Louisiana Veterans First
Client:
Louisiana Economic Development
Web Site:
https://laveteransfirst.org/
Contact:
Anne Villa, Undersecretary
Location:
Baton Rouge, LA
Category:
Economic Development, Public Sector
Louisiana Veterans First
Recognition for Veteran Businesses
The Louisiana Veterans First Business Initiative was originally championed by Governor John Bel Edwards during the 2019 legislative session to honor the sacrifice that Louisiana veterans have made by recognizing and promoting their businesses.
The program allows veterans, active-duty or reserve military, or Gold Star spouses who have a fifty-one percent ownership in a business to apply for and gain Louisiana Veterans First certification, which gives them access to additional funding, promotion, and incentives. A free, searchable database is also provided for anyone in the general public seeking to patronize a Louisiana Veterans First-certified business.
In 3 months, TEI developed a custom software solution for Louisiana Economic Development that automated the application and veteran verification process to promote Veteran Businesses.
Goals Achieved
Simplified application process
Automated Veteran Verification process between the Veteran, Louisiana Veteran Affairs, and Louisiana Economic Development
Automatic Notifications
GIS searching for Veteran First Businesses
Our Approach
Just one part of our contribution to the Louisiana Veterans First initiative was to create a process for business certification.
- First, a veteran, active-duty or reserve military person, or a Gold Star spouse fills out a form to create an account on the site.
- In this step, we created a form that will need to set the name and details of their business.
- In the final step, they will fill out a form with the information confirming they meet all the necessary requirements for the business to be certified.
Upon certification, Louisiana Economic Development will mail a certificate and decal, but a logo can be downloaded from the client dashboard to use in promoting the business.
We also created a database with a map and searchable list that the business will be added to and can be searched by the public. There are also buttons on the list that allows the user to either print the list or export it to an Excel file and download it.
Project Background
TEI has worked with Louisiana Economic Development to build various incentive management systems since 2005. In 2019 during the legislative session, TEI was asked if we could rapidly build software similar to the other incentive management systems already developed for Louisiana Economic Development that automated and digitized the verification of veteran-owned businesses with the Department of Veteran Affairs and Louisiana Economic Development. Of course, this challenge was accepted. TEI is proud to promote Veterans in any way possible.
System Features
GIS Searching
Interoperability between state agencies
Owner Validation
Veteran Verification Processing by Parish
Interactive Dashboards and Analytics
Secure Access for all Stakeholders
Veteran Applicants and Businesses
Applicants can sign using Gmail credentials or create an account to apply. The applicant is emailed notifications during each step of the certification process. Upon Certification, the business will be promoted on the site and can utilize the benefits of the Veteran First Initiative.
Louisiana Department of Veteran Affairs
Department of Veteran Affairs for each Parish Services Offices have access to manage applications for verification in their parish. Automated notifications and dashboards allow the department of affairs to quickly process certifications for approval.
Louisiana Economic Department
Louisiana Economic Development users have access to manage applications for the final steps in the certification process after Veterans Affairs approval. Automated notifications and dashboards allow the department to quickly process certifications for approval and provide Veteran Owned Businesses with the Veteran First Initiative benefits.