National Veteran Business Development Council (NVBDC) established the growing need to identify and certify both Service-Disabled and Veteran-Owned Businesses (SD/VOBs) for the commercial marketplace. As the original Veteran certification organization, our initiatives focused on being the leading third-party certification organization for Veteran businesses providing the most authenticated documentation of ownership and operational control. NVBDC has created a chain of custody directly from the government that no other organization does. Today, NVBDC is the original leading authority for third-party veteran certification with access and opportunities through corporate supplier diversity professionals in our industry.
We know the financial hurdles most veteran businesses suffer from lack of capital access. NVBDC embraced our veterans’ challenges by initiating the first Veteran certification program and including additional professional programs and services. Our process completely expedites the availability to help the veteran business community become a part of an $80 billion corporate marketplace. The Billion Dollar Roundtable (BDR) reinforced our position by accepting NVBDC as the only Veteran certification organization to meet its audit standards and match their mission to drive supplier diversity excellence. The proof is in our accomplishments.
2022 marks several milestones for NVBDC. Our growth has been across the board with over 2,000 Certified SD/VOBs since our inception, with over 135 corporate members reporting having an annual spend of $2 Billion + with NVBDC Certified SD/VOBs. Pivoting to virtual events has opened the doors to a 50% increase in attendance from SD/VOBs and Corporate Members. We look forward to breaking more records this year with our largest attendance at our upcoming conferences. NVBDC Federal Reserve Connect (August 9 – Virtual) and NVBDC Connect: National Conference (November 3-4 – TBD Live or Virtual) are our premier conferences; make sure to subscribe to our email list to find out more information.
Our internal programs have also been highly involved with the Veteran community involvement to expand our outreach and share the value of NVBDC Certification. Led by Lieutenant Colonel Kathy Poynton, Director and NVBDC Board Member, is our first highlighted program, NVBDC’s Military and Veteran Organization Task Force. The NVBDC MVO Task Force has increased its members by 200 %, with 37 members and 2 honorary members, with a total outreach to the veteran business community in the hundreds of thousands. Our second highlighted program, led by Sid E. Taylor, Program Manager and NVBDC Board of Directors, is the JROTC Scholarship and 50 State Managers Program. This program invests in the future of our youngest military members and our country’s future leaders. The program has raised close to $100,000, providing scholarships to JROTC members; 13 scholarships have been awarded, including a laptop computer gift. The 50 State Managers Program has increased NVBDC’s bandwidth in 27 states across America to engage corporate partners, business colleagues, and the veteran community.
We have expanded our on air presence by partnering with Veterans Radio to spotlight NVBDC officers, NVBDC Corporate Members, and NVBDC Certified Veteran businesses to tell their stories. The interviews focus on NVBDC Certified SD/VOB success stories, the value of NVBDC Certification, support from corporate America, plus all of the backstories explaining current NVBDC initiatives aimed at helping the veteran community. Veterans Radio has to date featured Jeff King, Certification Manager, NVBDC, Bill Nelson, NVBDC Advisory Board & Former CEO of HBO, and Cauldon Quinn, Founder & CEO of Bancroft Capital, a NVBDC Certified SD/VOB, and many more.
You can hear all related podcasts on our website.
NVBDC’s teams diligently work together to expand our programs and services, embrace the veteran business community, to provide a hub of opportunities providing strength, sustainability, and success. It is evident that our programs enhance our outreach but don’t take our word for it. DotCom Magazine and Silicon Review have both promoted NVBDC TO PUSH us to the business front line. DotComm awarded NVBDC 2022 Impact Company of the Year. This award celebrates an essential segment of the economy – America’s privately-owned companies whose Founders, CEOs, and fantastic team members are impacting the economy. Keith King, Founder, and CEO of NVBDC, was named in the Silicon Review as one of the 30 Best Leaders to Watch in 2022. By leading his officers, board members, and staff, Keith creates a collaborative environment with the primary initiative to embed a dedication to helping our veterans. This recognition from Silicon Review signifies the entire organization because of Keith’s commitment and passion for the organization.
NVBDC IS doing “this” for our veterans. We shared a behind-the-scenes look at one of our standard practices with our NVBDC Certified Service-Disabled and Veteran-Owned Businesses. We Have been providing our Corporate Members with specific lists of our certified veteran suppliers searched by specific criteria in our database, VOCS, for Direct Corporate Requests. Then we realized we were not alerting these great opportunities to our selected veteran companies. We changed the process to immediately notify our matched veteran companies so they could prepare if their “ticket” got called for an opportunity.
