1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:10,640 All across America and around the world, this is Veterans Radio. 2 00:00:10,640 --> 00:00:15,920 This is Veterans Radio. 3 00:00:15,920 --> 00:00:17,840 Welcome to Veterans Radio. 4 00:00:17,840 --> 00:00:20,560 I am Jim Fossone. 5 00:00:20,560 --> 00:00:22,880 I'm the officer of the deck today. 6 00:00:22,880 --> 00:00:24,760 We've got some great programs for you. 7 00:00:24,760 --> 00:00:27,760 I think you'll find very interesting. 8 00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:34,640 We always want to remind you you can find more about Veterans Radio at its Facebook site 9 00:00:34,640 --> 00:00:36,680 or at the web. 10 00:00:36,680 --> 00:00:43,120 VeteransRadio.org is our new URL, VeteransRadio.org. 11 00:00:43,120 --> 00:00:48,520 Where we're on the web 24-7, you can find a lot of our podcasts there as well. 12 00:00:48,520 --> 00:00:55,080 We post new ones every Tuesday, so you can get a new story, a new interview, 13 00:00:55,080 --> 00:00:59,960 something you didn't know before by going to VeteransRadio.org. 14 00:00:59,960 --> 00:01:04,240 And before we get started, we want to thank our sponsors. 15 00:01:04,240 --> 00:01:13,680 First up, we want to thank National Veteran Business Development Council, NVBDC.org. 16 00:01:13,680 --> 00:01:19,360 It was established to certify both service disabled and veteran-owned businesses. 17 00:01:19,360 --> 00:01:25,920 You'll find out how they can help your business by going to NVBDC.org. 18 00:01:25,920 --> 00:01:29,360 We want to thank Legal Help for Veterans. 19 00:01:29,360 --> 00:01:35,040 Legal Help for Veterans fights for veterans disability rights all across the nation. 20 00:01:35,040 --> 00:01:45,720 You can reach them at 800-693-4800 or on the web at LegalHelpForVeterans.com. 21 00:01:45,720 --> 00:01:51,080 Welcome, I am Jim Fosso and this is a VeteransRadio spotlight on the National Veteran Business 22 00:01:51,080 --> 00:01:56,080 Development Council, commonly known as NVBDC.org. 23 00:01:56,080 --> 00:02:01,800 We have the opportunity today to talk to its CEO and founder, Keith King, about NVBDC, 24 00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:05,800 which is the nation's leading third-party authority for certification of veteran-owned 25 00:02:05,800 --> 00:02:08,360 businesses, really of all sizes. 26 00:02:08,360 --> 00:02:11,840 This nonprofit started in 2013. 27 00:02:11,840 --> 00:02:16,880 We're going to talk about some of the really amazing things that NVBDC has been able to 28 00:02:16,880 --> 00:02:24,000 do here in 2023, validating what's been going on in this space. 29 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:26,400 Keith, welcome back to VeteransRadio. 30 00:02:26,400 --> 00:02:28,560 Thank you, Jim. 31 00:02:28,560 --> 00:02:30,640 It's good to be back. 32 00:02:30,640 --> 00:02:32,160 Well, yeah, exactly. 33 00:02:32,160 --> 00:02:40,360 You're coming off a great 2023 year with a couple of national events, one down in Louisville 34 00:02:40,360 --> 00:02:43,640 in particular. 35 00:02:43,640 --> 00:02:51,120 Talk about some of the cool things that you're able to do now with your NVBDC team and the 36 00:02:51,120 --> 00:02:56,480 certified veteran-owned businesses and folks who are helping out. 37 00:02:56,480 --> 00:02:59,920 One of the companies everybody knows. 38 00:02:59,920 --> 00:03:06,760 Well, that company is, of course, one of our corporate supporters and what we call corporate 39 00:03:06,760 --> 00:03:08,320 members. 40 00:03:08,320 --> 00:03:15,080 We're talking about Denny's, in the sense of Denny's restaurants. 41 00:03:15,080 --> 00:03:21,080 As the event was coming up, we were talking to them and we started brainstorming because 42 00:03:21,080 --> 00:03:28,320 I laugh about it, but they asked me if I knew that they had a food truck. 43 00:03:28,320 --> 00:03:33,000 Now, when somebody says food truck, I'm thinking one of these little food trucks. 44 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:34,520 Yeah, tacos and burgers. 45 00:03:34,520 --> 00:03:35,520 Yeah. 46 00:03:35,520 --> 00:03:37,800 Come on, big deal, really, seriously. 