§ 41 — Division of service-disabled veterans' business development

§ 41. Division of service-disabled veterans' business development. 1.\nThe head of the division of service-disabled veterans' business\ndevelopment shall be the director who shall be appointed by the governor\nand who shall hold office at the pleasure of the commissioner.\n 2. The director may appoint such deputies, assistants, and other\nemployees as may be needed for the performance of the duties prescribed\nherein subject to the provisions of the civil service law and the rules\nand regulations of the civil service commission. The director may\nrequest and shall receive from any (i) department, division, board,\nbureau, or executive commission of the state or (ii) state agency, such\nassistance as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this\narticle.\n 3. The director shall have the following powers and duties:\n (a) Develop, collect, summarize and disseminate information that will\nbe helpful to persons and organizations throughout the state in\nundertaking or promoting the establishment and successful operation of a\nservice-disabled veteran-owned business.\n (b) Develop and make available to state agencies a directory of\ncertified service-disabled veteran-owned business enterprises which\nshall, wherever practicable, be divided into categories of labor,\nservices, supplies, equipment, materials and recognized construction\ntrades and which shall indicate areas or locations of the state where\nsuch enterprises are available to perform services. Such directory shall\nbe posted on the office of general services website.\n (c) Assist state agencies in the development of programs to foster and\npromote the use of service-disabled veteran-owned business enterprises\non state contracts.\n (d) Coordinate the plans, programs and operations of the state\ngovernment which affect or may contribute to the establishment,\npreservation and development of service-disabled veteran-owned business\nenterprises.\n (e) To appoint independent hearing officers who by contract or terms\nof employment shall preside over adjudicatory hearings pursuant to this\nsection for the office and who are assigned no other work by the office.\n (f) In conjunction with the commissioner, develop a comprehensive\nstatewide plan and operational guidelines to promote service-disabled\nveteran-owned business enterprises and to assist them in obtaining\nopportunities to participate in the procurement of goods and services by\nthe state, including identification of barriers to service-disabled\nveterans' business development and investigation and evaluation of their\nimpact on achieving the objectives of this article.\n 4. The commissioner shall:\n (a) Coordinate training of all procurement personnel of state\nagencies, emphasizing increased sensitivity and responsiveness to the\nunique needs and requirements of service-disabled veteran-owned business\nenterprises.\n (b) Conduct a coordinated review of all existing and proposed state\ntraining and technical assistance activities in direct support of the\nservice-disabled veterans' business development program to assure\nconsistency with the objectives of this article.\n (c) Evaluate and assess availability of firms for the purpose of\nincreasing participation of such firms in state contracting in\nconsultation with relevant state entities including, but not limited to,\nthe New York state department of veterans' services.\n (d) Provide advice and technical assistance to promote\nservice-disabled veteran-owned business enterprises' understanding of\nstate procurement laws, practices and procedures to facilitate and\nincrease the participation of service-disabled veteran-owned business\nenterprises in state procurement.\n (e) Establish regular performance reporting systems regarding\nimplementation of the programs designed to increase service-disabled\nveteran-owned business participation in procurement contracts by state\nagencies.\n (f) Submit a report by the thirty-first of December each year, to the\ngovernor, the temporary president of the senate, the speaker of the\nassembly and the chairpersons of the senate finance and assembly ways\nand means committees. Such report shall include information including,\nbut not limited to, the number of contracts entered into pursuant to\nthis article, the average amount of such contracts, the number of\nservice-disabled veteran-owned business enterprises certified, the\nnumber of applications for certification as a service-disabled\nveteran-owned business enterprise, the number of denials for such\ncertification, the number of appeals of such denials, and the outcome of\nsuch appeals and the average time that is required for such\ncertification to be completed. Also to be included shall be the level of\nservice-disabled veteran-owned businesses participating in each agency's\ncontracts for goods and services and on activities of the division and\nefforts by each contracting agency to promote utilization of\nservice-disabled veteran-owned businesses and to promote and increase\nparticipation by certified service-disabled veteran-owned businesses\nwith respect to state contracts and subcontracts to such businesses.\nSuch report may recommend new activities and programs to effectuate the\npurposes of this article.\n 5. Certification. (a) The director, or in the absence of the director,\nthe commissioner, within ninety days of the effective date of this\narticle, shall promulgate rules and regulations providing for the\nestablishment of a statewide certification program including rules and\nregulations governing the approval, denial, or revocation of any such\ncertification. Such rules and regulations shall include, but not be\nlimited to, such matters as may be required to ensure that the\nestablished procedures thereunder shall at least be in compliance with\nthe code of fair procedure set forth in section seventy-three of the\ncivil rights law.\n (b) The division of service-disabled veterans' business development\nshall be responsible for verifying businesses as being owned, operated,\nand controlled by a service-disabled veteran and for certifying such\nverified businesses. Status as a service-disabled veteran pursuant to\nparagraph (a) of this subdivision shall be documented by a copy of the\nveteran's certificate of release or discharge from active duty,\nincluding but not limited to, a DD-214 form or an honorable service\ncertificate/report of casualty from the Department of Defense, a letter\nof certification by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs or\nthe United States Department of Defense and any additional information\nthat may be required by the division of service-disabled veterans'\nbusiness development. In the case of the New York guard or the New York\nnaval militia and/or reserves thereof, status as a service-disabled\nveteran pursuant to this paragraph shall be documented pursuant to rules\nand regulations promulgated by the director, or in the absence of the\ndirector, the commissioner.\n (c) Following application for certification pursuant to this section,\nthe director shall provide the applicant with written notice of the\nstatus of the application, including notice of any outstanding\ndeficiencies, within thirty days. Within sixty days of submission of a\nfinal completed application, the director shall provide the applicant\nwith written notice of a determination by the director approving or\ndenying such certification and, in the event of a denial, a statement\nsetting forth the reasons for such denial. Upon a determination denying\nor revoking certification, the business enterprise for which\ncertification has been so denied or revoked shall, upon written request\nmade within thirty days from receipt of notice of such determination, be\nentitled to a hearing before an independent hearing officer designated\nfor such purpose by the director. In the event that a request for a\nhearing is not made within such thirty-day period, such determination\nshall be deemed to be final. The independent hearing officer shall\nconduct a hearing and upon the conclusion of such hearing, issue a\nwritten recommendation to the director to affirm, reverse, or modify\nsuch determination of the director. Such written recommendation shall be\nissued to the parties. The director, within thirty days, by order, must\naccept, reject or modify such recommendation of the hearing officer and\nset forth in writing the reason therefor. The director shall serve a\ncopy of such order and reasons therefor upon the business enterprise by\npersonal service or by certified mail return receipt requested. The\norder of the director shall be subject to review pursuant to article\nseventy-eight of the civil practice law and rules.\n (d) All certifications shall be valid for a period of five years.\n