The Business Case for Including NaVOBA VBE spend

for Billion Dollar Roundtable Membership

In August of 2017, the Billion Dollar Roundtable, an organization whose mission is “to drive supplier diversity excellence through best practice sharing and thought leadership,” according to its website, broke tradition since its inception in 2001. Corporate Procurement spending eligible for BDR consideration was extended from exclusively women- and minority-owned businesses to include firms owned by individuals with disabilities, members of the LGBTQ community and U.S. Military Veterans. NaVOBA enthusiastically applauds this tremendous advancement of inclusion in supplier diversity.


At that time, NaVOBA was completing the pilot of its Veteran’s and Service-Disabled Veteran’s Business Enterprise certification program and subsequently has not been considered for inclusion in this expansion. This is an issue of concern for NaVOBA, its board, its Veteran’s and Service-Disabled Veteran’s Business Enterprises, as well as its Corporate Allies -- most notably those which are already members of the Billion Dollar Roundtable. After careful review of all existing certification programs adopted by the BDR for eligible spending, NaVOBA respectfully requests the leadership of the Billion Dollar Roundtable to build on its advancement for all diverse businesses and include corporate procurement spending with NaVOBA’s certified VBE/SDVBEs.


NaVOBA is by no means disparaging any of the programs already accepted. We sincerely respect and admire the respective organizations’ rigor in assuring that the appropriate individuals truly own, operate and control the firms that have earned their certificates and commend the BDR leadership for its thorough and careful review.
 
According to its mission, “the BDR encourages corporate entities to continue growing their supplier diversity programs by increasing commitment and spending levels each year.” In the spirit of inclusion that initiated the aforementioned expansion, would not inclusion of another world-class certification program not realize greater desired results?

The following executive summary outlines key elements of NaVOBA’s certification program that ensures its equality to any and all “gold standard” diverse business certifications. These elements include, but are not necessarily limited to: 

  •       NaVOBA is the exclusive veterans' representative of the National Business Inclusion Consortium (NBIC), a coalition of the Nation's leading business organizations representing diverse business communities.
  •       In 2022, NaVOBA entered into a reciprocal agreement with Disability:IN, the BDR-approved certifier for the Disabled-Owned Business Enterprise Community to ensure all SDV-DOBEs and SDVBEs can offer both certifications to their customers at no additional cost or effort to the supplier firms.
  •       NaVOBA is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and two-thirds of NaVOBA’s Board of Directors seats are held by corporations to ensure its alignment with the needs of corporate supplier diversity programs.
  •       NaVOBA’s VBE/SDVBE certifications directly mirror those of the MBE and WBE certifications and ensures that any certified VBE/SDVBE is at least 51% owned, operated and controlled by one or more U.S. military veterans.
  •       NaVOBA has trademarked the “Certified Veteran’s Business Enterprise™” and “Certified Service-Disabled Veteran’s Business Enterprise™” designations wordmarks and seals, making NaVOBA the exclusive organization certifying VBEs/SDVBEs for the private sector.
  •       NaVOBA's process collects the applicant's military service record information directly from the U.S. Federal Government on the veteran's behalf immediately upon initializing the application to eliminate the possibility of fraudulent submissions (e.g., the OPPOSITE of self-certification) while simultaneously accelerating the process. 
  •       Like other certifications, site-visit interviews are conducted in 100 percent of cases however, VBE/SDVBE certifications are good for two (3) years.
  •       NaVOBA works with a dedicated team of full-time documentation analysts dramatically increasing efficiency and reducing processing time relative to existing programs.
  •       Finally, and most importantly to the veteran-owned firms, the cost is substantially less than any other private sector veteran-owned business certification.
  •       Corporate Supplier Inclusion & Diversity programs have expanded to include veteran owned businesses by more than 400% since NaVOBA’s launch in 2007. NaVOBA understands how to advocate for the veteran business community within B2B & B2C corporations.
  •       NaVOBA certification department is led by the former WBENC national certification committee chairperson, Nancy Conner. Her knowledge and experience provide instant credibility for our process.


NaVOBA warmly welcomes any and all interested parties to speak with us to learn more about our program.

 

Please call us at (724) 362-8622 or email us at inquiries@navoba.org. I’d also love to share more about our program and have a conversation with any interested party personally.


Very Respectfully, 


Matthew Pavelek

 NaVOBA President & CEO

Downloadable BDR Application