Mayor Walsh launches veteran owned small business program

Today, Mayor Martin J. Walsh announced he has signed an Executive Order creating the Veteran-Owned Small Business Development Initiative, aimed at increasing participation of veteran owned small businesses in City contracting opportunities. This Executive Order follows the Mayor’s announcement of the program during his Boston Chamber of Commerce speech in December 2014.

“I am proud to sign this executive order which gives us the opportunity to promote self-reliance, strengthen veteran owned businesses, and help those who have valiantly served this country, never asking for anything in return," said Mayor Walsh.

“This is a great opportunity for veteran business owners like myself to support the City of Boston and grow our companies,” said Richard Haughn, a former service member, and the owner of Bayside Embroidery, a custom screen printing and embroidery business in South Boston. “I want to thank Mayor Walsh for taking this innovative approach to supporting veterans who are also entrepreneurs.”

The Small and Local Business Enterprise Office (SLBE) will conduct outreach to identify Veteran Owned Small Businesses (VOSB) that may benefit from this initiative. The office will encourage businesses to verify their status as a VOSB by signing up at www.vetbiz.gov, and provide registered VOSBs with information and education regarding City contracting needs and policies.

The SLBE will compile and maintain a list of registered VOSBs that will be updated regularly and distributed to city departments. When procuring goods and services, public building projects, and building construction contracts, city departments will be instructed to solicit a quote from at least one VOSB. City departments will also inform the SLBE of all advertised contracting opportunities, which will distribute the information about the available opportunities to registered VOSBs.

The mission of the Small and Local Business Enterprise Office (S/LBE) is to create economic opportunity by certifying the availability of small business enterprises, small Boston-based business enterprises, and also minority-owned and woman-owned business enterprises, to City departments and advocating on behalf of these businesses to help them compete successfully for City contracts, as well as in the Boston area's economy as a whole.