Executive Summary

On Thursday, September 28, Mark S. Schweiker, President & CEO of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce (GPCC) testified in Richboro, Pa before the Senate Republican Policy Committee in support of legislation proposed by Senator Robert "Tommy" Tomlinson (R-Bucks) that would set procurement goals for veteran-owned businesses within the Commonwealth.

Although Pennsylvania ranks fifth in the nation with more than 5 percent of the total U.S. veteran population, large corporations like Lockheed Martin encounter difficulties in locating and identifying veteran and service-disabled veteran owned businesses (SDVOSB) necessary to meet their diversity goals. 

Through extensive research, GPCC determined that many veterans were unaware of the business opportunities available to them by virtue of their veteran status.  Within the Commonwealth, there are 217,560 veteran owned small businesses whose aggregate income is over $8.2 billion dollars.  Of these, only 1,864 are registered within the federal Central Contracting Registry Database, the only centralized database used by both corporate and government procurement officers to locate qualified suppliers. GPCC wanted to help large corporate members in fulfilling their supplier diversity needs as well as to help build awareness of these opportunities to veteran business owners.

In the fall of 2005, the Chamber unveiled the VETWORK YOUR BUSINESS program.   In partnership with Small Business Development Centers, the U.S. Small Business Administration, and supported locally by Lockheed Martin, Merck & Motorola, VETWORK now provides educational and networking opportunities to veteran business owners.

To advance our VETWORK outreach efforts, the GPCC contacted Senator Tomlinson in September 2005, specifically because of his position as a local member of the Senate Military & Veterans Affairs Committee.  Over the last year, Senator Tomlinson and his staff have been integral in making veterans aware of VETWORK programming, networking opportunities, and the need to register their businesses in the Central Contracting Registry database.  Through the coordinated efforts of many, there was a 23 percent increase in this year’s registration for the Commonwealth’s Central Contracting Registry. 

Another result of our efforts with Senator Tomlinson has been the development of this legislation.  Businesses and organizations involved with VETWORK brought to the Chamber’s attention that while Pennsylvania provides preferences for both minority and women owned businesses, supplier preferences for veteran owned businesses do not exist.  In addition, it has been noted that three percent of the total value of all prime contract and subcontract awards by the federal government be awarded to SDVOBs.  As the population of U.S. veterans entering the civilian workforce increases, providing incentives such as veteran procurement goals in Pennsylvania, may in fact encourage other veterans to start their own businesses, thereby providing more jobs within the Commonwealth.

he Chamber will continue to work closely with Senator Tomlinson and his staff to urge consideration of the measure by the Senate Military and Veterans Affairs committee, and ultimate passage of the bill by the General Assembly.  Interested chamber members are encouraged to ask their local representatives to support Senator Tomlinson's legislation.