(iii) If the business is a corporation, at least fifty-one percent of the board of directors are veterans or are persons on active service or (ii) At least fifty-one percent of the business is owned by veterans or persons on active service (i) At least ten percent of the business’s employees are veterans or are on active service Businesses may qualify as VBEs in the following ways: Any company or joint venture that meets the state’s qualification standard-wherever based-may certify as a VBE. It is not limited to veteran-owned companies, nor is it limited to companies based in Ohio. Ohio’s VBE program is intended to benefit all businesses that hire veterans. Qualification as a “Veteran-Friendly” Business Enterprise The VBE program provides preferences on state contracts to businesses that certify as “veteran-friendly.” Ohio’s program incentivizes not only veteran business ownership, as is typical among similar federal and state programs, but notably also veteran employment and, in some circumstances, veteran business leadership. In 2015, the State of Ohio established its own Veteran-Friendly Business Enterprise (VBE) Procurement Program. What’s more, a growing number of Fortune 500 companies and other private project owners are adding veterans to their diversity-and-inclusion programs – which means VOB/SDVOB opportunities are now increasingly available on both public and private projects. A growing number of state and local governments across the country have similar programs. The federal government is not the only construction project owner that provides preferences or establishes set asides for veteran-owned (VOB) or service-disabled-veteran-owned businesses (SDVOB).

Ohio business license for veterans