47 00:03:37,800 --> 00:03:40,440 And he goes, no, no, no. 48 00:03:40,440 --> 00:03:42,200 We have an 18-wheeler. 49 00:03:42,200 --> 00:03:49,640 We have a five-star restaurant inside the, I went, what? 50 00:03:49,640 --> 00:03:55,720 In other words, the more we talked about it, it became a situation in which we were in 51 00:03:55,720 --> 00:03:56,720 Louisville. 52 00:03:56,720 --> 00:04:05,080 And just a little bit south of Louisville is a place that I knew very well back in 1969 53 00:04:05,080 --> 00:04:08,400 because I did basic training at Fort Knox. 54 00:04:08,400 --> 00:04:14,680 Anyways, General Miller reached out to the commanding officer down there and said, hey, 55 00:04:14,680 --> 00:04:22,840 we can bring in Denny's, we hate to keep calling it a food truck, so we'll call it the 56 00:04:22,840 --> 00:04:23,840 trailer. 57 00:04:23,840 --> 00:04:31,680 But we're going to bring in Denny's and serve the family's breakfast. 58 00:04:31,680 --> 00:04:35,120 And they said, oh, you know, we would love that. 59 00:04:35,120 --> 00:04:43,440 And I got to tell you, anyone who's ever been in a restaurant, anybody who's ever seen food 60 00:04:43,440 --> 00:04:50,440 being produced, I mean, those live on the spot cooking and they would cook it, put it, 61 00:04:50,440 --> 00:04:55,040 pack it into a go box and then hand it out. 62 00:04:55,040 --> 00:04:59,320 We set it up to where it was like a drive-through. 63 00:04:59,320 --> 00:05:07,480 But the people from that base, Fort Knox has kind of been turned into an education center. 64 00:05:07,480 --> 00:05:10,440 And so we literally had people from all over the country. 65 00:05:10,440 --> 00:05:15,520 We had people from all the different branches of the military. 66 00:05:15,520 --> 00:05:17,240 And the news had spread. 67 00:05:17,240 --> 00:05:22,040 And then, of course, once we started serving and people got the food, then the word really 68 00:05:22,040 --> 00:05:34,680 spread because we ended up serving 975 meals to the active duty military on that base and 69 00:05:34,680 --> 00:05:36,840 their children and their families. 70 00:05:36,840 --> 00:05:40,080 And I mean, it was just such a great day. 71 00:05:40,080 --> 00:05:45,240 It was just to walk and see the impact of that. 72 00:05:45,240 --> 00:05:47,480 And Denny's had enough. 73 00:05:47,480 --> 00:05:53,720 They had 200 meals extra that we wouldn't deliver down to the Red Cross who immediately 74 00:05:53,720 --> 00:05:56,040 started putting those to use. 75 00:05:56,040 --> 00:06:01,800 So it was something that when we talk about the military, we talk about our vets, we start 76 00:06:01,800 --> 00:06:09,360 talking about military families, we had a chance to not only do that firsthand and see 77 00:06:09,360 --> 00:06:19,560 that, it was a very heartwarming, very sophisticated program in the sense of how it was all handled. 78 00:06:19,560 --> 00:06:26,000 And I got to tell you, we're looking forward to working with Denny's in our next national 79 00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:27,000 event. 80 00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:36,560 And this is the kind of things that we hope that people understand that, yes, we certify 81 00:06:36,560 --> 00:06:43,960 veteran-owned businesses and they're disabled veteran-owned businesses, but the impact of 82 00:06:43,960 --> 00:06:52,880 what we do and frankly, what our corporations are now willing to do with us and the ideas 83 00:06:52,880 --> 00:07:01,400 we share, all I can tell you is that was one of the best days for us and to be able to 84 00:07:01,400 --> 00:07:07,120 sit back and say, hey, thank you to a corporate partner and they did an outstanding job. 85 00:07:07,120 --> 00:07:08,120 Absolutely. 86 00:07:08,120 --> 00:07:14,640 And it's just really inspiring to see the results of this kind of networking. 87 00:07:14,640 --> 00:07:20,200 It's the networking between, which is what NVBDC is so good at while it is a certifying 88 00:07:20,200 --> 00:07:22,720 company entity. 