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All across America and around the world, this is Veterans Radio.

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This is Veterans Radio.

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Welcome to Veterans Radio.

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I am Jim Fossone.

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I'm the officer of the deck today.

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We've got some great programs for you.

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We always want to remind you you can find more about Veterans Radio at its Facebook

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site or at the web veteransradio.org where we're on the web 24-7.

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You can find a lot of our podcasts there as well.

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We post new ones every Tuesday so you can get a new story, a new interview, something

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you didn't know before by going to veteransradio.org.

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And before we get started we want to thank our sponsors.

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Next up we want to thank National Veteran Business Development Council, NVBDC.org.

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It was established to certify both service disabled and veteran owned businesses.

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You'll find out how they can help your business by going to NVBDC.org.

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We want to thank Legal Help for Veterans.

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Legal Help for Veterans fights for veterans disability rights all across the nation.

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You can reach them at 800-693-4800 or on the web at legalhelpforveterans.com.

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And finally, PuroClean.

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PuroClean is the paramedics of property damage.

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It provides water damage remediation, flood water removal, fire and smoke damage remediation,

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mold removal, biohazard cleanup.

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It also has a focus on veteran franchisees.

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You can learn more about them by going to puroclean.com.

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Welcome I am Jim Fosso and this is a Veterans Radio Spotlight on the National Veterans Business

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Development Council, better known as NVBDC.org.

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We have a partnership with NVBDC which is the nation's leading third party authority

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for certification of veteran-owned businesses, really of all sizes.

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This 501C3 has been in business doing its good work for over 10 years now and it addresses

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the growing need to identify and certify both service disabled and veteran-owned businesses

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for commercial or corporate and marketplace as well as the government.

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It provides a rigorous certification process designed to withstand the scrutiny of corporate

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entities seeking to utilize certified veteran-owned businesses.

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We want to welcome to the program today Annette Stevenson, an Army veteran.

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Annette, welcome.

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Thank you.

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I am grateful for the opportunity.

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Well, you are a 10-year Army veteran and we will get to that in a little bit but let's

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start with as president of Stevenson Consulting Group and you have a long business history

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in supplier diversity.

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What did you get involved with NVBDC?

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Well, when I came off of active duty trying to figure out what my next step was, I wound

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up working for the state of North Carolina for about seven years in contracts and grants

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and some minor purchasing and then had the opportunity to go to corporate America.

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So I wound up working at SAS Institute for 18 years, got credentialed as a procurement

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analyst and then was working actually for a retired Army warrant officer in procurement

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and he gave me the opportunity to stand up and manage our supplier diversity program.

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So a couple years into that, when veterans were coming to the forefront of business opportunities

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in corporate America, it's where I met Keith.

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He didn't believe I was a veteran at first.

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Keith, this is the always question.

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Because I had actually served in the National Guard and reserves in college before I came

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on active duty and got my RA.

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So we talked and see how we could help veterans in the corporate space.

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I helped them build some relationships through the industry groups and was able to reach

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out to Apple, Oracle, Dell, all those big corporations, AT&T and Google, when they were

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looking at the different certifications for veterans that were coming online, aside from

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the VA CVE, because there was so much fraud, a lot of corporations did not want to take

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the CVE verification.

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So when Keith stood this up and became gold standard and really understand what it takes

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to be a vet according to the public law, reading the 214s, we just drove it.

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Now I serve as a board member for the NVBDC.

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And my own consulting company is NVBDC certified also.

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And I believe you're also the vice president of North Carolina Veterans Business Association.

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Well, I was.

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I was.

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But as my business started to grow, I did.

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Yeah, pick and choose.

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So we're still going.

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We all learned we can't do it all.

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But this was obviously an important thing.

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You were just at the National Convention for NVBDC in Detroit, Michigan.

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Why is it important if you're a veteran owned business to get certified?

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And that can you give us your vast experience as to why is this important?

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Yes.

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So thank you for that question, because it's it's funny.

