6th Annual U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Business Conference

May 16, 2018  Milwaukee

Start Date	May 16, 2018
End Date	May 16, 2018
Time	8:00 am - 4:30 pm
Facility	Hampton Inn
Address	8201 W Greenfield Ave, Milwaukee, WI 53214
Contact Info	Carol Murphy carolm@wispro.org 414-270-3600
Details	Read More Information
Agenda	View The Agenda

*Online registration is now closed, but onsite registration will be available at the event*

This conference will focus on procurement procedures and business opportunities for veteran owned businesses with the Department of Veterans Affairs, VISN 12 area consisting of Milwaukee, WI; Madison, WI; Tomah, WI; Chicago, IL; Danville, IL; and Iron Mountain, MI with eight medical centers, 38 outpatient clinics, eight nursing homes, and six domiciliaries, providing health care services to the 700,000 Veterans who reside within its four state (Illinois, Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Wisconsin, and Northwest Indiana) area. Overall, the Department of Veterans Affairs spends over $23 billion annually.

The VA, like all federal agencies, has small business goals set by the Small Business Administration (SBA). However, unlike all the other federal agencies (where all the SBA goals are prioritized equally to meet the individual category goal standards) the VA has a congressional mandate (Public Law 109-461 section 502 and 38 USC 8127) to purchase from small businesses owned and controlled by Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSB) first, and then those owned and controlled by Veteran Owned Small Business (VOSB) before considering the other classes of small business. As a stipulation of the Public Law, SDVOSBs and VOSBs must be certified with the VA and be listed in a public database (at www.vip.vetbiz.gov) to be eligible to receive the “VETS FIRST” priority. SDVOSBs and VOSBs ARE ENCOURAGED TO ATTEND.

In addition to learning about how to work with the VA, attendees will have opportunities to meet and learn from other Government Agencies, and Prime Contractor representatives from the area and learn from from contracting  experts, on topics ranging from verification / certification, Mentor Protégé agreements, financing, as well as locating and bidding on opportunities. Technical representatives from the Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center in Milwaukee and other agency and contractor representatives will be on hand in the afternoon to meet with attending businesses.