NVSBE 2026 Is Back: How a New SDVOSB Works VA Events

What happened to NVSBE, and is it back?

For years, NVSBE was the VA’s marquee outreach event — where procurement decision-makers, primes, and veteran-owned firms met face to face. The last one actually held was NVSBE 2023 in Orlando (November 7–9, 2023); 2024 was skipped; and on December 16, 2024, VA OSDBU announced an NVSBE 2025 for Cleveland, then roughly two days later cancelled it. VA OSDBU’s notice at the time (the page is no longer live on VetBiz; we cite an archived copy) framed that as a decision to allocate resources more effectively, saying the office would work to connect veterans and federal buyers “not just during events, but consistently, every day.”

NVSBE then returned. OSDBU’s July 1, 2026 bulletin announced that NVSBE 2026 “will take place on December 8–9, 2026, in Cleveland, Ohio,” under the theme “Show Up. Connect. Own the Opportunity.” The official NVSBE 2026 site lists registration as open, and OSDBU Executive Director Chanel Bankston-Carter is among the VA leaders it names. If you read an older account (including the first version of this page) saying NVSBE was discontinued, that was true for 2025 and is no longer true.

What does NVSBE 2026 involve, and what does it cost?

The official pages describe two layers: an online layer you can work now, and the in-person event.

• Virtual Business Opportunity Sessions (BOS): the agenda lists them from mid-September to early December, “available online at your own pace.” It also lists virtual learning sessions on federal procurement processes, contractor readiness, and business development, with format and schedule still to be announced. Confirm on the registration page what your fee covers.
• In person in Cleveland: December 8–9 at the Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland, with a welcome reception from 5:00 to 6:30 PM on December 7. The venue page lists two different street addresses (a mailing address and a driving address), so confirm the one you need before you print directions. The hotel discount deadline on the venue page is Monday, November 16.
• One-on-one meetings: the agenda includes “VA One-on-One Meetings” on Wednesday, December 9. The preparation page describes a 15-minute discussion between one VA procurement decision maker (PDM) and one attendee, scheduled through the “My Meeting Maker” tile in the Events Dashboard (“See Matches”). Networking roundtables give each entrepreneur roughly five minutes of direct PDM time, and the site says you must attend a relevant BOS before a roundtable. Anyone who attends a BOS is automatically registered for an Industry Office Hours session unless they opt out. The pages give no seat counts, so don’t assume a meeting is guaranteed.
• Exhibit hall: the registration FAQ describes access to 150–200 industry organizations.

Fees. Registration has three periods: Advance Online (September 9 – September 23), Regular (September 24 – November 22), and Late/On-site (November 22 – December 9). Regular-period tiers are $900 for an SBA-certified SDVOSB/VOSB, $1,000 for a small business that is not SBA-certified, $1,050 for non-profit/academia, $1,450 for large business, and $650 for other (non-VA) government. For a firm like ours the number is $900 plus travel. You register through the official NVSBE 2026 registration page, signing in with a VA PIV card, ID.me, or Login.gov. Cancellation is not free: no refunds are offered on or after November 23, 2026, and regular-period registrants who cancel pay a $545 cancellation fee and a 3.5% administrative fee. Per the FAQ, the fee includes lunch on Tuesday and Wednesday, break refreshments, and the Monday and Tuesday evening receptions; meals don’t need to be booked through the Events Dashboard.

Where does the NVSBC VETS Conference fit?

NVSBC VETS is a different event with a different organizer. The National Veteran Small Business Coalition (NVSBC) is an independent nonprofit, not part of the VA, and its conference is a complementary gathering for the SDVOSB federal-contracting community rather than a successor to NVSBE. VETS25 drew more than 1,500 participants and two dozen federal agencies, and VETS26 ran June 1–4, 2026, at the Hyatt Regency New Orleans. Its draw is the Matched Networking: structured sessions where you are paired one-to-one by NAICS code with buyers and primes. Registration for VETS26 was $549 for small-business members. If you went, the follow-up discipline below applies equally; if you didn’t, treat the next VETS as a candidate for a future year, not a substitute for NVSBE.

What are VA’s other official channels?

Outside the flagship event, VA outreach runs through smaller, ongoing channels, most of them free.

