There is established in the Administration an Office of Veterans Business Development, which shall be administered by the Associate Administrator for Veterans Business Development (in this section referred to as the "Associate Administrator") appointed under section 633(b)(1) of this title.
The Associate Administrator-
(1) shall be an appointee in the Senior Executive Service;
(2) shall be responsible for the formulation, execution, and promotion of policies and programs of the Administration that provide assistance to small business concerns owned and controlled by veterans and small business concerns owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans. The Associate Administrator shall act as an ombudsman for full consideration of veterans in all programs of the Administration; and
(3) shall report to and be responsible directly to the Administrator.
Not later than 90 days after February 14, 2008, the President shall establish an interagency task force to coordinate the efforts of Federal agencies necessary to improve capital and business development opportunities for, and ensure achievement of the pre-established Federal contracting goals for, small business concerns owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans and small business concerns owned and controlled by veterans (in this section referred to as the "task force").
The members of the task force shall include-
(A) the Administrator, who shall serve as chairperson of the task force; and
(B) a senior level representative from-
(i) the Department of Veterans Affairs;
(ii) the Department of Defense;
(iii) the Administration (in addition to the Administrator);
(iv) the Department of Labor;
(v) the Department of the Treasury;
(vi) the General Services Administration;
(vii) the Office of Management and Budget; and
(viii) 4 representatives from a veterans service organization or military organization or association, selected by the President.
The task force shall-
(A) consult regularly with veterans service organizations and military organizations in performing the duties of the task force; and
(B) coordinate administrative and regulatory activities and develop proposals relating to-
(i) improving capital access and capacity of small business concerns owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans and small business concerns owned and controlled by veterans through loans, surety bonding, and franchising;
(ii) ensuring achievement of the pre-established Federal contracting goals for small business concerns owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans and small business concerns owned and controlled by veterans through expanded mentor-protégé assistance and matching such small business concerns with contracting opportunities;
(iii) increasing the integrity of certifications of status as a small business concern owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans or a small business concern owned and controlled by veterans;
(iv) reducing paperwork and administrative burdens on veterans in accessing business development and entrepreneurship opportunities;
(v) increasing and improving training and counseling services provided to small business concerns owned and controlled by veterans; and
(vi) making other improvements relating to the support for veterans business development by the Federal Government.
The Associate Administrator shall increase veteran outreach by ensuring that Veteran Business Outreach Centers regularly participate, on a nationwide basis, in the workshops of the Transition Assistance Program of the Department of Labor.
In carrying out paragraph (1), a Veteran Business Outreach Center may provide grants to entities located in Transition Assistance Program locations to make presentations on the opportunities available from the Administration for recently separating or separated veterans. Each presentation under this paragraph shall include, at a minimum, a description of the entrepreneurial and business training resources available from the Administration.
The Associate Administrator shall-
(A) create written materials that provide comprehensive information on self-employment and veterans entrepreneurship, including information on resources available from the Administration on such topics; and
(B) make the materials created under subparagraph (A) available to the Secretary of Labor for inclusion in the Transition Assistance Program manual.
The Associate Administrator shall submit to Congress progress reports on the implementation of this subsection.
The Associate Administrator shall-
(1) compile information on existing resources available to women veterans for business training, including resources for-
(A) vocational and technical education;
(B) general business skills, such as marketing and accounting; and
(C) business assistance programs targeted to women veterans; and
(2) disseminate the information compiled under paragraph (1) through Veteran Business Outreach Centers and women's business centers.
There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section-
(1) $1,500,000 for fiscal year 2005; and
(2) $2,000,000 for fiscal year 2006.
In this subsection-
(A) the term "foreign excess property" has the meaning given the term in section 102 of title 40; and
(B) the term "state agency" has the meaning given the term, including the roles and responsibilities assigned, in section 549 of title 40.
The Administrator, in coordination with the Administrator of General Services, shall provide access to and manage the distribution of surplus property, and foreign excess property returned to a State for handling as surplus property, owned by the United States under chapter 7 of title 40, to small business concerns owned and controlled by veterans (as verified by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs under section 8127 of title 38) pursuant to a memorandum of agreement between the Administrator, the Administrator of General Services, and the head of the applicable state agency for surplus properties and in accordance with section 549 of title 40.
