Eye on the Entrepreneur: Two MD entrepreneurs push for government

Bob Sharps joined the Air Force in 1966 as an Airman Recruit. He retired 25 years later, having worked his way up to the rank of major. Although he was less than 30 percent disabled as a result of a service-related disability, he didn't let that stop him.

I bought a printing franchise in Columbia, he says. I worked hard to build the company up and we grew to be the No. 1 company franchise in the country.

In 1996, after suffering a massive heart attack, Sharps sold his business and decided to take a sabbatical. This lasted four years, until finally, the itch to do something besides helping out in community projects, got to him.

It was about that time that his old Air Force buddy, Richard Vance, called him about an opportunity. Vance, when he retired from the Air Force, had gone to work for a Maryland engineering firm that specialized in doing business with the government.

The owner decided he wanted to retire the construction division of the company and was offering to sell it to Vance, who called Sharps, saying, Bob, you know business. Come on and help me.

It didn't turn out to be such a good deal after all, but Vance and Sharps saw an opportunity, and in 2002 they started VSA Construction Services LLC. They had close to $2 million worth of contracts by the time they opened the doors for business in Jessup.

One of their first stops while starting up VSA was the Small Business Administration. Hey, you guys are veterans and service disabled at that, they were told. Don't you know there is a law that says the government has to give you priority on certain jobs?

It was true. Public Law 106-50 required the Federal Government to award 3 percent of its contracts to service-disabled veterans. Vance and Sharps both had service related disabilities. However, when they began submitting bids, they discovered that the government seemed to be ignoring the law.

Vance and Sharps weren't looking for any special breaks; they just wanted a fair shot at government business. When he realized the law was being ignored, Sharps began to do some research.

I discovered that of 61 federal agencies, 37 had awarded no contracts to any service-disabled veteran in 2002, Sharps explains. On top of that, the Veterans Administration, the agency that was supposed to look out for veterans, had spent less than a quarter of 1 percent of its more than $18 billion in procurement budget for service disabled owned veteran firms since the law was passed in 1999. This was unacceptable.

Allies' offensive

As Sharps began to look around for ways to get the government to adhere to the law, he began to make allies. One of his first contacts was Wayne Gatewood, a retired Marine and president and CEO of Quality Support Inc. in Landover. Gatewood was also service disabled and being stymied by the lack of adherence to the law. He had been working with other veterans' organizations to try to help veteran entrepreneurs.

Bob Sharps contacted me two years ago to discuss Public Law 106- 50, Veterans Entrepreneurship Act of 1999, Gatewood remembers. During that phone call I informed Bob of the Veterans Task Force and suggested he look into becoming active in the task force as well as other Veteran organizations.

Sharps did just that. Along the way, he met Eddie Gleason, associate director of Government Relations for the Vietnam Veterans of America, and Rick Weidman, director of Government Relations for the same organization.

They agreed with Sharps that it was wrong and that a new law had to be passed with more teeth. Ultimately, the new allies put together a task force that had about 15 active participants that met on a monthly basis.

Eventually, a stronger bill came before Congress. Sharps mobilized his company and other companies to begin a letter-writing campaign to their senators and members of Congress.

Every one of our employees, even though some weren't veterans, joined in with a spirit, says Sharps. They used fax, snail mail, and e-mail.

Other companies owned by service-disabled veterans joined in. Finally, Congress, realizing that passage of this bill was the right thing to do, suspended the rules to limit debate and streamline the vote.

It was a huge struggle, says Sharps, but Congress came through, and just about a year ago passed the Veterans Entrepreneurship Act of 2003 (HR 1460). By the end of the year, the House and Senate had approved Veterans Benefits Act of 2003, which specified that small businesses owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans would be eligible for sole-source competition contracts from the U.S. Government.

This act, in its totality, is a monumental feat for veteran's small businesses, in that it now will allow for a more level playing field in the Federal Procurement Process, says Sharps.

Sharps had no small hand in the matter. He had devoted more than 250 hours to trips to Washington and contacts with legislators.

Recently, the Howard County Chamber of Commerce nominated Vance and Sharps for the Small Business Administration Veterans Advocate Award for the State of Maryland. Not only were they selected for the State award, they went on to compete and were selected for the U.S. Small Business Administration Region III Champion Award and the 2004 SBA Veteran Small Business National Champion Award.

Gatewood is proud of Sharps' dogged determination to the veterans honored by the passage of this law.

Bob has never looked back and he along with many other veteran business owners, myself included, is committed to giving back to our fellow veterans. Bob is a hero and I am proud to be his friend, Gatewood says of their relationship.

While he is happy about the award, Sharps diverts attention from himself.

Veterans Benefit Act of 2003 is not about me or how it will positively affect my company, he says. It is about how better procurement opportunities are available to literally thousands of service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses.

They fought and earned the reward for their service to America. This law will help and encourage services-disabled veterans who would like to start their own business and become an active participant in the entrepreneurial market place.

Neil R. G. Young, CLU, ChFC, is president of Young & Company, a financial planning firm in Lutherville. If you have any comments or questions, you can send him an e-mail at neil@yco.com or call at 410- 494-7766. The Web site is http://www.yco.com.

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