Veteran Services Deputy Secretary Keith Boylan, center, and Veteran Services Managers Jamie Jones and Roberto Herrera received the “Above & Beyond Award” at the Palm Springs Air Museum.

CalVet consistently leads the state in contracting for supplies and services through certified Disabled Veteran Business Enterprises (DVBEs). In the past year, our contracting with DVBEs far exceeded the state goal of three percent, and even exceeded our internal agency goal of five percent. We are pleased to report that last year CalVet spent 11.82 percent of our contracting budget doing business with the veterans we serve.

CalVet credits this accomplishment to our DVBE First Policy which requires our contracting officers to seek out certified DVBE and Small Business (SB) vendors for any purchases and contracts under 250k. If there is not a DVBE/SB for the work, the purchaser must get a waiver prior to contracting with other vendors.

“Our agency standard is to go the extra mile to ensure that our veterans get a shot at our business,” said Keith Boylan, Deputy Secretary. “Leadership support of this policy, and the DVBE and SB programs in general, have made it possible to ensure that CalVet does business with the veterans we serve whenever possible.”

Beyond our own purchasing, CalVet does extensive outreach to veteran-owned businesses to support them in doing business with other state agencies. Over the past year, our Veterans Services team has met with 2,400 veterans to provide information about how to do business with the State of California and how to become a certified DVBE. They held 28 workshops to share information with veterans, small businesses and DVBEs.

That effort has paid off. Last week the Veterans in Business Network awarded CalVet the “Above & Beyond Award” for supporting the veteran business community. Thanks for the recognition!

The DVBE program was established in 1989 to help DVBEs compete more effectively. Learn more about the program and certification requirements.