Navy veteran-turned-Coraopolis publisher Chris Hale is taking on a new fight -- persuading corporate America to "Buy Veteran."

On Wednesday, the co-owner of such titles as the Veterans Business Journal, G.I. Jobs and Military Spouse will launch the National Veteran-Owned Business Association, or NaVOBA. The mission of the new organization is to change the buying habits of major American corporations, asking them to set aside a certain number of third-party contracts for the nation's 3.6 million veteran-owned businesses.

The U.S. government already has a goal of awarding 3 percent of all federal contracts to disabled veterans. But there are no quotas for the private sector, and many companies do not have such requirements in place. In fact, ex-military entrepreneurs receive just 1.3 percent, or $40 billion, of the $2.5 trillion spent annually on third-party corporate contracts, according to estimates provided by Mr. Hale.

The goal of the association is to double that amount to $80 billion a year.

Arguing its case nationally will be former Steelers running back and Vietnam veteran Rocky Bleier, hired as a spokesman.

The association will begin with 2,500 veteran business owners and 35 large corporations as members. Its chief argument is that working with veterans is good business given the military's history as a proven training ground for hard-working, disciplined entrepreneurs.

"The approach we are taking is don't do it because it's the right thing," said Mr. Hale, the association president. "Do it because it's the right thing for your company."

Mr. Hale and his partner Rich McCormack -- who launched Coraopolis-based Victory Media after shuttering another publishing company, Stars and Stripes Omnimedia Inc. -- began in 2001 with G.I. Jobs, a guide and jobs listing for the 250,000 people who move from the military into the civilian job market yearly.

They feel their advocacy work with the 60,000-circulation G.I. Jobs and the 30,000-circulation Veterans Business Journal has contributed to a national shift in military hiring policies.

When they started, the hiring of veterans at Fortune 100 businesses "was sporadic at best," Mr. Hale said.

Five years later, nearly all big corporations have military hiring programs in place. It's part of the "mainstream," Mr. Hale said.