A faster way to connect buyers with verified veteran businesses

Turning intent into execution

If you are trying to bring veteran-owned businesses into your supply chain, the challenge is rarely intent. It is execution.

Most buyers support veteran outcomes in principle. The friction appears when that intent has to move through a real procurement process. Questions emerge quickly. Where do verified veteran businesses come from? How do you engage them fairly? How do you do it without adding risk, delay, or unnecessary administration?

The Veteran Industry Portal exists to remove that friction.

Launched by the Veteran Business Community and Powered by BenchOn, the portal gives buyers a practical way to run expressions of interest, tenders, and workforce requests that are matched directly to verified veteran businesses. It replaces informal networks and manual introductions with a repeatable sourcing process that stands up to scrutiny.

The outcome is simple. More work reaches veteran businesses, and buyers spend less time translating good intent into workable procurement.

Tim Walmsley was interviewed Pete Liston, Co-Founder of the Veteran Business Community, on the Veteran Business Community Podcast. Read on to learn more about the Veteran Industry Portal

Why Queensland changed the conversation  

Queensland’s Procurement Policy 2026 formally recognises veteran outcomes as part of procurement evaluation. That change matters because it shifts veteran sourcing out of the “nice to have” category and into measurable procurement value.

When policy creates an incentive, behaviour changes quickly. Veteran outcomes are no longer relevant only to prime contractors. They flow through the entire supply chain. Tier 1s, Tier 2s, and Tier 3s all begin asking the same operational question.

How do we find veteran businesses that genuinely match what we need, and how do we do it without slowing procurement down?

The Veteran Industry Portal was built for that exact moment. It translates policy intent into something buyers can actually execute.

What is the Veteran Industry Portal?  

The Veteran Industry Portal is a sourcing and procurement platform designed around supplier matching.

Rather than asking buyers to search through lists or make assumptions about which suppliers might fit, the portal starts with the requirement itself. Buyers define what they need, and the system matches that requirement to relevant supplier capabilities.

Only suppliers who match receive the opportunity, and responses are managed in one place. Communication, clarification, and outcomes stay inside the platform, creating a clear and consistent sourcing process from start to finish.

This approach supports early market engagement through expressions of interest, structured sourcing through tenders, and short-term capability needs through workforce requests. Across all of these use cases, the underlying principle is the same. Matching comes first, and visibility follows.

That distinction is deliberate. It changes how procurement behaves by reducing noise, protecting project information, and focusing attention on genuine capability fit rather than surface-level comparison.

Why matching matters more than visibility  

Most sourcing platforms are built around visibility. Opportunities are published broadly, and suppliers are left to work out whether they are relevant. Buyers then sift through responses that vary wildly in quality and fit.

This model creates predictable problems. Suppliers waste time chasing work that was never suitable. Buyers expose project intent earlier than necessary. Everyone spends more effort filtering than sourcing.

The Veteran Industry Portal takes a different position.

Matching is private by default. Project information is protected until there is a clear capability fit. Suppliers are only notified when their profile aligns with a real requirement. Buyers engage with responses that already meet their criteria.

The result is less noise, better engagement, and sourcing activity that feels deliberate rather than reactive.

How buyers use the Veteran Industry Portal  

For buyers, the portal provides a structured sourcing environment that fits naturally into existing procurement workflows.

A buyer simply selects what they are trying to source – People, Products, Materials or Services and defines a requirement. That requirement may be exploratory, such as an expression of interest, or formal, such as a tender or workforce request. The buyer specifies what matters for the job, whether that is capability, location, or project context.

From there, the system handles the matching. Buyers see which suppliers were matched, who chose to respond, and where each response sits in the process. Questions and clarifications happen inside the platform, creating a clean audit trail that can be shared across teams.

When a decision is made, outcomes are communicated back through the portal. Suppliers are not left guessing, and buyers can demonstrate that their process was fair, consistent, and defensible.

This is where the real value sits. Procurement does not stall when people are away. Knowledge does not live in individual inboxes. Decisions can be explained after the fact without reconstructing the story.

How suppliers experience the portal  

For suppliers, particularly veteran-owned businesses, the portal is designed to reduce administration and increase relevance.

Supplier profiles focus on capabilities, skill sets, and locations. They are not built to capture everything upfront, and they are not designed to become a maintenance burden. Additional information is only requested when it is genuinely needed for a specific opportunity.

