DoD Commits To Disabled Vets

The Defense Department made a promise to strive to award three percent of all contracts to small businesses owned by service-connected disabled veterans, in a gesture of support. Speaking before the House Small Business Committee during a July 15 hearing, Linda B. Oliver, chief of the Pentagon’s Small Business Programs Office, said, “We are gaining insights that will help us develop mechanisms that will … allow us to make greater use” of services provided by disabled veteran businesses. Oliver told lawmakers that the awards of such contracts has risen steadily, reaching $4.9 million in 2009 – up from $300,000 in 2003.