes, the country owes its veterans a debt of honor for what they have done. However, creating an entitlement culture and a handout mentality serves neither the veterans nor the government. There is not a government teat of endless money for anyone to suckle on, and the government has a duty to taxpayers to get maximum value for the money. Helping veterans is one thing. However, neither the government nor the veterans should confuse help for handouts.
This leads me back to what sticks in my throat about the displeasure at the pace of movement of H.R. 3867. Its almost as if veterans are afraid to compete for business. Granted, for contracting officers, it is easier to find an 8(a) and sole source the work, but if we veterans truly want parity and want to do what is in the best interests of the government, we should be working to repeal the sole source authority for 8(a) companies, not fight for it ourselves. I understand that the government has a long-term interest in fostering smaller business to help them grow and to have them be employers; however, it also has a long-term interest in increasing viable competition so that it has a higher probability of getting what it needs from its contractors.
In commercial business, set-asides do not exist. Businesses fight for work on merit, which is an ever-changing definition depending on the buyer. I am stunned at how many businesses who attend the Vetbiz conference fail to adhere to the basic tenets of successful business.
I was also disappointingly surprised to hear government contracting officers say that they valued commercial experience as lower than government experience. I would have expected a predilection (or at least a neutrality towards) for bringing in industry best practices into government work. I also understand the risk mitigation (aversion?) that exists in the government, but I was disappointed to hear that explicitly stated by contracting officers.
Still, by and large, I am impressed by my comrades who I have met. There are many companies doing many great things and there are many, many government agencies who want to do the right thing and who are very dedicated to helping the veteran community. I was honored to see the genuine emotion about this industry shared by many, many people, and I was even more honored to be graced by the presence of many, many true American heroes and heroines whose service and sacrifice is absolutely astounding.