By Kristen Meriwether
It has been nearly two months since the Department of Small Business Services and the Mayor’s Office of Veterans’ Affairs released their long-awaited report on veteran owned-businesses.
The report included a variety of plans to support veteran business owners, but recommended against City contract procurement goals for those businesses, a decision that angered many in the tight-knit veterans community.
On Wednesday, veterans were able to publicly voice their concerns about the report at a joint hearing of the City Council’s Veterans and Small Business Committees.
First, Department of Small Business Services (SBS) Commissioner Maria Torres-Springer and her policy team, andĀ Catherine LaPorte, chief of staff for Mayor’s Office of Veterans’ Affairs (MOVA) Commissioner Loree Sutton testified regarding the report. (Sutton was unable to attend the hearing because she fell earlier in the day and was injured).
Kelly Dougherty, executive director of SBS, and LaPorte of MOVA stayed to listen to veterans and advocates address the Council.
“The issuance of this report allowed us to discuss this issue at great depth and to get a better understanding of the 
struggles a lot of veterans face when they come out of active duty and want to open their own business,” Council Member Eric Ulrich, chair of the Veterans Committee said following the hearing.Ā “I wish more folks from the administration would have decided to stay.”
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