After World War II, 49.7% of returning veterans went on to own or run a business. Among post-9/11 veterans it is 4.5%. The capability did not change; the information did. In fiscal year 2025 the federal government paid $32.5 billion in prime contracts to service-disabled-veteran-owned small businesses, and the VA alone sent them $10.1 billion, because the law tells agencies to look for veteran firms first. The certification that puts a business in that room is free, and a VA rating at any percentage qualifies. Beyond contracting, VR&E's self-employment track can fund equipment and inventory without a loan, SBA Express loans carry no upfront guaranty fee for veteran owners, tax-free compensation is founder runway, and most states add a certification, a tax exemption, or a fee waiver of their own. This tool takes your rating, your state, and the kind of work you would do, then shows the dollars the government spent in your industry, the certifications you qualify for today, and the first three things to do.
What brings you here?
How this tool works
The contracting card. Your industry pick maps to one to three NAICS codes, the six-digit codes the government uses to classify what it buys. For those codes we show the dollars obligated in the last full fiscal year to recipients that USASpending.gov flags as service-disabled-veteran-owned (or veteran-owned, if you are not service-connected), and the five agencies that spent the most. "Paid to" is the honest phrase: those dollars went to veteran-owned firms through every kind of contract, set-aside or not, so the number describes a lane veteran firms already win in, not a pot reserved for you. The three example sentences under it are real awards from that year, rewritten in plain words, chosen to span small, medium, and large so you can see what a two-person shop can bid on. The page loads a snapshot taken each October and, when USASpending answers within a few seconds, upgrades it to a live pull.
The certification card. SDVOSB needs a service-connected rating at any percentage, at least 51% direct ownership by the veteran, and the veteran in control (highest officer, day-to-day management, long-term decisions). VOSB needs an honorable discharge and the same ownership and control. If you have not filed, the card says so and points at the claim, because a rating is the only thing standing between you and SDVOSB. Sole-source ceilings come from FAR 19.1406 (about $5 million for services and $8.5 million for manufacturing after the October 2025 inflation adjustment) and 38 U.S.C. 8127 for the VA ($5 million, set by statute).
The money cards. Runway is your monthly VA compensation at your rating and family size from the tables effective December 1, 2025, times twelve, plus the employer health-insurance contribution a founder on VA health care never pays (KFF 2025 survey averages). SBA fee savings use the FY2026 fee notice: on SBA Express, veteran-owned businesses pay no upfront guaranty fee by statute, so the saving is the fee a non-veteran would pay on the guaranteed half of the loan; standard 7(a) fees are shown at the published schedule with any veteran reduction the notice provides. VR&E is shown as open, likely closed, or "opens when you're rated" from your rating and, for discharges before 2013, the 12-year window; the subsistence figure is the FY2026 full-time rate for your dependents. State programs come from a data layer with a statute or official source and a verification date on every row; states we have not finished carry a visible note instead of a guess. The hero figure adds only the items that are yours today with a real number (runway, health insurance avoided, a fee saving if you said you would borrow, a state exemption with a dollar figure). Contract dollars are never added to your personal stack. Nothing here is legal, tax, or contracting advice. Data stamp: September 23, 2026.