LURITA DOAN ⋅ Great Falls, VA U.S. GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION ⋅ 20 years experience

Dear Kathy,

Unless your father is a 51% owner in the business (i.e. you and he are both owners but he is the majority owner) then under federal rules your business would not qualify as a veteran-owned business. Even if your father works in the business, but is not a majority owner of the business, your business would not meet the federal criteria for a veteran-owned business.

However, you can probably register as a woman-owned business (WBE) which might prove useful, especially in California. If you pursue the women-owned business route, then please consider checking out WBENC (www.wbenc.org) which also provides third-party certification for women owned businesses.

The Small Business Administration is also a useful source for women-owned business assistance regarding loans, federal contracts and special programs. (http://www.sba.gov/content/women-owned-businesses )

Good luck!

Tom Cal, CFA ⋅ San Francisco, CA Army Veteran, Investment Manager ⋅ 25 years experience

Kathy - there are also preferences for businesses located in a "hubzone" or enterprise zone. SCORE and SBDC are good sources of information on this topic.
http://www.sba.gov/hubzone/
http://www.sba.gov/content/small-business-development-centers-sbdcs
http://www.score.org/

And to participate in a business that has Veteran status, you can also consider partnering with a Veteran, as long as the business legitimately and legally meets all applicable rules. The rules might vary from program to program, and often require not only 51% Veteran ownership, but also that the Veteran "control the management and daily operations" of the business.

Here is an example of rules for Service Disabled Veteran Owned Businesses (SDVOB):
http://www.sba.gov/sdvosb

Andrew Karp ⋅ Sonoma, CA Sierra Data Science ⋅ 20 years experience

Hi Kathy...if you haven't already, check with the State of Calif. Dept of General Services (DGS) to learn how your company can be certified as a "California Small Business" and for other resources that agency offers to small businesses in our State.

Andrew Karp
Sierra Data Science
Sonoma, CA
www.SierraDataScience.com

Kathy Shaffer ⋅ Sausalito, CA U.S. Army ⋅ 8 years served

Thx all - I think the email was spam, trying to get me to pay to go to their seminar where they would explain how to do it (I wonder how they figured out I was the daughter of a veteran) - I don't in any way want to diminish what my grandfather, father, and all other veterans did.(I've been a USAA member since my folks got me in it when I was a child)

Roger Bhalla ⋅ Houston, TX ConocoPhillips ⋅ 25 years experience

I agree with the prior posts. Typically, to qualify for an "diversity status" based on veteran, gender, race, disabilities, etc. requires 50%+ ownership and you must be that class of diversity yourself. One thing to point out is that some organziations offer benefits to close relatives of veterans. For instance, USAA offers membership opportunities to spouses and direct decendents up to two generations (grandkids).

Susanne Scholz ⋅ Conway, AR Hewlett Packard ⋅ 8 years experience

I agree with Jose; you either are or you are not a veteran.

Jose Roman ⋅ Norfolk, VA U.S. Navy, Petty Officer First Class ⋅ 22 years served

The CA SCC or Dept of Corporations would be the authority on that information. I wouldnt understand how a person who was not a veteran would be classified as a veteran.

That's like saying because I am married to my wife who is African American that I would classify my start-up as a miniority woman owned business.

More info here: http://www.dbo.ca.gov/