Once a profile is set, suppliers are notified when a requirement matches what they actually do. They do not need to monitor multiple tender sites or decode unclear listings. When the system taps them on the shoulder, it is because the opportunity fits.

Being present is not the objective. Being matched is.

Verified veteran businesses and why verification matters  

The portal allows buyers to work with the full market, but it also enables opportunities to be directed specifically to verified veteran businesses.

Verification matters because buyers need confidence. Veteran outcomes cannot rely on self-declaration alone, particularly when procurement decisions are being evaluated. Verification through the Veteran Business Community gives buyers a clear and consistent way to engage veteran-owned businesses at scale.

This is how veteran sourcing moves from goodwill to repeatable practice.

Why this extends beyond a single portal  

BenchOn operates across government, corporate, and sector-based sourcing environments. The Veteran Industry Portal is designed to connect into that broader ecosystem.

This allows sourcing activity to flow naturally from existing procurement environments into the veteran supply base without duplication or manual effort. Veteran businesses gain exposure to real demand through structured processes, not one-off introductions or informal referrals.

Over time, this creates consistency. Buyers know how to engage. Suppliers know what to expect. Veteran outcomes become part of how sourcing is done, not a special case.

Where the portal delivers the most value  

The Veteran Industry Portal is strongest wherever capability matching matters. This includes professional and technical services, research and consulting, project delivery, manufacturing supply chains, construction packages, and workforce backfill.

Workforce requests are particularly effective where organisations need interim capability due to leave, surge demand, or unexpected gaps. In these cases, the relationship remains business-to-business. Capability is supplied through a commercial agreement for a defined period, not through recruitment or labour hire.

Cost and access  

Suppliers are not charged platform fees to view or respond to opportunities.

This removes a common barrier, particularly for small and growing businesses. It also reinforces a simple principle. Suppliers should not have to pay to win work.

For veteran business owners, the practical implication is clear. If buyers are actively seeking verified veteran businesses, being ready matters more than being loud.

What to do next  

If you are a veteran business owner, joining the Veteran Industry Portal allows you to present your capabilities clearly and respond when real opportunities match what you do. Verification through the Veteran Business Community allows buyers to prioritise you when veteran outcomes matter.

If you are a buyer, the portal provides a way to move from intent to action without adding administrative overhead. You can test the market, source capability, and manage engagement through a single, auditable process.

From Policy to Practice  

Queensland has taken a clear position on veteran outcomes in procurement. Buyers are responding. The Veteran Industry Portal exists to make that response practical, fast, and defensible.

If you want to source verified veteran businesses without adding complexity, start with the Veteran Industry Portal.

If you want to modernise sourcing and connect into the veteran supply base, talk to BenchOn.

Industry perspective  

The thinking behind the Veteran Industry Portal has been discussed in detail by Tim Wormsley, CEO of BenchOn, and Pete Liston, Co-Founder of the Veteran Business Community, on the Veteran Business Community Podcast.

The conversation explores why the platform was built, how a match-first sourcing model changes procurement behaviour, and what this means for buyers and veteran businesses as policy and demand evolve.

For readers who want deeper context, you can listen to the full episode here:
🎧 Listen to the full episode:
👉 YouTube – https://lnkd.in/g2Xuh45g
👉 Apple Podcast – https://lnkd.in/gadGMc3D
👉 Spotify – https://lnkd.in/gFeHkmW8
👉 Website – https://lnkd.in/gp7kZeXm

For buyers

If you are responsible for procurement and need a defensible way to engage verified veteran businesses, the Veteran Industry Portal provides a practical starting point.

It allows you to release expressions of interest, tenders, and workforce requests that are matched directly to relevant veteran businesses, without adding administrative overhead or exposing sensitive project information.

To discuss buyer access and how the portal fits into your sourcing process, reach out to Pete and the Veteran Business Community team.

Start a conversation about buyer access

https://veteranbc.com/contact-us

For veteran business owners  

If you are a veteran-owned business and want to be matched to real procurement opportunities, your capability profile needs to be ready.

The Veteran Industry Portal allows buyers to engage you through matched sourcing, not listings or directories, so opportunities are based on capability fit rather than visibility.

To register your interest and understand how to prepare your profile, contact the Veteran Business Community team.

Register your interest as a veteran business

https://veteranbc.com/contact-us

No platform fees for suppliers. No browsing listings. Matching happens first.