White Paper

Department of Veterans Affairs
Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization
OMB 2900- New (Post-Engagement)
White Paper

Situation

The Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) requests approval from the Office of Management and Budget to collect return-on-investment information from the 2015 National Veteran Small Business Engagement (NVSBE), as mandated by the Paper Reduction Act (PRA). The NVSBE is the signature event of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Secretary to the small business; primarily to Veteran-owned small business (VOSB) and service-disabled Veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB). Due to the economic situation, budget constraints, and the over one million dollar cost of this event, the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) has to measure its return-on-investment to the small business community, VA, and other Federal internal and external stakeholders employees attending this event.

Purpose

OSDBU intends to collect information from the 2015 NVSBC attendees regarding the outcome they experienced. Specifically, OSDBU aims to measure the effectiveness of outreach and training events where OSDBU participates; to determine the return on investment (ROI) of these events; and to define the level of satisfaction of the entity or person who extended the invitation. The information will be collected from State Directors of Veterans Affairs, Program Managers, Marketing Directors, and Industry Leaders, among others, in regards to their experiences with the OSDBU team once they has participated in an outreach event or speaking engagement.

OSDBU pursuits the goal of sharing this quantitative information with potential attendees in order to help them to make an informed and objective decision regarding their attendance and level of participation at this event. The 2015 NVSBE will take place in November 17th through the 19th in in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Conclusion

It is imperative that the Department of Veterans Affairs can provide to its constituents validate data that can be used in determining if the people, money, time, and commitment in holding an engagement of this capacity is in keeping with being good stewards of the tax payers dollars and providing a high return of investment to the Veteran Owned Small Business community.