GovTribe x PORTCO: Expanding Job Opportunities for Disabled Veterans

 

	Organization PORTCO, a nonprofit creating long-term, meaningful jobs for people with disabilities and disabled veterans
	Challenge Expand employment opportunities for disabled veterans by connecting them to federal contracts in new service areas through the AbilityOne Program
	Strategy Use GovTribe to identify high-potential contract opportunities, vet experienced mentor partners, and time outreach around agency behavior and contract cycles
	Results Established 11 mentor-protégé agreements under SourceAmerica's new program, enabling PORTCO to move new industries and secure long-term, no-recompete federal contracts that create sustainable careers for veterans and people with disabilities

​Since 1991, PORTCO has worked to create long-term, meaningful employment for people with disabilities. For years, that meant focusing on important but limited service areas permitted by the AbilityOne Program: janitorial services, grounds maintenance, and base operations.

But that changed in January 2024.

Small Policy Change, Big Idea

When the U.S. AbilityOne Commission released Policy 51.403, allowing nonprofits to include wounded warriors and service-disabled veterans as part of their AbilityOne workforce, PORTCO saw a chance to connect the dots:

• Veterans, represented by organizations like Wounded Warrior Project and Disabled American Veterans, were looking for meaningful employment.
• Federal agencies were looking to fill open contracts in fields like IT support, cybersecurity, and drone operations—jobs that match many veterans’ skills.
• Experienced contractors had technical expertise to support contracts like those—but couldn’t without a nonprofit partner eligible under the AbilityOne program.

PORTCO brought them all together—linking veteran organizations to experienced federal contractors (largely through the SourceAmerica Mentor-Protégé Program), and connecting those partnerships to real contract opportunities.

“They had the work, we had the workforce. It was like bringing together chocolate and peanut butter,” said Ralph Wahlberg, PORTCO’s Senior Executive Vice President of Business Development. “The challenge was finding the right opportunities and the right partners. That’s where GovTribe came in.”

Using GovTribe Every Day

According to Wahlberg, GovTribe helped him turn this idea into a reality.

“Oh, I’m in and out of GovTribe every day. It’s so easy to use, I didn’t need any training,” said Wahlberg. “The mentor-protege program changed the game for us, and GovTribe definitely helped us play it.”

How? A few ways:

• Spotting the right opportunities: PORTCO searches by NAICS code to find labor-heavy, federal contract areas that fit within AbilityOne guidelines—like IT support, help desks, and drone services.
• Vetting potential mentors: They cross-reference the U.S. Small Business Administration’s mentor-protégé list with GovTribe’s vendor profiles to see which contractors are active, in the right space, and might be a good fit.
• Tracking agency patterns: Some agencies are more familiar with the AbilityOne process than others. PORTCO uses GovTribe to understand which agencies have a history of awarding contracts in relevant NAICS codes and which are worth the outreach.
• Timing outreach: Getting a contract added to the AbilityOne Procurement List takes time. PORTCO uses GovTribe to identify when existing contracts are set to expire, then plans backwards to line up the right mentor, proposal, and workforce.
• Learning from others: PORTCO also uses GovTribe to look at past mentor-protégé relationships, tracking contract activity over time to learn more about how other partnerships have worked.

“Tracking contracts is one thing. Knowing how to make them work in the real world—that’s different,” Wahlberg said. “GovTribe doesn’t just show us what’s out there. It helps us see the full picture and figure out how to win.”

Turning an Idea into a Movement

And it seems to be working. To date, PORTCO has established 11 mentor-protégé agreements through SourceAmerica’s new program. These partnerships have opened the door to contract work for disabled veterans in:

• IT modernization
• Call center operations
• Drone and unmanned aircraft systems (UAS)
• Cybersecurity
• Firefighting and emergency services

On top of that, many of these contracts are long-term, no-recompete awards—providing real career stability for workers and long-range value for contracting partners. After seeing so much success, PORTCO’s team is already mentoring other nonprofits and encouraging more federal contractors to join the program. With a growing pipeline of veteran talent and more mentor partnerships in development, the model is proving not only scalable, but repeatable.

“We’re not just winning contracts, we’re changing lives,” said Wahlberg.

Watch the video below to see how PORTCO teams with large businesses to create jobs through the Mentor-Protégé Program.

Ready to unlock more opportunities with GovTribe like PORTCO?