Doing Business with the Department of Veterans Affairs October 20, 2016 USPAAC Government Contracting 101 Webinar Chanel Bankston-Carter, Director Strategic Outreach and Communications

Overview Vision/Mission Veterans Hierarchy Be Prepared/Procurement Readiness Differentiators Kingdomware Inc. vs. United States Small Business Tips of the trade 2016 National Veterans Small Business Engagement (NVSBE) November 1-3rd, 2016 Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Vision and Mission of VA OSDBU Within the next five years, OSDBU will transform how procurement ready small businesses gain access to economic opportunity through increased awareness reduced risk, enhanced access, improved procurement mechanisms and better performance in order to enable Veterans to gain access to economic opportunity and promote Veteran employment. Mission Enable Veterans to gain access to economic opportunity by leveraging the federal procurement system and expanding participation of procurement ready small businesses.

VETS FIRST Hierarchy A new procurement hierarchy within VA for open market procurements was created which places highest priority with SDVOSB then VOSB.  These small business groups are followed by 8(a), HUBZone, Women-Owned Small Business, then all other small businesses.  The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has special authority for Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business and Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB and VOSB) set-aside and sole source contracts.

Procurement Ready Checklist Be Prepared The Key to Success is being prepared…. Procurement Ready Checklist What does it mean for you? Register -- www.nvsbe16.com Do Your Homework- what does VA need-how can I solve their needs Polish your elevator speech Target your audience now –check social media and NVSBE website Understand what procurement ready means to potential customers Past performance - do you have any? How’d ya do? Current Performance – what you doing now and for whom? Fill out schedule and agenda Ask questions Procurement Ready Checklist Performance history Capability statement SAM registration D-U-N-S Number FPDS account Apply for a GSA Schedule, if eligible NAICS Codes and size DSBS Corporate Website Certifications for small business Credit card acceptance Contact information including telephone number and Email address Licenses Bonding capacity Industry/procurement specific certifications Products must meet 19 U.S.C 2501: Trade Agreements Act Knowledge about the customer within the federal marketplace

VOSBs: What are your Differentiators ? Differentiators is defined as unique features and/or benefits of a product, or aspects of a brand (your business), that set you apart from competing products or brands (other businesses). Past Performance Small Business Certificates Vets First Verification Program Certificates of Competency (SBA) ISO 9000/9001 certification Industry Awards

Supreme Court of the United States Decision on Kingdomware Technologies, Inc. v. United States Released: June 16, 2016 Determined that the “Rule of Two” must be applied to all competitive VA contract awards Background: VA and lower courts previously interpreted the rule as limited to open market acquisitions only What is the “rule of two” “…provides that a contracting officer “shall award contracts” by restricting competition to veteran-owned small businesses if the officer reasonably expects that at least two such businesses will submit offers and that the award can be made at a fair and reasonable price that offers best value to the United States.” 38 U. S. C.§8127(d). “…provides that a contracting officer “shall award contracts” by restricting competition to veteran-owned small businesses if the officer reasonably expects that at least two such businesses will submit offers and that the award can be made at a fair and reasonable price that offers best value to the United States.” 38 U. S. C.§8127(d).

Small Business Tips of the Trade BE VERIFIED ! VA Business Intelligence Tool (VA BIT) Website (BrightCloud) VA’s Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (VA OSDBU) has received inquiries VA verified small businesses and VA Procurement Decision Makers (PDMs) – including Contracting Officers (COs) - about not being able to access websites through VA’s Network. This hampers the COs and other VA PDMs’ ability to conduct market research. In nearly all cases, we determined the blocked sites were not properly categorized. VA utilizes the BrightCloud Web Classification Service to determine the categorization of URLs across 83+ categories. BrightCloud does not block sites, they simply classify them. The VA security firewall checks the outgoing URL against BrightCloud before allowing access to the site and will block URL that are not properly categorized. It is recommended that firms submit a request to have its URL re-categorized. Firms can accomplish this by visiting BrightCloud’s website. Visit the BrightCloud website at http://www.brightcloud.com/tools/change-request-url-categorization.php to submit a categorization change request 10 Key Elements to Building a Web-site Visit VA OSDBU’s Fact Sheets’ library Web page at http://www.va.gov/osdbu/library/factsheets.asp to learn more about Small Business Websites’ and VA’s Network VA Business Intelligence Tool (VA BIT) VA BIT is a 24/7/365 tool that allows small businesses to connect with Procurement Decision Makers (PDMs), view their posted opportunities and create compatibility scoring as well as register for any DAP (Direct Access Program) event. Benefits Find procurement ready vendors at a quick glance See which one of your matching vendors or PDMs are participating in the organization’ event. Please visit www.vabit.biz for more information

November 1-3rd, 2016 in Minneapolis, MN 2016 National Veterans Small Business Engagement (NVSBE) November 1-3rd, 2016 in Minneapolis, MN VA Attendees: Program Managers- 350 , Contracting Officers- 400, Other VA- 50 Additional Events for VA Staff: Acquisition Innovation Symposium, SECVA Awards Ceremony What is NVSBE? The National Veterans Small Business Engagement (NVSBE) is the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VAs) Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization’s (OSDBUs) premier event for Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (VOSBs). Why Attend? Build relationships with potential customers and business partners Maximize proposal opportunities to compete for and win contract awards Demonstrate your business capability to meet mission needs of customers

Small Business Resources Learn more about VA at: http://www.va.gov Learn more about VA OSBDU at: www.va.gov/osdbu Conferences, Events, and Webinars: www.va.gov/osdbu/library/events Public Law (P.L) 109-461: www.va.gov/ogc/docs/pl109-461.pdf Vets First Contracting: www.va.gov/osdbu/verfication National Veterans Small Business Engagement: www.nvsbe.com Download a copy of Doing Business with VA and Procurement Readiness Reference guides at: www.va.gov/osdbu/library/dbwva