Business View Magazine | November 2020

40 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2020 an organization like WBENC. And, in any way we could, we tried to replicate, through NaVOBA, what the women’s business community had been able to achieve for women’s businesses with the WBENC organization. So, that was the model that the corporate entities wanted to make sure that they could include veterans. “We recruited a Board of Directors and right now, two thirds of the Board are corporations –American Airlines, JP Morgan Chase, Shell Oil, Lowes Retail, etc. We were able to get the certification program developed, we fully digitized the application process, and we finally got the IRS approval on Nov. 1, 2017. At that point, NaVOBA was officially relaunched as a national non-profit organization, although the non-profit status was retroactive to when we applied, in May 2016. “Since that time, we’ve been working with our corporate allies to make sure that veterans are getting an equal seat at the table in terms of corporate contracting, and the most critical function is certifying the ownership, operation, and control of these companies to make sure that the veterans who say they own the company, not only own it, but make all the decisions within the company, as well. It’s not dissimilar from any other private sector certification - the same thing is true for women and minorities, and the standards are pretty uniform across the board. The most important thing for us is that they are veterans who served honorably and meet all the stipulations that make them eligible before we issue them a certificate that says that they are, in fact, certified. “We make the argument that any organization, whether it’s the federal government, state NaVOBA-Certified VBE Jim Kelly, President and CEO at Invictus International Consulting LLC wears all four of Rocky Bleier’s Super Bowl rings. Bleier is a Vietnam veteran, former Pittsburgh Steeler and NaVOBA’s national spokesman.