Veteran Business Owners Avoid $20,000 Scam

Photo Courtesy of US Department of Veterans Affairs

By: Stan Washington
Date: March 27, 2015

Imagine the excitement as the person who has served their country, returns home to open a business. They scrape their last penny together to open a business to service the government that supported them all these years, hoping to get a set aside contract. Now imagine an unscrupulous person preying on their business stating they will "teach" them how to obtain set aside contracts if the veteran business owner would only pay $20,000. Are you furious yet? I am! 

This message is not just to those who are veterans, but to anyone who is going after a government contract.

Safeguard Your Email Address. Your email is listed in public domain. Be careful of getting the eye-catching email stating “Contracting” or “Sub-Contracting” opportunities. Many unscrupulous companies poll the public lists, grabbing email addresses to send you spam. Be sure to use software like Microsoft Outlook that disables any web links or “phishing” software that may have been sent in this email.  In Outlook simply move the message to “Junk Mail”; this disables any malicious behavior in the message.

Seek Help from Government Agencies. Veterans have a wealth of information and services available to them for FREE.  Civilians can also participate in some of these conferences but not all. Look into these resources as they do make themselves available frequently.

Connect with People. Visit “Business Development Centers” in order to understand what is available to you. Some of these centers specialize in helping those who wish to do business with the government. In fact they have quota’s on how successful they are in assisting veterans and civilians. Stop wasting time at home and get out and meet people.

Small business owners who wish to pursue VA set-aside procurement opportunities must be verified as a service-disabled Veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB) or Veteran-owned small business (VOSB) by the Center for Verification and Evaluation (CVE). In order to get free training visit the Veterans Administration Blog:

http://www.blogs.va.gov/VAntage/18526/training-for-veteran-small-business-owners-to-compete-for-va-set-aside-procurements/

Firms who have started the Verification process can contact CVE’s Customer Service Contact Center at (866) 584-2344, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.  For an update on your application, please contact CVE by phone or email atverificationfollowup@va.gov

Small Business and Emerging Technologies Conference (Online or In Person)

By: Stan Washington
Date: January 24, 2015

The FCC’s Office of Communications Business Opportunities (OCBO) will host a Small Business & Emerging Technologies Conference and Tech Fair.

When: January 27, 2015, 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM EST

Where:  At the FCC Headquarters, Commission Meeting Room

Address: 445 12th Street SW, Washington, DC.

This important event will focus on innovation by fledgling entrepreneurs in information technology and telecom. We will be highlighting small businesses, and particularly minority and women-owned tech start-ups. We will be examining some of the challenges that tech start-ups face, as well as some of the more specific issues that often preclude technical innovation in the minority business community.

In addition to the event

Our panel discussions, we are hosting a “Fast Pitch” Program for the afternoon where tech entrepreneurs will have a unique opportunity to present their ideas/products to – and get feedback from – experts on launching and capitalizing new businesses.

This event will be streamed live.  Reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities are available upon request.  The request should include a detailed description of the accommodation needed and contact information.  Please provide as much advance notice as possible; last minute requests will be accepted, but may be impossible to fill.  Send an e-mail to fcc504@fcc.gov or call the Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau at 202-418-0530 (voice), 202-418-0432 (TTY).

Call to register for  this event OCBO at (202) 418-0990 or via email atTechfair@fcc.gov Persons interested in participating via the internet may do so by logging on to http://www.fcc.gov/events/small-business-and-emerging-technologies-conference.