Veterans Alliance is privately owned and operated to serve veterans. We are not affiliated with the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Veterans Alliance — Veterans Alliance
← All Tennessee benefits
businessstate

Service-Disabled Veteran Business Certification — Now GO-BID, and the Threshold Is 20%

Tennessee certifies service-disabled veteran owned businesses for state procurement. The certifying body is the Governor’s Office of Business Initiatives and Development — GO-BID, the renamed Go-DBE — and the test is at least 51% ownership and day-to-day control by someone who served honorably with a service-connected disability of at least twenty per cent. Certification runs three years.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

Tennessee certifies service-disabled veteran owned businesses for state procurement. The certifying body is the Governor’s Office of Business Initiatives and Development — GO-BID, the renamed Go-DBE — and the test is at least 51% ownership and day-to-day control by someone who served honorably with a service-connected disability of at least twenty per cent. Certification runs three years.

What it's worth: State certification, a place in the certified vendor directory, and access to technical assistance — valid three years

  • GO-BID states the service-disabled veteran category requires a business "at least fifty-one percent (51%) owned and controlled" by someone who served honorably with a service-connected disability of at least twenty per cent.
  • GO-BID’s general certification standards: the business must be independently owned and operated; must be a for-profit business that serves a commercially useful function; must have been in operation for a minimum of two years; must submit federal tax returns to verify ownership and control; must be located in Tennessee or provide home-state certification; and the owner must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident.
  • GO-BID states: "You must renew your certification with GO-BID every three (3) years", with the only exception being DSBE certification, which must be renewed annually.
  • GO-BID cites its authority as "T.C.A. §12-3-1101 through 1107, 12-3-401(b), 12-3-503 (c), 12-3-514(g), and Public Chapter 485".
  • GO-BID describes itself as "the State of Tennessee's certification agency for qualifying businesses that want to compete successfully in State procurement and contracting activities".
  • The office was formerly the Governor’s Office of Diversity Business Enterprise (Go-DBE). Every published go-dbe.tn.gov path tried this session returned HTTP 404, and the Department of General Services menu now carries GO-BID in its place.
  • No bid preference percentage, set-aside percentage or price differential was read this session, so none is published here.

Who is entitled to it

  • You served, which is what this route is written around.
  • The certification is built around honorable service on active duty.
  • You carry a service-connected rating. Check the number: GO-BID requires at least twenty per cent.
  • Your home is in Tennessee.

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

  1. 1Check the rating number first. GO-BID requires a service-connected disability of at least twenty per cent. A 10% rating does not reach it, and that is the single commonest reason an application fails.
  2. 2Search for GO-BID, not Go-DBE. The office was renamed the Governor’s Office of Business Initiatives and Development, and the old Go-DBE web addresses now return errors — the programme did not close.
  3. 3Check the two-year rule before applying. GO-BID requires the business to have been in operation for a minimum of two years.
  4. 4Check the ownership arithmetic: at least fifty-one per cent owned AND controlled in the day-to-day operation of the business by the service-disabled veteran. Ownership on paper without control does not satisfy it.
  5. 5Have the federal tax returns ready. GO-BID uses them to verify ownership and control.
  6. 6If the business is headquartered outside Tennessee, provide home-state certification instead — GO-BID accepts that in place of Tennessee location.
  7. 7Order the VA Benefit Summary Letter for the disability evidence and keep the DD Form 214 for the honorable-service element.
  8. 8Diarise the renewal at three years. Service-disabled veteran certification runs three years; the disabled-owned (DSBE) category renews annually, and the two are easy to confuse.
Form
GO-BID certification application
File with
Tennessee Department of General Services, Central Procurement Office — Governor’s Office of Business Initiatives and Development (GO-BID)
Documents you will need
va benefit summary letter · dd214
Periodic recertification
Confirmed at intervals rather than annually.
CorrectionThe office is no longer called Go-DBE. Supplier directories, university procurement pages and consultants still use the old name and the old links, and those links now return errors. The certification itself, including the service-disabled veteran category, continues under GO-BID.
Worth knowingTwenty per cent, not ten. Tennessee sets its service-disabled threshold above the level at which the VA first pays compensation, so a veteran can be compensated and still be outside this certification.
Known gapNo bid preference, set-aside share or price differential attaching to certification was read this session, and none is published here. What was read is the certification itself, the vendor directory and access to technical assistance.

Sources

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