(
A prior section 2[32] of
2019-Subsec. (g).
2008-Subsec. (c).
Subsecs. (d), (e).
Subsec. (f).
2004-Subsec. (c).
"(1) Veterans of the United States Armed Forces have been and continue to be vital to the small business enterprises of the United States.
"(2) In serving the United States, veterans often faced great risks to preserve the American dream of freedom and prosperity.
"(3) The United States has done too little to assist veterans, particularly service-disabled veterans, in playing a greater role in the economy of the United States by forming and expanding small business enterprises.
"(4) Medical advances and new medical technologies have made it possible for service-disabled veterans to play a much more active role in the formation and expansion of small business enterprises in the United States.
"(5) The United States must provide additional assistance and support to veterans to better equip them to form and expand small business enterprises, thereby enabling them to realize the American dream that they fought to protect."
"(1) expanding the eligibility for certain small business assistance programs to include veterans;
"(2) directing certain departments and agencies of the United States to take actions that enhance small business assistance to veterans; and
"(3) establishing new institutions to provide small business assistance to veterans or to support the institutions that provide such assistance."
"(a)
"(1) the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (in this section referred to as the 'Administrator');
"(2) the Associate Administrator for Veterans Business Development of the Small Business Administration;
"(3) the Congress;
"(4) the President; and
"(5) other United States policymakers.
"(b)
"(1)
"(A) eight shall be veterans who are owners of small business concerns (within the meaning of the term under section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632)); and
"(B) seven shall be representatives of veterans organizations.
"(2)
"(A)
"(B)
"(3)
"(4)
"(A)
"(B)
"(5)
"(A)
"(B)
"(i) six shall be appointed for a term of 4 years; and
"(ii) five shall be appointed for a term of 5 years.
"(6)
"(7)
"(A)
"(B)
"(c)
"(1) Review, coordinate, and monitor plans and programs developed in the public and private sectors, that affect the ability of small business concerns owned and controlled by veterans to obtain capital and credit and to access markets.
"(2) Promote the collection of business information and survey data as they relate to veterans and small business concerns owned and controlled by veterans.
"(3) Monitor and promote plans, programs, and operations of the departments and agencies of the United States that may contribute to the formation and growth of small business concerns owned and controlled by veterans.
"(4) Develop and promote initiatives, policies, programs, and plans designed to foster small business concerns owned and controlled by veterans.
"(5) Develop a comprehensive plan, to be updated annually, for joint public-private sector efforts to facilitate growth and development of small business concerns owned and controlled by veterans.
"(d)
"(1)
"(2)
"(3)
"(4)
"(e)
"(1)
"(2)
"(3)
"(f)
"(1)
"(2)
"(g)
"(a)
"(1) The appointment by SCORE in its national office of an individual to act as National Veterans Business Coordinator, whose duties shall relate exclusively to veterans business matters, and who shall be responsible for the establishment and administration of a program to coordinate counseling and training regarding entrepreneurship to veterans through the chapters of SCORE throughout the United States.
"(2) The assistance of SCORE in the [sic] establishing and maintaining a toll-free telephone number and an Internet website to provide access for veterans to information about the counseling and training regarding entrepreneurship available to veterans through SCORE.
"(3) The collection of statistics concerning services provided by SCORE to veterans, including service-disabled veterans, for inclusion in each annual report published by the Administrator under section 4(b)(2)(B) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 633(b)(2)(B)).
"(b)
"(1) Conducting of studies and research, and the distribution of information generated by such studies and research, on the formation, management, financing, marketing, and operation of small business concerns by veterans.
"(2) Provision of training and counseling to veterans concerning the formation, management, financing, marketing, and operation of small business concerns.
"(3) Provision of management and technical assistance to the owners and operators of small business concerns regarding international markets, the promotion of exports, and the transfer of technology.
"(4) Provision of assistance and information to veterans regarding procurement opportunities with Federal, State, and local agencies, especially such agencies funded in whole or in part with Federal funds.
"(5) Establishment of an information clearinghouse to collect and distribute information, including by electronic means, on the assistance programs of Federal, State, and local governments, and of the private sector, including information on office locations, key personnel, telephone numbers, mail and electronic addresses, and contracting and subcontracting opportunities.
