Vet-owned get icons on Schedules

      Veteran-owned small businesses that have been verified as such soon will get icons in an online platform that allows access to purchases from Federal Supply Schedules contracts, the General Services Administration announced.

      The goal is to make the verified firms more visible to federal contracting officers.

      The icons will be visible on GSA’s “VA Advantage” online acquisition platform, which offers contracting officers access to thousands of products and services for sale from schedules vendors.

      The GSA announced on July 10 that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Veterans Affairs Dept. to jointly initiate the icon program.

      The VA is involved because the VA verifies veteran-owned small businesses (VOSBs) and service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSBs) in its Veterans First program. The program makes those firms a top priority in VA contracting.

      Under that program, VA contracting officers have a special duty to research, identify and award contracts to veteran-owned firms by applying the Rule of Two.

      The VA must award contracts to veteran-owned if there are two or more verified veteran-owned firms that can do the work at a fair and reasonable price that provides best value, and the firms are likely to bid. The rule was strengthened by the Supreme Court last year.

      The court said the VA must apply the Rule of Two to all Federal Supply Schedules contracts as well.

      Jan Frye, the VA’s deputy assistant secretary for acquisition and logistics, said the icon program “enhances the collaboration between our agencies and makes it easier for the VA workforce to meet their mission and make sound purchasing decisions.”

      The new icons presumably would be viewed primarily by VA contracting officers.

      It was not immediately clear whether the icons also would be viewed by other federal contracting officials, and whether the icons would influence the procurements of the broader group of federal contracting officials.

      Small businesses that are self-certified as being owned by veterans do not get the icons.

More Information: GSA release: https://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/166114

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