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We don't know what we don't know.

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You know, all most veterans understand is the federal sector, right?

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The the SBA, the CVE program, now the vets first program.

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And that's to do business in the federal contracting arena, right?

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Has really nothing to do with the corporate mindset.

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But veterans don't understand there's three different sectors to have opportunity.

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Federal, state and local and corporate.

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And so for an organization like SAS and a lot of the major corporations, they do business

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in all three verticals, right?

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And there's different requirements that you have to meet.

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And ironically enough, even if you're verified or certified through the SBA now, if you outgrow

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your NAICS codes, right?

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Or your number of employees, you're no longer eligible to be certified because you've outgrown

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the small business requirements.

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That doesn't happen with NVBDC.

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OK, so if you notice it's that little s in the SDVOSB versus SDVOP, right?

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Aquarium City.

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But by getting certified through NVBDC, you know, they've been accepted by the billion

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dollar roundtable.

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And as you mentioned in the introduction, they thoroughly vet you that you own operating

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control your company.

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And even more so that you meet the standards to be a veteran.

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OK, and we didn't make them up.

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It's not pick and choose.

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We like you.

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We don't.

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It's by the public law, right?

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That you meet the criteria to be a veteran.

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And so the corporations appreciate that standard of certification.

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And when you go through the process, and it is a fee based process, I always tell people

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it's like getting a college degree, right?

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College degree does not guarantee you a job.

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It's a hunting license.

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It's a credential.

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And that's what certification gets for you.

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It's a badge that you've been thoroughly vetted.

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The corporations that look at you now know you've been through that process, and they're

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willing to give you an opportunity and a seat at the table to go through and look for

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those corporate opportunities.

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And really one of the things that NVBDC, as you mentioned, is sort of the gold standard

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for veteran certification.

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That's on the individual company side, certifying the company.

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But it has all these relationships with these really large companies who want to do business

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with certified veteran owned businesses.

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And that's sort of unique as well, those introductions to all of those big companies.

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And that's also the side of the table that you've been able to play on.

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Yes, exactly.

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Well, because businesses want to have the value, right?

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So if I'm paying that certification fee, what's the value?

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They want to do business with veterans, because veterans like myself, I'm Asian American.

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I'm an Army brat.

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My father was an original member of Special Forces back in the 50s.

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He was a Vietnam vet also.

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And I grew up at Fort Bragg.

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But the characteristics that veterans bring to the table, well, I mean, one, I got sideways,

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but I'm a minority woman's service disabled vet.

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So veterans cross the whole spectrum, right?

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And you can have multiple certifications.

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But the value we bring from our experiences by serving in the military, you know, we can

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make a lot happen with limited resources, working well under pressure, hard work, the

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leadership, the innovation, the teamwork, you know, it's something and logistics, right?

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We're great at logistics and problem solving and big picture thinking.

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All that goes into entrepreneurship.

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And this isn't to say that other groups or minority women don't have that characteristic.

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But it's pretty much what we do in the military, you know?

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We've learned how to step up to the plate and take ownership.

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And that's what corporations and businesses are looking for from their suppliers.

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How can you help me fix this problem?

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Can you save money?

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Can you help me save time?

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Is there something else I should be doing?

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Is there innovation that you can bring to the table?

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And a lot of time that is through veteran owned businesses being able to provide that

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and the stat that Keith just shared was the billion dollar round table members, the corporations

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spent $4.3 billion with NVBDC certified vets last year.

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Well, if that's not enough to motivate you to say, hey, maybe I want a piece of that

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opportunity, let me go get certified by NVBDC.

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Certainly the experiences of Annette Stevenson across a broad range of having her own businesses,

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looking for a major corporation, understanding supplier diversity ought to be enough to motivate

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you.

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And you can go to NVBDC.org to get started.

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They're very helpful, but it is a rigorous program.

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Let me switch.

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Yes, and it does take patience.

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Let me just last one thing to say.

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You're not going to get certified one month and get a contract the next.

