The National Veteran Business Development Council (NVBDC) often receives inquiries about the Department of Veteran Affairs organization called the Center for Verification and Evaluation (CVE). The CVE did not provide certification, they provided a low level verification of veteran status and operational control. This CVE verification never met the rigorous level of certification required by corporate supplier diversity programs to engage with our service disabled and veteran owned businesses (SD/VOBs).
As a result of the enactment of the National Defense Authorization Act section 862, dated January 1, 2021 the Center for Verification and Evaluation (CVE) will be abolished effective on the transfer date.
“Transfer of the Center for Verification and Evaluation of the Department of Veterans Affairs to the Small Business Administration (SBA).”
“The Center for Verification and Evaluation of the Department of Veterans Affairs, as defined under section 74.1 of title 38, Code of Federal Regulations, is abolished effective on the transfer date.”
The National Veteran Business Development Council (NVBDC) was named by the members of the Billion Dollar Roundtable as their accepted third-party SD/VOB certification organization for America’s corporate supplier diversity programs. We have long advocated that the CVE should not be used in the corporate marketplace as a valid certification of SD/VOBs.
Without additional options, many corporations accepted the CVE designation even though it was only designed for small businesses doing business with the Federal Government. With the establishment of NVBDC in 2013, Corporate America now has a viable, independent gold standard option to certify SD/VOBs.
The following article was published on 1/8/2021 By Venable LLP and provides a good summary of the CVE changes:
“Under Section 862, Transfer of Verification of Small Business Concerns Owned and Controlled by Veterans or Service-Disabled Veterans to the Small Business Administration, of the FY21 NDAA, self- certification for service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses will be eliminated, with a government-wide SDVOSB certification requirement established in its place.
Control of the government wide SDVOSB certification process will lie with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) rather than the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), which will result in the dissolution of the VA Center for Verification once all of its functions and responsibilities have been transferred to the SBA.
The FY21 NDAA allows self-certified SDVOBs, one year from the implementation of this new program, to file a certification application in order to continue to rely on their self-certification for non-VA contracts while the SBA considers their application. If an entity fails to apply in this one-year time frame, its self-certification lapses and becomes invalid.”
NVBDC is committed to helping corporations, the Federal government and SD/VOBs navigate this change. We will continue to provide updates as new standards are identified and the process unfolds. Our goal is for NVBDC to be added to the SBA’s stakeholder distribution list to ensure we are getting communications related to listening sessions, outreach efforts and initiatives, such as the CVE and Federal Advisory Committee meetings.
We are working to connect with the SBA’s Office of Government Contracting and Business Development team to identify NVBDC as a key stakeholder in regard to the CVE transition. In addition, NVBDC is reaching out to the SBA’s Policy & Engagement team for additional information.
Please contact us if your company is interested in supporting our efforts to establish a national certification standard for our service disabled and veteran owned businesses.