• OSDBU Direct Access Program (DAP): free virtual and in-person Business Opportunity Sessions, networking roundtables, and town halls, often co-hosted with large primes. Calendar at vetbiz.va.gov/events; contact directaccess@va.gov.
• OSDBU training: OSDBU’s training resource library links to on-demand webinars and tools, and its upcoming webinars include “How the Procurement Process Works: Pre-Solicitation” and “How the Procurement Process Works: Solicitation/Post Award.” The VetBiz portal also describes an on-demand training library. Questions can go to OSDBU Call Operations at 1-866-584-2344 or vetbiz@va.gov (8 a.m.–4 p.m. Eastern).
• TAC Advance Planning Brief to Industry (APBI): the Technology Acquisition Center’s annual IT-focused industry brief. The 2026 edition was a hybrid event on June 17, 2026, at George Mason University. It previews VA’s IT acquisition strategy and forecasted opportunities, and prior decks live in the APBI Library at voa.va.gov, which is where to read them now.
• Vehicle industry days for T4NG2 and SPRUCE — useful for understanding the vehicles, though both pools are now closed.
• VA AI Tech Sprint: run by VHA’s National AI Institute, this is a genuine procurement on-ramp — Knowtex turned a 2024 Tech Sprint win into a $15M VA deployment contract announced October 2025. Track cohorts via the AI Tech Sprint follow-ons spoke.
• APEX Accelerators (the former PTACs, rebranded in 2022): free 1:1 counseling, capability-statement reviews, SAM help, and regional matchmaking. This is the single highest-leverage free resource most new SDVOSBs aren’t using — start with the Colorado office.

One gap to be upfront about: we looked for an official VA page describing how a vendor submits a capability statement to the VA Office of Information and Technology’s vendor-management function, and did not find one. If that is your target, ask OSDBU directly, using the contacts above, rather than relying on a second-hand address.

What about events outside the VA?

HITS26 (the AFCEA Bethesda Health IT Summit) and HIMSS26 took place earlier this year and are behind us; HIMSS in particular is a broad commercial show and not a federal-procurement venue for a solo SDVOSB. Still ahead is ACT-IAC’s multi-day Imagine Nation ELC (December 2026), which is useful later but optional now.

Which events are actually worth it now?

For a bootstrapped solo founder, the honest rest-of-year stack is the NVSBE 2026 virtual sessions now, Cleveland in person if the budget allows, two to four free DAP sessions, and a Colorado APEX relationship. The all-in figure is our own planning estimate (the $900 fee plus flights, hotel and the meals the fee doesn’t cover), not an official price, and it is feasible on two or three paying engagements.

How do you actually work an event as a new firm?

Teaming-first, because the math demands it. VA’s big IT vehicles — T4NG2 ($60.7B, awarded 2024), SPRUCE ($2.44B, 10 SDVOSB primes, no recompete expected before ~2028), VETS 2, and Polaris — are all closed to new prime entrants, so for a brand-new firm the realistic path to revenue is as a subcontractor. At an event, that five-minute hallway conversation with a SPRUCE prime’s BD lead is worth more than a polite handshake with a contracting officer (CO) who can’t act on you until you show up in a sources-sought response anyway. The NVSBE one-on-ones are different: they are time with VA procurement decision makers, so use them to learn what is coming and who to watch, not to pitch.

Before (now through early December): register for NVSBE 2026, then work the virtual Business Opportunity Sessions that match your NAICS, because they gate the roundtables and feed the Industry Office Hours. Pull the exhibitor list; cross-reference it against your forecasting prime watchlist; identify the 5–8 primes most likely to need AI/automation subs on T4NG2/SPRUCE task orders; update your capability statement (SBA VetCert SDVOSB, UEI, CAGE, NAICS 541512, Cloudflare-native, 90-day fixed scope); open the Events Dashboard when scheduling opens and check “See Matches” for meetings.

During: treat the scheduled one-on-ones as the priority. With PDMs and COs, introduce yourself, hand over the capability statement, ask which sources-sought notices to watch, and move on. With primes, ask which task orders they’re positioning for in FY26–FY27 and what AI/automation gap they need filled, and be specific about what you deliver in 90 days.

After (within 5 business days): email every contact with the capability statement attached; log each into your pipeline tracker tied to a specific upcoming task order; and schedule the 30/60/90-day follow-ups now. Events generate the introduction; the desk work — the teaming agreement, the sole-source bridge, the Rule-of-Two sources-sought response — is what converts it.

Working with Truvisory

Truvisory is a brand-new SBA-verified SDVOSB founded by a combat veteran, with no VA relationships yet — which is exactly why the plan is teaming-first and free-channel-heavy.

Nothing here is a past-performance claim; it’s the engagement plan we’re running ourselves: the NVSBE 2026 virtual sessions, a few DAP sessions, a Colorado APEX relationship, and the Cleveland one-on-ones — Cloudflare-native, FedRAMP-aware, fixed-scope delivery, looking to sub on SPRUCE/T4NG2 primes’ task orders. If you’re a prime heading to Cleveland who needs an AI/automation sub, see our SDVOSB IT and AI services capabilities and let’s talk. For the desk side of the playbook — the capability statement you’ll hand out, the forecasting workflow that preps your questions, and the buyer map that tells you who’s buying — start at the pillar.