In BKM Global Corporation, SBA No. Vet-270 (June 25, 2018), the service disabled veteran held the position of CEO. On paper, another person held the position of President. The SBA Area Office found that this violated the requirement that the service disabled Veteran must hold the highest officer position as required by 13 C.F.R. § 125.13 and therefore he does not control the SDVOSB. The service disabled Veteran argued that the person who acted as president had resigned at the time initial offers were submitted to the Government. The SBA Area Office did not buy this argument.
But, the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals directed the SBA Area Office to take a second look, holding that the individual’s resignation as President did not have to be in writing under the company’s bylaws, SBA regulations or Wyoming corporate law. As such, the SBA Area Office did not point to any evidence in the record that contradicted the SDVOSB’s claim that service disabled Veteran was the only officer as of the date of self-certification and that as CEO he was responsible for all aspects of day-to-day operations.
This SDVOSB dodged the bullet this time. As a general rule, do not designate a non-service disabled Veteran as President. Your are only asking for trouble if you do.
