On Feb. 7, Sue Rossomando, an MBA candidate enrolled in the College of Commerce and Finance, conducted a presentation on VETWORK, a program intended to inform service-disabled veteran (SDVOB) and veteran-owned businesses (VOB) of the advantages they have in dealing with large companies and government agencies.

Many of these large corporations and government agencies are required to fill supplier diversity requirements, such conducting business with woman-owned, minority-owned and veteran-owned businesses. The problem, Rossomando said, is that while the woman-owned and minority-owned businesses take advantage of their status, many times the veteran-owned businesses do not.

“A lot of times these diverse, and smaller, businesses do not capitalize on their diversity status because they are not aware of the opportunities available with that certain certification,” Rossomando said. “VETWORK’s aim is to identify these unregistered businesses and help them locate those opportunities.”

The presentation, entitled ‘VETWORK YOUR BUSINESS,’ was intended for those who served in the armed forces, and was recently created by the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce (GPCC) and sponsored by Lockheed Martin Corporation and Merck.

Rossomando, scheduled to graduate from the MBA program in the fall with a concentration in marketing, serves as the manager of project development of the GPCC.

The GPCC Supplier Network Series was developed last year as part of an effort to better qualify small companies to conduct business with large corporations through comprehensive training and networking sessions. VETWORK takes the program a step further to specifically identify SDVOB and VOB vendors, and connect these experienced suppliers with interested buyers.

Though the program has a professional benefit to Rossomando, a major reason she created the program was because of her involvement in the United Service Organizations as a marketing consultant.

“I personally know a lot of people in the armed forces,” Rossomando said. “And it [the USO program] is a really nice thing and I just thought it would be great if we could give back to the community.”

Veteran business-owners can find out more about VETWORK at the next Communications Session, which will be March 28 from 8 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at the Chamber’s offices in Philadelphia.