SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet has named four new members to the Interagency Task Force on Veterans Small Business Development. The new task force members represent veteran service and military organizations and includes Victor Klingelhofer, Vietnam Veterans of America; Max Kidalov, Naval Postgraduate School; Davy Leghorn, America Legion; and Amanda Bainton, Military Officers Association of America.
Each organization was selected based on their outreach and support of veteran small business ownership.
Vietnam Veterans of America has been instrumental in advocating for several public laws creating procurement opportunities for Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSB).
The Naval Postgraduate School has supported SDVOSBs through prime contract awards and by educating Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (VOSB) and SDVOSBs on contracting issues. The American Legion has supported VOSBs through their work in advocating legislation creating contracting opportunities for SDVOSBs, and through their Small Business Task Force.
With their focus on supporting veterans and military spouses in their transition from uniformed service to civilian life, the Military Officers Association of America last year hosted more than 12,000 attendees during a nationwide series of second career workshops and military spouse career development symposia.
The task force is focused on increasing the number of veteran-owned businesses and the number of Americans – including other veterans – those businesses employ. Through public meetings, the task force gathers input and ideas that range widely in scope, strategy and feasibility.
Members of the task force work together to support veterans and service-disabled veteran small businesses by improving access to capital, providing counseling and training and increasing participation in government contracting opportunities.
Representatives from the Departments of Defense, Labor, Treasury, Veterans Affairs, the General Services Administration and the Office of Management and Budget, also serve on the task force.
The next task force meeting will be held at SBA’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, Dec. 10 from 9 a.m. to noon, and is open to the public.
For more information about the public meeting or the task force, email vetstakforce@sba.gov.
Each year, the SBA helps more than 200,000 veterans, service-disabled veterans and reservists start and grow their small businesses. To learn more about additional opportunities for veterans available through the SBA, visit www.sba.gov/vets.
