businessstate

Free Veteran-Owned Business Certification — and No Set-Aside Behind It

The Office of Supplier Diversity certifies a Veteran Owned Business Enterprise and a Service Disabled Veteran Owned Business Enterprise at no cost, for three years. What it confers is visibility and standing, not a reserved share of contracts.

Verified August 22, 2026

What this benefit is

What it's worth: A free three-year certification, listed in the state supplier directory

The office states the certification is free, and that certifications of all types run three years unless the company’s eligibility status changes.
The eligibility test is 51% ownership by a minority, veteran and/or woman, or 51% management by a minority group, service-disabled veteran/veteran and/or woman.
The office states what certification does: increase the firm’s visibility among state agencies and other prospective clients, document its status, and enhance its competitive advantage.
Certified vendors are listed in a directory updated daily and searchable by state buyers.

This record exists to correct a myth. Published summaries get this Delaware benefit wrong. The record below is what the source actually says.

Who is entitled to it

You run, or are forming, a business here.
Certification turns on the veteran’s own ownership or management of the business.
Your home is in this state.

Not sure whether that describes you?

Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.

How to claim it

1Complete the application and have it notarised — the office requires notarisation.
2Submit a copy of your current licence credential with it.
3Decide whether you also want Small Business Focus certification. Tax information is optional for diversity certification but required for that one.
4Diary the three-year expiry, and tell the office if ownership or control changes before then — certification runs three years unless eligibility status changes.
5Do not plan revenue around a reserved share of state contracts. The office names no set-aside for certified minority, veteran or women-owned firms; the only set-aside it points to is the State Use Law for individuals with disabilities under Del. C. tit. 16, ch. 96, which is a separate programme.

File with: Office of Supplier Diversity, Division of Small Business
Documents you will need: dd214
Periodic recertification: Confirmed at intervals rather than annually.

Worth knowingFree and three years is genuinely good, and it is the whole offer. The office is candid that the value is visibility and standing rather than reserved dollars, which is more honest than most supplier diversity pages and worth taking at face value.

Worth knowingNote the "or" in the eligibility test: 51% ownership OR 51% management. A veteran who runs but does not majority-own a firm is not automatically outside the door.

Known gapWhether any bid preference, evaluation points or price adjustment attaches to certification in a specific state solicitation was not established from the pages read here.

Sources

authority · published policyOffice of Supplier Diversity — Certification FAQ: cost, eligibility, term, and what certification confers
operating · published policyOffice of Supplier Diversity — Certifications (VOBE and SDVOBE categories)

This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.