Since the Revolution of 1776, there have been nine generations of America’s veterans who have established an unbroken commitment to freedom. They represent the greatest and bravest men and women of our time. California and the nation have established the Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise (DVBE) Participation Program to acknowledge disabled veterans for their service.

    Global Environmental Network, Inc. is a certified DVBE company. GENI is 51-percent owned by cofounder and President Drake Muat, a disabled Vietnam War Veteran. The distinction is something that Drake is very proud of.

    The road to DVBE status, however, was not part of Global Environmental Network, Inc. when the company was first established in 1992. GENI operated and profited as an environmental health and safety company for seven years without DVBE certification. “I found out through a website that the State of California and the federal government were assisting service disabled veterans in contract awards,” Drake said. After researching and speaking with former President of the California DVBE Alliance Kevin O’Connor, Drake decided to apply for GENI to become a certified DVBE with the State of California Department of General Services.

     Some companies may fear that a DVBE company may not have the expertise or knowledge that is necessary to complete projects. The government contract bidding process, however, has a procedure known as “Good Faith Effort,” in which companies show that they put forth the effort to meet the DVBE certification, but were unable to find a qualified DVBE company. Therefore, contracts GENI receive are largely based on its experience and expertise, in addition to its DVBE status. “DVBE certification gets our foot in the door, but our services keep our clients coming back,” Drake said.

     GENI has won contracts with large national and international companies including infrastructure builder Granite Construction, worldwide petroleum company BP, and environmental firm Brown & Caldwell. GENI provides these companies the same services that it offers all of its other clients including training, environmental consulting, stormwater plans, and sales of construction products. “We wouldn’t still be in business if we weren’t good at what we did,” Drake said.

     DVBE Certification has added other layers to GENI, including a renewed commitment to veterans. GENI has forged relationships with veteran organizations that work to give veterans job opportunities and support upon their arrival from abroad. GENI currently actively pursues qualified veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan for employment. Drake works at the state and federal level on such projects as Assembly Bill 115 and “Keeping the Promise,” a program to make sure that the government takes care of Veteran owned businesses.

UFAVetBiz

• About the DVBE Program: http://www.pd.dgs.ca.gov/dvbe/aboutcerts.htm
• DVBE Eligibility Requirements: http://www.pd.dgs.ca.gov/smbus/dvbecert.htm
• DVBE Resource Packet: http://www.pd.dgs.ca.gov/publications/resource.htm
• DVBE Business Utilization Plan: http://www.pd.dgs.ca.gov/publications/utilization.htm
• Find Certified DVBEs: https://www.apps.dgs.ca.gov/OSDCSearch/OSDCSearch.aspx

Our affiliations and associations (list links)

• VetFriends: http://www.vetfriends.com/directory/display_coupon.cfm?i=17921
• DVBE California Alliance: http://www.cadvbe.org/
• U.S. General Services Administration:
  http://www.gsa.gov/Portal/gsa/ep/channelView.do?pageTypeId=8199&
  channelPage=%2Fep%2Fchannel%2FgsaOverview.jsp&channelId=-15629

• America Supports You: http://www.americasupportsyou.mil/americasupportsyou/help.html
• Top 100 Military Sites: http://www.top100military.com/