SBA Administrator Appoints New Members to Interagency Task Force on Veterans Small Business Development

WASHINGTON, Jan. 19, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet has named two new members for a two-year term to the Interagency Task Force on Veterans Small Business Development.

The new members of the advisory board include:

• Mark Rockefeller, CEO and Co-Founder, StreetShares. Mr. Rockefeller is a U.S. Air Force veteran, and represents StreetShares Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to "inspire, educate and support veterans' business ownership in America." Mr. Rockefeller writes for Fortune Magazine on veteran entrepreneurship, and he continues to be an advocate for SBA veteran programs.
  
  
• Michael Phipps, Managing Director, The Millennium Group International, LLC. Mr. Phipps represents the American Legion, and also serves on the Advisory Committee on Veterans Business Affairs (ACVBA) in his capacity as a veteran business owner. His appointment to the IATF ensures continued synchronization between ACVBA and the IATF. 

The task force, established February 14, 2008 by Public Law 110-186 and executed by Executive Order, coordinates federal efforts to increase and improve veteran small business development. This includes increasing access to capital, improving business development opportunities, and meeting federal contracting goals for veteran-owned small businesses and service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses.

The task force is chaired by the SBA Administrator and is comprised of SBA-appointed representatives from the SBA's Office of Veterans Business Development, the Department of Defense, the Department of Labor, the Department of Treasury, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the General Services Administration, the Office of Management and Budget, and four representatives from veterans service and military organizations, including the American Legion, Vietnam Veterans of America, StreetShares Foundation, and the Military Officers Association of America.

Specifically, the task force focuses on six areas:

1. Improving capital access and capacity of small business concerns owned and controlled by veterans and service-disabled veterans through loans, surety bonding and franchising;
2. Ensure achievement of the pre-established federal contracting goals for small business concerns owned and controlled by veterans and service-disabled veterans through expanded mentor-protégé assistance and matching such small business concerns with contracting opportunities;
3. Increasing the integrity of certifications of status as a small business concern owned and controlled by a veteran or service-disabled veteran;
4. Reducing paperwork and administrative burdens on veterans in accessing business development and entrepreneurship opportunities;
5. Increasing and improving training and counseling services provided to small business concerns owned and controlled by veterans; and
6. Making other improvements relating to the support for veterans business development by the federal government

The new members join veteran task force members meeting quarterly in Washington, D.C. The next task force meeting is Wednesday, March 8, 2017, from 1 to 4 p.m. EST in Washington, D.C., and is open to the public. The task force's annual reports and past meeting minutes can be viewed at https://www.sba.gov/offices/headquarters/ovbd/resources/14372.  

About the U.S. Small Business Administration
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) was created in 1953 and since January 13, 2012, has served as a Cabinet-level agency of the federal government to aid, counsel, assist and protect the interests of small business concerns, to preserve free competitive enterprise and to maintain and strengthen the overall economy of our nation.  The SBA helps Americans start, build and grow businesses.  Through an extensive network of field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations, the SBA delivers its services to people throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam. 

Release Number: 17-05

Contact: Carol Chastang (202) 205-6987
Internet Address: http://www.sba.gov/news 
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SOURCE U.S. Small Business Administration

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