Two CNY small businesses certified as SDVOB

ALBANY— New York State Office of General Services (OGS) Commissioner Jeanette Moy recently announced that nine businesses across the state were certified as service-disabled veteran-owned businesses (SDVOB), including a pair of small firms in Central New York. The New York OGS Division of Service-Disabled Veterans’ Business Development (DSDVBD) issued the certification to Waypoint Canine, which is located in Cazenovia and provides canine professional services, as well as AJ Medical Products, which is based in East Syracuse and is a merchant wholesaler of medical, dental, and hospital equipment and supplies, the OGS announced on June 3. 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 1,258 certified businesses as of June 3. 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.