ALBANY— New York State Office of General Services (OGS) Commissioner Jeanette Moy recently announced that 31 businesses across the state were certified as service-disabled veteran-owned businesses (SDVOB), including one small firm in Central New York and several other construction-related companies in upstate New York.
The New York OGS Division of Service-Disabled Veterans’ Business Development (DSDVBD) issued the certification to DC Services CNY, which is a Liverpool–based building materials company, the OGS announced on Sept. 16. Other construction-related businesses in upstate New York that were also recently certified as SDVOBs included Golonka Enterprises, a residential remodeling company located in Lake View (Erie County); High Peaks Construction Management, a construction management company based in Queensbury (Warren County); and Ralph Dreisenstock Electrical, an electrical and other wiring-installation contractor located in Rensselaer (Rensselaer County).
The DSDVBD was created by New York State government in May 2014 through passage of the Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Business Act. The state had 1,272 certified businesses, as of the Sept. 16 announcement.
For a business to receive certification, one or more service-disabled veterans — with a service-connected disability rating of 10 percent or more from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (or from the New York State Division of Veterans’ Affairs for National Guard veterans) — must own at least 51 percent of the company. Other criteria include: the business has to be independently owned and operated and have a significant business presence in New York, it must have conducted business for at least one year prior to the application date, and it must qualify as a small business under the New York State program. Several more requirements also need to be met.