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NaVOBA and VA to Honor Corporations for Commitment to Veteran-Owned Suppliers at VOBA Summit on Thursday

The VOBA Summit, sponsored by DynCorp International, represents a rarely seen public / private effort put on by two of the chief advocate organizations for veterans in business. "The teaming of NaVOBA and the VA's CVE to put on this event represents a unifying step for the veteran business movement. CVE has long been the chief advocate for veteran business owners within the federal government and NaVOBA has done the most to propel the veteran business movement into corporate America," said Scott Denniston, director of the CVE.

CVE's corporate honorees at the VOBA Summit on Thursday include Booz Allen Hamilton, EDS, SAIC, SI International and Washington Group International.

Big government contractors such as SAIC and Booz Allen Hamilton made NaVOBA's list of honorees too, which is published in the June 2008 issue of Vetrepreneur magazine.

But it's encouraging to see the specific addition of veterans to supplier diversity policies within companies that don't do a predominance of business with the federal government, for they do so voluntarily and purely for sound business reasons. The emphasis on voluntary participation is important as it represents an acceleration of the veteran business movement nationally.

"In such a patriotic era during a time of war, it's natural to use veteran-owned suppliers because it's the 'right thing to do.' But that's not a sustainable reason. The companies on our list have realized that buying from veteran-owned businesses gives them a competitive advantage; that it just makes good business sense," said Chris Hale, president of NaVOBA.

Lisa Johnson, procurement group manager at UPS agrees. "We value military experience in our employees, our UPS Store franchisees and our suppliers. Veterans have been taught to deliver on time and under budget -- qualities that are essential to UPS." And she's not alone in that belief. "Veterans have been taught diversity, teamwork and commitment while in the service," says Comcast's senior manager of supplier diversity Ajamu Johnson, adding that "Veteran-owned firms give Comcast the flexibility and quick turnaround that many large suppliers cannot."

DynCorp International's Douglas Ebner adds more deep-seated corporate belief in the value of using veterans' suppliers. "DynCorp International benefits from the valuable skills, knowledge and experience that veterans and veteran-owned businesses bring to our work."

"Veterans are over-represented in small business ownership. This is not coincidental. This over-representation is directly attributed to military training and experience. Leadership, teamwork, confidence and performance under pressure are all skills that military members learn early and often. These traits prepare veterans well for the challenges of small business ownership," said Hale. "And all veterans, regardless of service-disabled status, come armed with these qualifications. This is the 'Buy Veteran' message that we have carried to corporate America, where a $100 billion plus opportunity awaits our nation's 3 million veteran-owned businesses."

NaVOBA's ten honorees include Alcatel-Lucent, Applera, Booz Allen Hamilton, CH2M Hill, Comcast, DynCorp International, Novartis Pharmaceuticals, SAIC, UPS and Xerox. Criteria for making the list included veteran supplier diversity program specifics, assets allocated to veteran outreach and overall results in usage of veteran suppliers.

SOURCE NaVOBA; US Dept of Veterans Affairs