89 00:07:22,720 --> 00:07:28,720 What it's really good at in my opinion is this networking you do with your 175 corporate 90 00:07:28,720 --> 00:07:38,000 members and you're over 2,000 certified veteran-owned businesses and it's that result, which is, 91 00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:44,680 hey Denny's, would you like to feed a bunch of military service members and their families 92 00:07:44,680 --> 00:07:51,280 down by Fort Naxx and you get them to say yes and they show up with the semi trailer 93 00:07:51,280 --> 00:07:55,120 full of sausage, hash browns and eggs for breakfast. 94 00:07:55,120 --> 00:08:01,880 It's really, and I think there's a, I want your reaction to this, my sense is there are 95 00:08:01,880 --> 00:08:07,880 a lot of companies out there who want to do more than just say thank you for your service 96 00:08:07,880 --> 00:08:13,720 and this is a good example of Denny saying, hey, we want to do more than just lip service. 97 00:08:13,720 --> 00:08:20,800 We want to actually help people and is it your sense there's a lot of corporations out 98 00:08:20,800 --> 00:08:23,520 there who want to do more than just give lip service? 99 00:08:23,520 --> 00:08:29,960 Yeah, one of the things that, you know, we don't get a chance to talk about very often 100 00:08:29,960 --> 00:08:37,920 is the employee resources groups at these corporations, which really is the veterans, 101 00:08:37,920 --> 00:08:46,240 if you will, that were hired as employees and these, what they call employee resource 102 00:08:46,240 --> 00:08:49,000 groups, they pull all their veterans together. 103 00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:55,160 And one of the things that we have been offering now for several years is for either myself 104 00:08:55,160 --> 00:09:00,160 or General Miller to come in and sit down and talk to these groups about what are they 105 00:09:00,160 --> 00:09:09,440 actually doing and can we plug in, use our networking experience to their efforts and 106 00:09:09,440 --> 00:09:17,320 I tell the story of we did this with one of the corporate resources groups and there were 107 00:09:17,320 --> 00:09:28,000 three homeless programs in their headquarters area and we introduced them to one of the 108 00:09:28,000 --> 00:09:34,520 houses that really needed a lot of repair work and when I was talking to them I just 109 00:09:34,520 --> 00:09:39,760 asked them, hey, anybody knows how to swing a hammer and they went what? 110 00:09:39,760 --> 00:09:43,360 I said, anybody know how to do a paint brush? 111 00:09:43,360 --> 00:09:46,440 How about anybody know how to do a roof? 112 00:09:46,440 --> 00:09:51,560 And you know, these guys said, oh my God, we want to meet these people, we want to talk 113 00:09:51,560 --> 00:09:52,560 to them, they did. 114 00:09:52,560 --> 00:09:58,280 And I call them about six months later and all of a sudden that house became their house. 115 00:09:58,280 --> 00:09:59,600 And I went, what? 116 00:09:59,600 --> 00:10:02,080 Oh yeah, we don't let anybody touch our house. 117 00:10:02,080 --> 00:10:03,080 What do you mean? 118 00:10:03,080 --> 00:10:06,880 Yeah, they're invested, they get invested in it, absolutely. 119 00:10:06,880 --> 00:10:13,360 And that's where the networking is so important, which is what NVBDC does so well. 120 00:10:13,360 --> 00:10:19,520 And we're talking to Keith King who is the CEO and founder of NVBDC, you can find it 121 00:10:19,520 --> 00:10:20,520 at NVBDC.org. 122 00:10:20,520 --> 00:10:27,120 Keith, I want to move to your Louisville event. 123 00:10:27,120 --> 00:10:32,480 We've talked about something that was sort of a part of it and Denny's feeding this, 124 00:10:32,480 --> 00:10:35,800 you know, a thousand people essentially down by Fort Knox. 125 00:10:35,800 --> 00:10:40,560 But talk to us about the purpose and the gathering that occurred in Louisville. 126 00:10:40,560 --> 00:10:48,840 Well, what we do is we focus on, we've been using word networking and I'll continue with 127 00:10:48,840 --> 00:10:53,520 that word, but we call it one-on-one matchmaking. 