State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele, Jr. (I, D, WF – Sag Harbor) announced that a bipartisan agreement has been reached by the Assembly, Senate and governor to implement the “Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Business Act.” The act sets a 6-percent participation goal in the awarding of state contracts to service-disabled veteran-owned businesses.

“Those who put themselves in extreme danger in order to protect our freedom and our way of life deserve our respect, our gratitude and our assistance when they return home,” said Assemblyman Thiele. “We must help these highly skilled veterans find jobs when they return. Supporting the businesses they own is one important way we can do that.”

This act creates the Division of Service-Disabled Veterans’ Business Development within the Office of General Services (OGS). To qualify, small businesses must be at least 51 percent owned by a service-disabled veteran who controls day-to-day operations. The businesses will be certified for five years. The director of this division will be tasked with providing and collecting information to help these businesses, developing a directory of certified businesses and promoting service-disabled veteran-owned business services statewide. To help assess the effectiveness of the program, OGS will be required to make public an annual report.

New York is home to more than 900,000 veterans, 72 percent of whom have served during periods of conflict. Approximately 88,000 New Yorkers served in Afghanistan or Iraq. Additionally, the state is home to approximately 30,000 active duty military personnel, as well as 30,000 National Guard and Reserve personnel.

In addition, 1 in 7 veterans are self-employed or small-business owners. With passage of the Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Business Act, New York will join 44 other states and the federal government in implementing a program to help self-employed service-disabled veterans gain more state contracts.¹

“The leadership qualities and specialized skills our troops learn help make them successful business owners stateside,” Thiele said. “The beauty of this program is we’re spurring job creation while helping veterans and their families get ahead and honoring the sacrifice these brave men and women have made for our country and our state.”

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1. governor.ny.gov/press/02102014-veterans-contracting-program