SBA Revamps Veterans Offices SBA has combined its one-person Office of Federal Contract Assistance for Veteran Business Owners with the Office of Veterans Business Development. By shutting down the contracting office, Sen. John Kerry charged, the Bush administration is “turning its back on the veterans’ community during a time of war.” But SBA spokesman Mike Stamler said the contracting office was folded into the Office of Veterans Business Development, which has a larger staff and “can better serve the veterans business community.” Kerry (MA), the senior Democrat on the Senate Small Business Committee also blasted SBA for abolishing its advisory Committee on Veterans Business Affairs. But the SBA spokesman said the committee’s charter expires in September and its duties will be moved to the National Veterans Business Development Corp., as required by law. SBA’s veterans contracting office was created after President Bush’s 2004 executive order directed the agency to provide information and assistance about federal contracting for service-disabled veteran-owned businesses. Congress has set a 3% procurement goal for those companies, but the government has never achieved even one-half of one percent. “The U.S. Small Business Administration is strongly committed to helping the veterans business community access all our programs, from small business financing to contracting opportunities,” Stamler said in an e-mail message.