"(6) Provision of Internet or other distance learning academic instruction for veterans in business subjects, including accounting, marketing, and business fundamentals.
"(7) Compilation of a list of small business concerns owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans that provide products or services that could be procured by the United States and delivery of such list to each department and agency of the United States. Such list shall be delivered in hard copy and electronic form and shall include the name and address of each such small business concern and the products or services that it provides."
"(1) the availability of Small Business Administration programs for such small business concerns and the degree of utilization of such programs by such small business concerns during the preceding 12-month period, including statistical information on such utilization as compared to the small business community as a whole;
"(2) the percentage and dollar value of Federal contracts awarded to such small business concerns during the preceding 12-month period, based on the data collected pursuant to section 604(d) [set out below]; and
"(3) proposals to improve the access of such small business concerns to the assistance made available by the United States."
"(a)
"(1) collect information concerning the procurement practices and procedures of each department and agency of the United States having procurement authority;
"(2) publish and disseminate such information to procurement officers in all Federal agencies; and
"(3) make such information available to any small business concern requesting such information.
"(b)
"(c)
"(d)
Ex. Ord. No. 13540, Apr. 26, 2010, 75 F.R. 22497, provided:
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 102 of title I of the Military Reservist and Veteran Small Business Reauthorization and Opportunity Act of 2008 (
(a) a senior level representative, designated by the head of the respective department or agency, from each of the following:
(i) the Department of the Treasury;
(ii) the Department of Defense;
(iii) the Department of Labor;
(iv) the Department of Veterans Affairs;
(v) the Office of Management and Budget;
(vi) the Small Business Administration (in addition to the Administrator); and
(vii) the General Services Administration; and
(b) four representatives from a veterans' service or military organization or association, who shall be appointed by the Administrator.
(a) consult regularly with veterans service and military organizations in performing the duties of the Task Force;
(b) coordinate administrative and regulatory activities and develop proposals relating to:
(i) improving capital access and capacity of small business concerns owned and controlled by veterans and service-disabled veterans through loans, surety bonding, and franchising;
(ii) ensuring achievement of the pre-established Federal contracting goals for small business concerns owned and controlled by veterans and service-disabled veterans through expanded mentor-protégé assistance and matching such small business concerns with contracting opportunities;
(iii) increasing the integrity of certifications of status as a small business concern owned and controlled by a veteran or service-disabled veteran;
(iv) reducing paperwork and administrative burdens on veterans in accessing business development and entrepreneurship opportunities;
(v) increasing and improving training and counseling services provided to small business concerns owned and controlled by veterans; and
(vi) making other improvements relating to the support for veterans business development by the Federal Government; and
(c) not later than 1 year after its first meeting and annually thereafter, forward to the President a report on the performance of its functions, including any proposals developed pursuant to subsection (b) of this section.
(b) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise effect [sic]:
(i) authority granted by law to an executive department, agency, or the head thereof; and
(ii) functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(c) Insofar as the Federal Advisory Committee Act, as amended (5 U.S.C. App.) (FACA), may apply to the Task Force, any functions of the President under the FACA, except for those in section 6 of the FACA, shall be performed by the Administrator in accordance with guidelines issued by the Administrator of General Services.
(d) This order is not intended to and does not create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
Barack Obama.
Term of Interagency Task Force on Veterans Small Business Development extended until Sept. 30, 2021, by Ex. Ord. No. 13889, Sept. 27, 2019, 84 F.R. 52743, set out as a note under section 14 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act in the Appendix to Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.
Previous extensions of term of Interagency Task Force on Veterans Small Business Development were contained in the following prior Executive Orders:
Ex. Ord. No. 13811, Sept. 29, 2017, 82 F.R. 46363, extended term until Sept. 30, 2019.
Ex. Ord. No. 13708, Sept. 30, 2015, 80 F.R. 60271, extended term until Sept. 30, 2017.
Ex. Ord. No. 13652, Sept. 30, 2013, 78 F.R. 61817, extended term until Sept. 30, 2015.
Ex. Ord. No. 13591, Nov. 23, 2011, 76 F.R. 74623, extended term until Sept. 30, 2013.