In less than a week, a former Air Force logistics lost 50% of its commercial income and was forced to fire 45 employees, including other veterans, when the Department of Veterans Affairs canceled a series of contracts with its business.
On the basis of his logistics training in the Air Force, Robert Betters opened RB Consulting, Inc., a supply and information technology management firm that hires the VA and other agencies. Last week, seven of the company’s contracts were canceled by the VA between the $ 2 billion cuts ordered by VA Doug Collins Secretary.
Betters, who started his business 20 years ago, told Task & Purpose that he did not “blame the government for anything”, and understand the direction in which the VA and the federal government go with recent cuts.
“I am simply worried about my employees,” said Betters, who is president of the Board of Directors of the National Coalition of Small Companies, NVSBC, an organization that advocates veteran businessmen in federal hiring. “My key concern is that now that many people are being fired, can people find work in a timely manner?”
Collins said that the money from canceled contracts would be redirected to medical care and the benefits of veterans, although the VA has not yet provided a plan on how these spending changes would work.
Somehow, Betters said, his company’s work was aimed at the same goal of improving VA services for veterinarians.
One of the company’s canceled contracts was to develop surveys for veteran disability evaluations to improve the claims process. Another was to improve hospital supply chains for medications and other medical products.
Scott Jensen, executive director of the National Coalition of Small Veteran Businesses, said that the decision -making decisions is to neglect the “human beings behind all this” and said that it is harmful to veterans owners of small businesses who are being hurt of “pariah or as holes” and “waste” or “steal from the US people.”
“They were not and held a gun at anyone else’s head to say money. They followed the process. They requested a job or the federal government asked someone to meet the requirements of a contract, ”said Jensen. “They were given a mission, they are fulfilling the mission. If the mission is no longer necessary, or was considered waste, ok, that is acceptable. But do not hold them responsible for fulfilling what someone else asked them to do. “
‘That’s what are the contracts’
In Video message Announcing the cuts, Collins said that $ 2 billion went to the contractors to “create” PowerPoint slides, records of record meetings, provide training and training and provide executive support.
“People, if they don’t know how to run PowerPoint slides, learn. It is a tutorial on your computer. Go learn for free, ”said Collins. “Take your own notes. Wow, I will send you one of my pencils if you need one, but we are not paying millions of dollars so that the consultants do this for us. “
Most contracts fell under the category of “professional services”, which may include the need for a federal agency of a unique set of skills or experience of legal, economic, financial or technical fields. Betters said that some of his contracts fell under this designation, including the analysis of analysis of analysis, writing and transfer of data of the systems inherited from goes to the digital or modernized.
The work, he said, was important and required a more specialized experience that VA staff could handle, perfect for contractors such as their company.
“If I cannot hire enough people in the government and I still need the work done, then I will hire the support of the contractor because once the work is over, I can always let them go,” Betters said.
“If the objective is to implement something and maintain and eliminate it slowly, then for that are the contracts.”
Last year, The company was granted A VA $ 22 million contract to digitize paper copies of customer service surveys that the VA had sent by mail to measure customer satisfaction around the veteran disabilities evaluations, a main task in the heart of the VA mission, which is also carried out by contractors.
“Our goal was to recover more responses from veterans and active duty personnel who obtained disabilities and provide a state of how his forensic doctor treated him,” Betters said. “We want our veterans to make sure they are properly treated, especially when they do not work for the VA. These examiners are not initially VA examiners, so they are hired to do that. ”
As a young aviator, Betters worked in medical logistics. After the Air Force, he found a similar work in private logistics for the Navy and the Army, and then more recently with the VA.
“My ties have been in the same race field during the last 30 years, so I have not really left. I have worked with many people I worked on in the 90s found in the medical logistics community, ”he said.
One of his recently canceled contracts was to build a master catalog for the supply chains of 172 VA hospitals. The catalog compiled data from all sources from the Agency for Medicines and Medical Products in one place. The catalog intended to give the thousands of employees in those hospitals a central place to find medications and medical products available and available, as a prosthesis, save the time and money of each worker who investigates where to order the supplies, Betters said.
“There are many different manufacturers for different products. If you do not have an updated catalog that has the appropriate price, have the adequate contract information, have the correct product number information, you are probably spending too much, ”he said. “A supply chain is as efficient as the systems in place.”
Beyond saving administrative costs for staff, Betters said, the project was intended to increase access to patients.
“What happens to the veteran is that they could be rejected if you do not have enough resources [and] People who are helping him with their supplies in the hospital, ”he said.
Veterans who hire with the va
Veterans owned by veterans have enjoyed federal contracts for a long time. Federal agencies reserve contracts for veteran companies that meet certain requirements in two categories: small veteran property property, VOSB or a small veteran company with disabilities with services, SDVOSB.
In fiscal year 2025, the Va had a goal Established by the SBA to give 5% of its contracts to SDVOSB. For a Decision of the 2016 Supreme Courthe Is also mandatory to award contracts to veteran companies provided there are at least two that can meet the requirements of the contract.
Jensen said that, due to the work of the VA and its established affairs, many veterinary -owned companies end with most of their income linked to the agency.
“A learned lesson is to make sure to have a diversified portfolio, but that is very difficult when [as an example] 74% of the money that reaches veterans owned by the VA due to the policies and laws that exist, ”said Jensen. “Where are a veteran property business supposed to go if 74% of [it is] Leaving the va?
Jensen said that the RB Consulting experience, Inc. – reduced contracts and layoffs – is the reality of other members of the coalition and could continue to grow with more reduction in its size. He cited an SDVOSB that lost 70% of its value after Tuesday and Wednesday morning said goodbye to 70 employees.
The owners, he said, “are looking at a very real requirement to declare not only commercial bankruptcy but personal bankruptcy due to the financial investment they have in the company,” said Jensen.
Barbara Carson, director of a program offer from the University of Syracuse Business assistance For veterans and military families they said the cuts have been larger and faster than many veterinary entrepreneurs planned.
“Those who thought they were taking risk mitigation steps, may not be enough,” Carson said. “Reasonable people are really being beaten here.”
Jensen said that there is still a lot of anxiety and uncertainty among other veteran owners of small businesses due to the official comments of VA that they indicate that it was “only the beginning.”
Monday, the Va announced He was canceling 585 additional contracts that he called “unique or duplicated criticism”, and that was the “first step in an integral audit” of approximately 90,000 contracts worth more than $ 67 billion.
“What is the next shoe to fall?” Jensen said. “What we really would like is to be able to interact with leadership and understand the priorities and understand what is coming so that it is not as shocking as it was.”
The latest in task and purpose
- Here is why the garrison soldiers throughout the army are exchanging their shoulder patches
- This Marine Admiral has just pocketed 1,000 ° landing In an aircraft carrier
- The Supreme Court denies, once again, to review whether military members can sue for negligence
- This aviator Be careful for a sick passenger for eight hours on an international flight
- Soldier in the Army ‘more saved‘List for 9 years sentenced to prison