WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Small Business Administration has cleared a massive backlog of more than 2,700 Veteran Small Business Certification (VetCert) applications, restoring full access for veteran entrepreneurs seeking to compete for federal contracts after years of delays, the agency announced last week.
The SBA said the backlog accumulated after the Biden administration shifted VetCert staffing and funding to boost certification approvals for “socially disadvantaged” firms in the 8(a) Business Development Program. The diversion, officials said, left veteran-owned small businesses waiting months longer for approval — and in some cases frozen out of federal contracting opportunities altogether.
SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler said the agency has now returned the VetCert program to full staffing and eliminated every pending actionable case, ensuring both veteran-owned small businesses (VOSBs) and service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSBs) can again compete for federal contracts without delay.
“Veterans have sacrificed enormously to serve our country, and they deserve full support when they return home to start and grow their businesses,” Loeffler said. “Under President Trump’s leadership, SBA has restored all funding and staffing for VetCert — and cleared the backlog of applications for veteran entrepreneurs who were put at the back of the line when the Biden Administration deprioritized veterans in favor of a DEI agenda. With the 2,700 case backlog cleared, veteran job creators finally have the chance to compete for contracts in the federal marketplace.”
The SBA is responsible for certifying small businesses for participation in federal contracting programs, including set-aside and sole-source awards. While the 8(a) Program remains the government’s largest contracting program for “socially disadvantaged” businesses, Congress created VetCert as a separate pathway to ensure veterans had their own dedicated on-ramp to federal contracting opportunities.
According to SBA officials, federal policy changes in January 2024 drove the bottleneck. The Biden administration increased the governmentwide contracting goal for “socially disadvantaged” small businesses from 5 percent to 15 percent, prompting SBA to reassign VetCert personnel to meet the new benchmark.
The result was swift and severe: VetCert processing times rose from an average of 30 days to 81 days by the end of 2024, leaving thousands of veteran business owners in limbo.
Loeffler said she reversed the 15 percent goal “on Day One” of her tenure, returning the standard to its statutory 5 percent. The agency has since restored VetCert’s staffing and funding, cleared the full backlog of pending applications, and cut processing times to an average of 12 days.
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