128 00:10:53,520 --> 00:11:02,520 And what we do is we invite our veteran-owned businesses to participate in these meetings 129 00:11:02,520 --> 00:11:14,360 with our corporations and we ask our corporations to give us an idea of what products or services 130 00:11:14,360 --> 00:11:20,760 they need or would like to talk to a veteran-owned business that does, you know, fulfills whatever 131 00:11:20,760 --> 00:11:22,680 their needs are. 132 00:11:22,680 --> 00:11:25,000 And so we match them up. 133 00:11:25,000 --> 00:11:30,720 Actually, it's the idea of providing us, the veterans provide us with their capability 134 00:11:30,720 --> 00:11:31,720 statements. 135 00:11:31,720 --> 00:11:34,200 We hear all that with the corporation. 136 00:11:34,200 --> 00:11:41,480 So when these meetings happen, they're pretty well attuned to what they do and have a chance 137 00:11:41,480 --> 00:11:47,200 to actually talk to them privately one-on-one and say, okay, this is what we're looking 138 00:11:47,200 --> 00:11:49,520 for, what is it that you actually do? 139 00:11:49,520 --> 00:11:51,840 And I draw some of the issues. 140 00:11:51,840 --> 00:11:54,440 Can you scale up if need be? 141 00:11:54,440 --> 00:11:58,160 You know, how are you financially? 142 00:11:58,160 --> 00:12:03,160 They have some very good, what I call good business type conversations. 143 00:12:03,160 --> 00:12:08,840 And I can tell you, my veterans will come up to me and go, oh my God, you know, I had 144 00:12:08,840 --> 00:12:12,240 no idea that they're going to ask me all these other kinds of questions. 145 00:12:12,240 --> 00:12:17,560 And I said, well, the only reason they ask you that question is because they're interested. 146 00:12:17,560 --> 00:12:18,720 Right, right. 147 00:12:18,720 --> 00:12:32,200 And all I can tell you is that those two days, we had something I'm really proud of, the 148 00:12:32,200 --> 00:12:37,040 supplier diversity professionals from the corporations. 149 00:12:37,040 --> 00:12:45,880 We had a panel and we had the moderator and the panelists and three out of the four people 150 00:12:45,880 --> 00:12:52,560 on that panel in that conversation from our supplier diversity were all members of the 151 00:12:52,560 --> 00:12:54,120 billion dollar roundtable. 152 00:12:54,120 --> 00:12:57,640 I mean, you talk about like a powerhouse group. 153 00:12:57,640 --> 00:13:02,760 I mean, even other supplier diversity people who are not part of the billion dollar roundtable, 154 00:13:02,760 --> 00:13:06,920 I came up to him and my God, this is one of the best panels I've ever seen. 155 00:13:06,920 --> 00:13:12,560 Because again, they're talking about the business of supplier diversity. 156 00:13:12,560 --> 00:13:18,000 And they were teaching now only their fellow supplier diversity, but the veterans. 157 00:13:18,000 --> 00:13:20,120 And that's really what we talk about. 158 00:13:20,120 --> 00:13:26,680 We talk about come in here and learn the business, learn who you're dealing with, understand 159 00:13:26,680 --> 00:13:28,720 why they do this. 160 00:13:28,720 --> 00:13:31,480 It's not just because they love veterans. 161 00:13:31,480 --> 00:13:33,200 They're looking for a damn good supplier. 162 00:13:33,200 --> 00:13:39,400 And if you can do that job, then you will get at least the opportunity to pitch and 163 00:13:39,400 --> 00:13:47,480 possibly contracts because what we're now seeing and doing this next year will be our 164 00:13:47,480 --> 00:13:50,480 10th year of certifying. 165 00:13:50,480 --> 00:13:54,400 We've already been in business 10 years, but it took us a little more than, well, it took 166 00:13:54,400 --> 00:13:59,960 us about 15 months to get everything written and it started doing certification. 167 00:13:59,960 --> 00:14:09,360 But anyways, what we're talking about is the impact now of the, not only the members of 168 00:14:09,360 --> 00:14:15,720 the billion dollar roundtable, but the impact of all 170 some 175 corporate members that 169 00:14:15,720 --> 00:14:21,560 we have, the contracts being issued to our certified vets. 170 00:14:21,560 --> 00:14:30,360 The numbers that we're now seeing was last when I just saw 2013 number, I'm sorry, 2022, 171 00:14:30,360 --> 00:14:36,480 2023 number through their fiscal year was 4.3 billion. 