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You know, realistically, you know, this is a marathon.

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You're not a quick sprint, right?

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It's about building those relationships, building trust, showing up to be able to get

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those contracts.

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So I just wanted to put that out there.

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Thanks.

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Absolutely.

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As you say, it's a hunting license.

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It doesn't guarantee you actually get any game.

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But let's come back a little bit.

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How did a nice girl like you end up in the military?

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Well, like I said, my father was a original member of Special Forces.

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He met my mother in Northern Thailand in the mid-50s and came back to the States and, you

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know, at Fort Bragg is where I really grew up and actually went back to Thailand for

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three years.

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He served in Vietnam and but grew up in Fayetteville and then, you know, the pressure of, you

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know, being army.

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I really did not plan on it, but wound up going in through the ROTC program, you know,

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went to jump school and got my rigor wings, but when I came on active duty, I was branched

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personnel, an AG officer and served on active duty at Bragg and Third Armored Division and

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came back to Raleigh actually during the First Gulf War, served as the battalion adjutant.

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And then, you know, the the the build down came along and it was like a go to Korea with

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a five year old or or get out.

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So I just when I made the decision to go in the reserves and raise my family and start

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my civilian career.

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Well, and if I've got it right, you graduated from Methodist University with a bachelor's

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of arts in about 1982.

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You did 10 years plus all total in the military.

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Is that right?

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Yeah, on active duty.

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Yes.

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Yes.

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And then you had mentioned SAS, which I'm sure there's a lot of people who don't know

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what that big big company is where you work for over 18 years.

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Tell us about SAS.

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Sure.

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SAS is the largest privately owned software company.

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It's analytic software.

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It's to help companies and corporations make better business decisions.

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You know, we we describe it as if you think about driving a car.

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You have data, you can look out the back window and see where you've been.

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You can look out the side windows, see where you are.

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That's why.

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But the power of SAS is the predictive analytics, looking out the front windshield down the road

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and see if we did this or tweak that, you know, we could have this better outcome.

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So you know, the financial use industry uses it.

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It's the standard for pharmaceuticals.

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It's just just wonderful company, great places to work.

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Yeah, it was it was life changing to work there.

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I was really grateful.

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And one of the things that you get to do is focus on supplier diversity.

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Explain to people maybe who don't really know what that means, why it's important for

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a corporation.

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Sure.

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So, you know, there's a lot of talk around DEI now, but really supplier diversity is

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a procurement function.

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Okay.

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It's a best practice where corporations or organizations look to source from suppliers

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that are minority women, veterans, disability owned people that are not normally included

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in the supply chain.

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So it's being intentional to do that outreach and have them included in RFP and in procurement

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opportunities because we say, really, how do you know you have the best supplier if

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you haven't looked across the board?

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You know, and, you know, one of the stories I always share is talent wise.

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But when you think about Jackie Robinson, who was also an Army vet, really, number 42,

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when you think of it, you know, Branch Ricky wasn't trying to fix the racial divide when

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he recruited him, right?

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He wanted to win a pennant and he saw the talent and he was willing to go to bat and

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bring him to the table.

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And sure enough, he performed, didn't he?

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That's why today we still talk about Jackie Robinson and all the great things he did.

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No, that's a great explanation to folks who don't understand.

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It's not diversity for diversity's sake, is it?

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No, no.

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It's that to make sure that you have the best.

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But if you're not looking everywhere, you don't know.

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You know, all these movies that have come out now have really helped tell the story,

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right?

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When you think of Hidden Figures, right?

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Katherine Goble, right?

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The mathematician that helped put a man on the moon, right?

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Sure, yeah.

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He was marginalized, but look at the talent.

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You know, when she was in that room on the chalkboard, talk about the talent, right?

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Not seeing Alan Turing, who was LGBTQ, right?

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He could have been certified, helped, you know, develop enigma that broke the code

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for World War II, right?

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That was declassified many years later, but he was the main inventor of that.

