According to the Small Business Administration, the application portal to apply for Veteran Small Business Certification will begin taking applications starting January 9, 2023.
On January 1, 2023, the Small Business Administration took over the Department of Veterans Affairs Center for Verification and Evaluation’s (VA CVE) duty of certifying Veteran Owned Small Businesses (VOSB) and Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSB).
Here are a few things you should know about the SBA’s certification program.
Logistically, companies that were certified by CVE prior to January 1, 2023 (or companies still waiting on certification who successfully submitted applications to CVE prior to October 2022) will automatically receive a one-year extension to their program term once approved. In other words, companies that fit this ticket will now be certified to bid on projects as an SD/VOSB for four years instead of the standard three-year certification period. This extension is automatically applied so there is no need for a company to take further action to receive the extension. Once the extension expires, companies will need to use the SBA’s portal moving forward.
Companies that did not meet CVE’s October 2022 cutoff deadline must wait until January 9th to utilize the SBA’s certification portal. SBA will allow companies to self-certify through the year 2023. However, if companies wish to bid on projects past the one-year self-certification period, they must submit an application prior to December 31, 2023 using SBA’s portal. Companies that wish to bid on procurements or task orders in early-2024 may wish to submit their applications prior to this date given SBA’s expected 30-day turnaround for applications.
Lastly, applications submitted on SBA’s “Veteran Small Business Certification Program” portal will auto-populate based on the information contained in each company’s SAM.gov profile. Companies using SBA’s portal may wish to ensure that their SAM.gov profile is up to date prior to submitting their applications.