172 00:14:36,480 --> 00:14:45,720 That's with a B, that's with a B, $4.3 billion to veteran certified veteran owned businesses 173 00:14:45,720 --> 00:14:52,200 by the members of the billion dollar roundtable, which is that corporate group of big purchasing 174 00:14:52,200 --> 00:14:53,200 guys. 175 00:14:53,200 --> 00:14:59,160 Well, yeah, and what happened, I guess, when we started looking back at all of this stuff 176 00:14:59,160 --> 00:15:03,720 and you know, Jim, you and I have been talking about these kind of things about, oh, they 177 00:15:03,720 --> 00:15:06,000 did it because they wanted to help vets. 178 00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:08,360 Yeah, that's half truth. 179 00:15:08,360 --> 00:15:13,680 Yes, and God bless them for that because they really do want. 180 00:15:13,680 --> 00:15:20,000 But like I said earlier, never lose sight of what they really want as a good supplier. 181 00:15:20,000 --> 00:15:23,680 You got to produce, you got to produce, you may get, they may call you because you've 182 00:15:23,680 --> 00:15:28,240 got certification, but you still got to be able to demonstrate you can produce. 183 00:15:28,240 --> 00:15:29,240 Exactly. 184 00:15:29,240 --> 00:15:33,520 And you know, we got to produce it, but as you know, you got to do it on time and on 185 00:15:33,520 --> 00:15:34,520 budget. 186 00:15:34,520 --> 00:15:39,840 And, you know, those are the kind of things that when I get an opportunity to talk to 187 00:15:39,840 --> 00:15:45,680 my corporate members like that, they will tell us over and over again that their vets 188 00:15:45,680 --> 00:15:49,160 suppliers are always efficient. 189 00:15:49,160 --> 00:15:50,600 They're always on time. 190 00:15:50,600 --> 00:15:52,600 They do the job. 191 00:15:52,600 --> 00:15:58,280 They love their veteran suppliers and the veteran suppliers don't give them, you know, 192 00:15:58,280 --> 00:15:59,280 BS excuses. 193 00:15:59,280 --> 00:16:03,560 They just tell them, point, plank, hey, this is what's happened and we're going to make 194 00:16:03,560 --> 00:16:04,560 it right. 195 00:16:04,560 --> 00:16:07,080 And well, you know what that is to me? 196 00:16:07,080 --> 00:16:13,280 It is a veteran helping a veteran and we preach that never lose sight of helping your fellow 197 00:16:13,280 --> 00:16:16,640 veteran and how you perform as a supplier. 198 00:16:16,640 --> 00:16:23,680 It's going to help the next, you know, veteran business who may qualify to also, you know, 199 00:16:23,680 --> 00:16:25,760 work with that corporation. 200 00:16:25,760 --> 00:16:28,640 The, you know, the good feelings of that. 201 00:16:28,640 --> 00:16:34,440 Yes, that's important because I think too, when we look at this event, this event was 202 00:16:34,440 --> 00:16:36,360 somewhat of a watershed for us. 203 00:16:36,360 --> 00:16:42,920 And I think when we look at how we do what we do, this was held in the Omni Hotel. 204 00:16:42,920 --> 00:16:45,200 It was a beautiful facility. 205 00:16:45,200 --> 00:16:48,880 We had all, if you will, the breakout rooms. 206 00:16:48,880 --> 00:16:51,640 We had all of the main dining room. 207 00:16:51,640 --> 00:16:58,840 We had all of them, you know, the run of the hotel and made sure that all the things that 208 00:16:58,840 --> 00:17:07,840 we could do to make this a event not only for our corporate members, but for our vets. 209 00:17:07,840 --> 00:17:16,760 We poured into this and I just have to acknowledge my entire team. 210 00:17:16,760 --> 00:17:24,120 You know, they poured their heart and time and soul into making this a great event. 211 00:17:24,120 --> 00:17:32,280 And the one thing that kind of is another one of the, I guess, bonuses is we have had 212 00:17:32,280 --> 00:17:34,280 what we call vets night out. 213 00:17:34,280 --> 00:17:40,880 And I will tell you, that's where that started as some beer and pizzas in the local, you 214 00:17:40,880 --> 00:17:41,880 know, okay. 215 00:17:41,880 --> 00:17:44,240 So that's where that started. 216 00:17:44,240 --> 00:17:45,240 We can relate to that. 217 00:17:45,240 --> 00:17:47,240 Yeah, everybody can relate to that. 218 00:17:47,240 --> 00:17:56,560 Right, well, this vets night out was held hosted by Beam Sun Tory. 219 00:17:56,560 --> 00:18:04,080 This is the Jim Beam Company and they're probably one of their most famous brands, and they 220 00:18:04,080 --> 00:18:07,840 got many, is Makers Mark. 221 00:18:07,840 --> 00:18:11,120 Well, we normally was at their facility. 