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So on and on and on, do you have the best supplier at the table?

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And how do you know if you're not out there actively looking and being intentional to

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include them in your supply chain?

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You've done a lot of work for veterans in a lot of different spaces.

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I read something that down in North Carolina, maybe you're working with some folks in the

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food and farm production area.

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I thought that was pretty interesting.

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Yeah.

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So that's the other, you know, North Carolina, we have obviously one of the largest military

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populations, right?

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Fort Bragg, Camp Lejeune, and Seymour Johnson Air Force Base.

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And so we, there was a lot of activity when veterans were, military were transitioning

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out.

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And so how do we help them transition and find jobs?

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I know for me, the language, right?

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You know, what the terminology, you know, we speak our own language in the military,

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you know, and hierarchy.

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And I didn't think I was intimidating to people, but we are, you know, we, but we are, you

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know, but anyway, so wound up on the, serving on the governor's working group.

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And one of the things that was coming around was farming opportunities and how farming

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agrotherapy really could help soldiers with PTSD or DBI, right?

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And got to know some farmers, one of them who is NVBDC certified Briarwood cattle farm.

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There's a special ops guy and just being out there with cows or holding a chicken and being

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in, you know, in the land with the new purpose, a new mission, if you will.

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So being able to help them get certified and find their way into procurement opportunities,

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you know, you don't think about it.

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It's not just selling at the farmer's market.

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We all eat, right?

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You go to a Denny's, it's eggs, right?

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It's lettuce.

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It's at Walmart.

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It's a food line.

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It's all over.

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Even casinos, they buy food and salad.

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So always procurement opportunities, if and when they're ready, you know, and even though

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you're small, it's coming together and doing a co-op.

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So again, a lot of opportunity with the farmers, but also it's satisfying because it's a way

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to help address soldier suicide.

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You know, Marvin does an event every year to talk about agrotherapy and how it can help

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and how we need to be there for one another to prevent that 22.

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We're talking to Annette Stevenson, who is a Army veteran of 10 years or so.

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She currently runs Stevenson Consulting Group down in North Carolina, focusing on supplier

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diversity.

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She's an advisory board member for NVBDC.

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So she really knows, you know, her whole career has been in this field of getting the best

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suppliers possible, not overlooking those because of a diversity issue.

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Annette, we appreciate the time that you've made available for us today.

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Any final words for our audience?

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No, just good luck and persevere and get NVBDC certified.

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It's worth it.

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Great.

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Thank you.

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Thank you.

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And I want to thank everybody for listening to Veterans Radio today.

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I am Jim Fossone.

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It's been a pleasure to be your host.

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I'm a Veterans Disability Lawyer at Legal Help for Veterans, and you can reach us at

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800-693-4800 or LegalHelpforVeterans.com on the web.

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You can follow Veterans Radio on Facebook and listen to its podcasts and internet radio

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shows by visiting us at veteransradio.org.

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That's veteransradio.org.

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You again want to thank our national sponsors, the National Veterans Business Development

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Council, NVBDC.org.

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Legal Help for Veterans, a Veterans Disability Law Firm with a national practice before the

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VA can help you on your claims and your appeals.

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This can be reached at LegalHelpforVeterans.com or 1-800-693-4800 and PuroClean, a leader

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in property emergency services.

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It's the paramedics of property damage, providing water damage remediation, flood water removal,

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fire and smoke damage remediation, mold and biohazard cleanups.

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You can reach them at PuroClean.com or 800-775-7876.

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We also want to thank our local sponsors.

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This would include the Charles S. Kettles chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America,

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that's chapter 310.

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VFW, Graff O'Hara Post 423, the American Legion, Irwin Preskin Post 46 in Ann Arbor

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as well, the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System and certainly the National Vietnam Veterans

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of America Association.

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You can be a sponsor by going to veteransradio.org, clicking on the About Us in our sponsors

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and help us out.

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Keep this program alive for the 21 and 22 years.

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Keep us going for another 20.

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Thank you.