SAN DIEGO–At its inaugural national conference, the Veterans in Business Network awarded San Diego Unified’s Business Outreach team the “Above and Beyond ‘Oscar Mike’ Award,” recognizing the district’s Business Outreach team for its work elevating local, disabled-veteran-owned businesses. San Diego Unified awarded over $4.5 million to disabled-veteran businesses in 2017.
The district’s Business Outreach team strives to ensure that emerging, small and underutilized businesses, including minority-, women-, and disabled-veteran-owned business enterprises have viable opportunities to participate in all Propositions S and Z construction projects. To do so, the Business Outreach team spends the majority of its time working with small companies to give them the tools and resources they need to develop and submit qualified bids on district projects funded by Propositions S and Z. Over $56 million have been awarded to disabled-veteran businesses to date under the Propositions S and Z construction program.
“Veterans make unimaginable sacrifices for all of us,” said Superintendent Cindy Marten. “As they return home, they absolutely deserve every effort to ensure they successfully integrate into civilian life. The work of the district’s Business Outreach office, working with and recruiting disabled-veteran-owned businesses into the district’s bond program, is so critical to ensuring businesses owned by local disabled-veterans can thrive. I am incredibly proud of our Business Outreach team for these efforts.”