222 00:18:11,120 --> 00:18:19,640 We were at the restaurant in a sense that they own and they became our host. 223 00:18:19,640 --> 00:18:22,480 And oh my God, what a host they are. 224 00:18:22,480 --> 00:18:30,520 We also had a guest speaker who was a former Green Beret who happened to serve in Afghanistan 225 00:18:30,520 --> 00:18:32,880 with General Miller. 226 00:18:32,880 --> 00:18:38,200 So you can imagine this became not only great stories. 227 00:18:38,200 --> 00:18:43,360 The sky, you know, being a Green Beret and all of those kind of stories. 228 00:18:43,360 --> 00:18:52,760 But when your host, you know, produces some of the best whiskey in America. 229 00:18:52,760 --> 00:18:57,560 There were adult beverages consumed in tall tales told. 230 00:18:57,560 --> 00:19:01,480 Well, what we did is we went out and arranged for buses. 231 00:19:01,480 --> 00:19:02,880 So nobody had to drive. 232 00:19:02,880 --> 00:19:04,880 We'll take it there and we'll bring you back. 233 00:19:04,880 --> 00:19:11,560 And it's funny how many compliments we got on the buses. 234 00:19:11,560 --> 00:19:18,600 But it's the kind of thing that that was, again, another one of the hits, if you will. 235 00:19:18,600 --> 00:19:23,960 It just said that people were saying, hey, you know what, man, this was great. 236 00:19:23,960 --> 00:19:34,280 You know, this, you know, beam was unbelievably generous with their food, with their facility, 237 00:19:34,280 --> 00:19:40,920 with their spirits and what a great partner they were and what a great show that was. 238 00:19:40,920 --> 00:19:49,320 So we tried to make this not only, you know, business, but as you can tell, we also try 239 00:19:49,320 --> 00:19:50,320 to have some fun. 240 00:19:50,320 --> 00:19:56,280 Well, absolutely, and we've all been to conferences where we've had more fun than we've had business. 241 00:19:56,280 --> 00:20:00,400 And I think that's one of the keys to this is, and your reference to it as one-on-one 242 00:20:00,400 --> 00:20:04,840 matchmaking is much better than referencing it as networking, because we've all been to 243 00:20:04,840 --> 00:20:08,440 those networking things and say, yeah, that was like eating cotton candy. 244 00:20:08,440 --> 00:20:11,040 I didn't really get anything nutritious out of it. 245 00:20:11,040 --> 00:20:16,840 But one-on-one matchmaking, which was what NVBDC does so well, really gives you an nutritional 246 00:20:16,840 --> 00:20:17,840 bite. 247 00:20:17,840 --> 00:20:20,560 It's a much, much better description. 248 00:20:20,560 --> 00:20:26,680 Yeah, well, you know, and that's why the Vets night out, if you will, are of the classic 249 00:20:26,680 --> 00:20:30,120 type of networking events. 250 00:20:30,120 --> 00:20:38,440 But you know, I can tell you that the people were eating well and enjoying each other's 251 00:20:38,440 --> 00:20:39,440 company. 252 00:20:39,440 --> 00:20:41,440 Well, yeah, absolutely. 253 00:20:41,440 --> 00:20:46,320 Anyplace that's Jim Bean Makers Mark, count me in. 254 00:20:46,320 --> 00:20:52,360 So let's talk about the future a little bit as we move into 2024. 255 00:20:52,360 --> 00:20:59,120 Do you anticipate doing another similar annual conference like you did in Louisville? 256 00:20:59,120 --> 00:21:04,800 And what are you looking for NVBDC to do in 2024? 257 00:21:04,800 --> 00:21:14,400 Well, the two events that we host, the one that is one of what we call the smaller event, 258 00:21:14,400 --> 00:21:25,400 all I can tell you is that if you are a professional in the financial industry, this is our annual 259 00:21:25,400 --> 00:21:29,280 event with the Federal Reserve Bank. 260 00:21:29,280 --> 00:21:35,080 We had Chicago, Atlanta is now actively involved with us. 261 00:21:35,080 --> 00:21:40,840 We've been talking to all 12 branches, San Francisco, Cleveland, New York, on and on 262 00:21:40,840 --> 00:21:41,840 and on. 263 00:21:41,840 --> 00:21:49,200 Anyways, this is an event that when I talk to the insurance companies, I talk to the 264 00:21:49,200 --> 00:21:55,440 banks, I talk to any of the financial, the brokerages, all of these different industries, 265 00:21:55,440 --> 00:21:57,440 if you will, representatives. 