President Orders Contracting Push for Service-Disabled Vets President Bush has ordered GSA to create a governmentwide acquisition contract set aside for businesses owned by service-disabled veterans. In an executive order issued Oct. 20, the president directed several other actions designed “to strengthen opportunities in federal contracting for service-disabled veteran businesses.” He told all agencies to develop and publish a strategy for increasing SDV opportunities and to designate a senior official to implement the strategy. The order says the strategy should include plans for “reserving agency contracts exclusively for service-disabled veteran businesses; encouraging and facilitating participation by service-disabled veteran businesses in competitions for award of agency contracts; encouraging agency contractors to subcontract with service-disabled veteran businesses and actively monitoring and evaluating agency contractors’ efforts to do so; training agency personnel on applicable law and policies relating to participation of service-disabled veteran businesses in Federal contracting; and disseminating information to service-disabled veteran businesses that would assist these businesses in participating in awards of agency contracts.” SBA is tasked to make training available for service-disabled business owners. A set-aside program for SDVO businesses was implemented last spring, allowing both sole source and competitive awards. Congress set a goal of awarding 3% of prime contract dollars to SDVO businesses, but those businesses won less than one-quarter of 1% of the dollars in fiscal 2003. The executive order is available at www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/10/print/20041021-5.html.