Res 0168-2014

By Council Members Vallone, Koo, Gentile, Eugene and Ulrich Whereas, The New York City Department of Small Business Services estimates that more than ten percent of veterans in New York City are unemployed; and Whereas, Entrepreneurship offers veterans a path to take charge of their career and economic future by harnessing the leadership skills and discipline they learned in the military to help them build their own businesses; and Whereas, Studies indicate that veteran start-ups have a higher rate of success than businesses launched by those in the general civilian population; and Whereas, Nearly one in ten businesses in the United States (U.S.) are owned by veterans; and Whereas, As of 2012, New York State was home to 127,156 veteran-owned businesses, which employ more 300,000 workers and generate receipts of over $70 billion; and Whereas, By 2016, more than one million service members will have left the U.S. military, creating a new generation of veterans that may wish to pursue careers as small business owners; and Whereas, The federal government requires that at least three percent of all contracting dollars spent by each federal agency go to service-disabled veteran owned small businesses; and Whereas, According to the National Veteran-Owned Business Association, seventeen states currently have procurement preference programs for veteran owned businesses in place; and Whereas; Offering veteran owned businesses more opportunities for securing government contracts can help decrease the veteran unemployment rate, in addition to allowing New York to show appreciation for their service and sacrifices veterans have made for our country; and Whereas, New York State Senator Greg Ball and Assembly Member Felix Ortiz introduced S.6865 and A.9135, bills that would create a program to expand opportunities for veterans by requiring the heads of New York State agencies and authorities to establish a goal of awarding at least six percent of contracts to service-disabled veteran businesses; and Whereas, S.6865 and A.9135 would establish a Division of Service-Disabled Veterans' Business Development within the New York State Office of General Services tasked with helping State agencies to attain contract award goals, developing a certification process for service-disabled veteran owned businesses, and annually reporting the State's achievements in regard to the program; now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York calls upon the New York State Legislature to pass, and the Governor to sign S.6865 and A.9135, legislation which would promote opportunities for service-disabled veteran owned small businesses in State contracting. KET 4/1/14 3:05PM LS 970/2014 2