266 00:21:57,440 --> 00:22:03,640 They go, you actually have members of the Federal Reserve Bank there. 267 00:22:03,640 --> 00:22:09,120 And I tell them, and I wasn't kidding, so that was one chart of a quorum. 268 00:22:09,120 --> 00:22:11,920 They got a little nervous. 269 00:22:11,920 --> 00:22:15,240 Oh my God, you had the board there? 270 00:22:15,240 --> 00:22:19,120 Yeah, they wanted to see all this, talk to the vets. 271 00:22:19,120 --> 00:22:27,240 So anyways, that is one of, even though it's not as large as it is traditionally now kind 272 00:22:27,240 --> 00:22:36,000 of embedded in our annual events, we expect that may actually move down to Atlanta because 273 00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:42,160 I know Atlanta wants a bigger role, but we will have that in the summertime. 274 00:22:42,160 --> 00:22:47,480 Usually it's in late July, early August time period. 275 00:22:47,480 --> 00:22:51,720 Just check my website once I have that date down, I'll lock it down. 276 00:22:51,720 --> 00:22:56,280 Now the big event, of course, is our national matchmaking event. 277 00:22:56,280 --> 00:23:04,080 That we're telling people, we have to walk around the Tuesday national election. 278 00:23:04,080 --> 00:23:08,640 So it'll probably be Wednesday and Thursday or possibly Thursday and Friday, so I think 279 00:23:08,640 --> 00:23:15,440 we're talking November, I think it's like the 7th, 8th, 9th, or 8th, 9th, and 10th. 280 00:23:15,440 --> 00:23:21,160 Again, as soon as I have that locked down, but we're talking about this one, it's probably 281 00:23:21,160 --> 00:23:23,560 going to be back here in Detroit. 282 00:23:23,560 --> 00:23:31,240 We had a lot of requests for it, and I know that we're looking for venues down in South 283 00:23:31,240 --> 00:23:33,280 Carolina. 284 00:23:33,280 --> 00:23:39,320 We already have corporate people that say, hey, come on down here and we'll show you 285 00:23:39,320 --> 00:23:41,960 some more stuff in hospitality. 286 00:23:41,960 --> 00:23:50,120 Well, these are annual events, really at this point, and while we haven't really talked 287 00:23:50,120 --> 00:23:54,640 in this interview, we've done it many times about the certification process, and if you're 288 00:23:54,640 --> 00:24:00,640 a veteran owned business out there and you're thinking, maybe I need to expand what I'm 289 00:24:00,640 --> 00:24:06,600 doing, maybe I need to get certified, go to NVBDC.org. 290 00:24:06,600 --> 00:24:08,760 They'll walk you through this process. 291 00:24:08,760 --> 00:24:16,120 It is rigorous, but it's supposed to be so that when you come out the other side, corporations 292 00:24:16,120 --> 00:24:20,760 can actually rely on the fact that you're a veteran owned business. 293 00:24:20,760 --> 00:24:30,120 And Keith, you've got a great website there at NVBDC.org that gets updated regularly. 294 00:24:30,120 --> 00:24:35,800 It sounds like 2024 should be a continuation and a build on what you did this year, and 295 00:24:35,800 --> 00:24:41,760 that billion dollar roundtable economic impact is going to go up from $4.3 billion to veteran 296 00:24:41,760 --> 00:24:42,760 owned businesses. 297 00:24:42,760 --> 00:24:46,720 I don't know how high it can go, but it's going to go up, isn't it? 298 00:24:46,720 --> 00:24:55,680 Well, yeah, because actually the billion dollar roundtable report showed that the members 299 00:24:55,680 --> 00:25:01,920 total purchasing was $123 billion. 300 00:25:01,920 --> 00:25:09,400 And I have been saying, well, look, I just want a bigger piece of the pie for my vats. 301 00:25:09,400 --> 00:25:10,400 Certainly. 302 00:25:10,400 --> 00:25:11,400 Certainly. 303 00:25:11,400 --> 00:25:17,360 Yeah, so hell, if I could jump it up, I'm going to get two points or whatever. 304 00:25:17,360 --> 00:25:25,520 Because again, if we look at the women in the minority specifically, they are either 305 00:25:25,520 --> 00:25:34,160 obviously the largest groups in the sense of percentage and dollars spent. 306 00:25:34,160 --> 00:25:38,960 But we also talk about the fact that a lot of women are veterans, a lot of minorities 307 00:25:38,960 --> 00:25:39,960 are veterans. 