Veterans First
The agency used supply-schedules for about 20.3 percent, or $3.26 billion, of its $16 billion in purchasing during the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30.
(Courtesy of Aldevra/COURTESY OF ALDEVRA) - Rodney Marshall, a disabled Gulf War veteran, owns a three-person kitchen supply company called Aldevra in Portage, Mich.
About 13 percent, or $436 million, of those supply-schedule purchases went to veteran-owned companies holding slots on the government-wide contracts.
If all the work went to veteran-owned firms, it would have resulted in $2.82 billion more in spending with them last year.
Since fiscal 2008, the first full year under Veterans First, the VA has awarded more than $11.5 billion to veteran and service-disabled veteran businesses, according to data compiled by Bloomberg Government.
That’s about 20 percent of total procurement spending by the agency during that period.
Marshall said his phone is ringing off the hook with support from the veterans’ community.
The California-based Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business Network is collecting donations to pay the attorney fees for a suit against the government, said Valerie Lewis, the group’s president.
She said the group was following Marshall’s case closely and was encouraged by the GAO decision.
“It just seems the VA is snubbing their nose at Congress and the GAO,’’ Lewis said in a phone interview.
It may cost taxpayers more in the long run if the VA pursues buying from veteran-owned companies over using the supply schedules, said Larry Allen, president of Allen Federal Business Partners, a procurement consulting firm.
“In any type of set-aside or preference program, as a general rule, there is less price sensitivity among buyers than a straight-up competition,’’ Allen said in a phone interview.
Dougherty said he thinks the VA is violating the law and he agrees with the GAO decision that the agency is required to prioritize veteran businesses.
He acknowledges that abiding by the law would be costly, overwhelming the contracting workforce if it had to research whether veteran-owned companies could provide the “tens or hundreds of thousands’’ of purchases the government makes through the supply schedules.
“If we followed this, it would cost us a fortune,’’ said Dougherty, who is a disabled veteran.
The companies that would lose business are those that already have slots on the supply schedules, he said.
“We’re not talking about the Lockheed Martins of the world,’’ Dougherty said. “We’re talking about companies that make furniture, desks, silverware, griddles, clipboards, the simple purchases — they will lose out to a vet-owned business.’’
Wayne Gatewood, a retired Marine master sergeant and disabled Vietnam veteran who owns a small administrative and management services company, disagreed.
“You cannot tell me you’ve saved millions through supply schedules when you haven’t even done a desk-check to see if there are veterans who own businesses that can do it cheaper,’’ said Gatewood, president of Landover-based Quality Support Inc.
— Bloomberg Government
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