County Office of Procurement to Accept Disabled Veteran Certification in MFD Program Starting Friday, Oct. 1

For Immediate Release: Friday, September 24, 2021

Montgomery County’s Office of Procurement will add the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ “Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business” certification to the County’s Minority, Female and Disabled (MFD) owned business program starting Friday, Oct. 1. The certification allows service-disabled veterans to qualify with a preference under the “disabled” category when competing for County contracts.

The certification for “Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business” is different from the “Veteran Owned” certification.

The new certification will expand the MFD program to accept certifications in the following six categories:

• Capital Region Minority Supplier Development Council (Minority Business Enterprise)
• City of Baltimore (Minority and Women's Business Opportunity Office)
• Federal Small Business Administration (8(a) Program)
• Maryland Department of Transportation (Minority Business Enterprise)
• U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) (Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business)
• Women's Business Enterprise National Council (Women's Business Enterprise)

“The MFD program had a record-breaking year in FY21, with $200,457,253 (26.86 percent) awarded to certified Minority, Female and Disabled Persons owned (MFD) businesses,” said Ash Shetty, director of the Office of Procurement. “This is the highest percentage awarded in the past 20 years. In addition, we are pleased to expand our certification categories to include service-disabled Veteran-owned businesses.”

Wes Guckert, founder, president and CEO of The Traffic Group, Inc., said:  “Montgomery County has made the important decision to include Service-Disabled Veterans as part of their MFD Certification Program. As a Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business certified by the Small Business Administration/Department of Veterans Affairs, we are thrilled to be able to take advantage of this opportunity to do work for Montgomery County if the opportunity presents itself.”

For questions regarding Montgomery County’s MFD program, contact Alvin Boss at [email protected].

Learn more about the MFD program at www.montgomerycountymd.gov/pro.

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Release ID: 21-757
Media Contact: Bethany Manimbo
Categories: Business