308 00:25:39,960 --> 00:25:47,000 And so we're saying, hey, what we're doing is trying to make sure that if they are a 309 00:25:47,000 --> 00:25:51,960 veteran and they're woman certified or minority certified, that they get certified by the 310 00:25:51,960 --> 00:25:52,960 NVBDC. 311 00:25:52,960 --> 00:25:59,560 And the pitch is simple, look, you have less competition with us and you have the opportunity 312 00:25:59,560 --> 00:26:03,960 to at least have access that you may not have. 313 00:26:03,960 --> 00:26:10,760 And that's something that we're working very hard on because we're talking to groups that 314 00:26:10,760 --> 00:26:20,520 aren't necessarily business owners up front just to find out, like, hey, one of the groups 315 00:26:20,520 --> 00:26:24,400 we're talking to, one of the women's groups has 30,000 members. 316 00:26:24,400 --> 00:26:28,600 And we asked them, do you know how many of your members actually own the business? 317 00:26:28,600 --> 00:26:33,480 And they said, well, no, that's not something that we ever looked at or know that wasn't 318 00:26:33,480 --> 00:26:37,080 anything that we ever were involved in. 319 00:26:37,080 --> 00:26:38,520 And I said, you are now. 320 00:26:38,520 --> 00:26:43,240 Yeah, a lot of great partnering, a lot of great partnering opportunities. 321 00:26:43,240 --> 00:26:51,160 Well, we really appreciate the time that Keith King, founder and CEO of NVBDC.org, the nation's 322 00:26:51,160 --> 00:26:54,120 leading certifying company has spent with us today. 323 00:26:54,120 --> 00:26:55,880 Keith, as always, we'll have you back. 324 00:26:55,880 --> 00:27:00,000 We really appreciate the update and this one in particular because it gave us a good sense 325 00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:02,000 of what happened down in Louisville. 326 00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:08,360 Well, thank you, Jim, and I appreciate the opportunity, you know, talking to you as well 327 00:27:08,360 --> 00:27:15,240 as your audience and you do a great job in letting people know that if they are a veteran 328 00:27:15,240 --> 00:27:19,640 on business, one, they should be certified and secondly, we're to get it. 329 00:27:19,640 --> 00:27:22,560 So thank you very much. 330 00:27:22,560 --> 00:27:25,480 And I want to thank everybody for listening to Veterans Radio today. 331 00:27:25,480 --> 00:27:27,000 I am Jim Fossone. 332 00:27:27,000 --> 00:27:29,320 It's been a pleasure to be your host. 333 00:27:29,320 --> 00:27:34,080 I'm a Veterans Disability Lawyer at Legal Help for Veterans and you can reach us at 334 00:27:34,080 --> 00:27:41,640 800-6934800 or legalhelpforveterans.com on the web. 335 00:27:41,640 --> 00:27:46,520 You can follow Veterans Radio on Facebook and listen to its podcasts and internet radio 336 00:27:46,520 --> 00:27:51,160 shows by visiting us at veteransradio.org. 337 00:27:51,160 --> 00:27:53,880 That's veteransradio.org. 338 00:27:53,880 --> 00:27:57,160 And until next time, you are dismissed. 339 00:27:57,160 --> 00:28:01,520 If you have a VA claim denied by the Board of Veterans Appeals, contact Legal Help for 340 00:28:01,520 --> 00:28:05,760 Veterans at 1-800-6934800. 341 00:28:05,760 --> 00:28:09,760 They're experts in handling cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. 342 00:28:09,760 --> 00:28:13,720 Their number again, 1-800-6934800. 343 00:28:13,720 --> 00:28:19,320 We again want to thank our national sponsors, the National Veterans Business Development 344 00:28:19,320 --> 00:28:28,240 Council, NVBDC.org, VA Ann Arbor Health Care System, the Vietnam Veterans of America, 345 00:28:28,240 --> 00:28:37,240 Charles S. Kettles Chapter, Ann Arbor, Michigan, VFW, Graf O'Hara Post, 423 Ann Arbor, and 346 00:28:37,240 --> 00:28:43,200 the American Legion Press Corn Post, 46 also in Ann Arbor. 347 00:28:43,200 --> 00:28:44,680 We appreciate all your support. 348 00:28:44,680 --> 00:28:52,080 You can go to veteransradio.net, click on the sponsor level and continue to support keeping 349 00:28:52,080 --> 00:28:54,680 Veterans Radio on the air. 350 00:28:54,680 --> 00:28:58,400 And until next time, you are dismissed.