A Community Based Program to Stimulate empowerment, enterprise, and employment. Rebuilding America’s communities one small business at a time. Public Law 105-135, The HUB Zone Act of 1997. This law:
- Created the Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUB Zone) Empowerment Contracting Program
- Is also known as the Small Business Reauthorization Act of 1997
- Is also known as the Small Business Reauthorization Act of 1997
The HUB Zone Program
What Are the Purposes of the HUB Zone Federal Contracting Program?
The primary purposes are to provide Federal contracting assistance to qualified small businesses located in distressed areas, or HUB Zones, to increase employment opportunities via job creation (i.e., not job training), to stimulate capital investment for small business creation in those areas, and to empower community, sustainable development through economic leveraging and the “multiplier effect.”
Consequently, this is a community-based economic development program designed to stimulate small business creation to generate JOBS needed to promote long-term economic viability. Job creation is accomplished by attracting small businesses to the community and by creating new small businesses in the community. To complete the job creation mandated by Public Law 105-135, workforce skills enhancement and training to meet the increased labor and human resource requirements generated by a growing small business base is an important component of the program.
Overall, small business capital investment will increase and bring about economic sustainability in the distressed locality.
What Distressed Localities May Qualify As A HUB Zone Area?
There are three categories of localities that may qualify as HUB Zone areas. First, there are the distressed urban, or metropolitan, areas consisting of 7,000 HUD defined census tracts. A second category consists of rural areas which are comprised of 900 non-metropolitan counties. Rural counties must meet income and unemployment standards required to be considered a HUB Zone area and the median household income must be less than 80% of incomes level for the state’s non-metropolitan areas. Unemployment rates for rural areas must not be less than 140% of the state-wide average. The third category is the American Indian areas which includes all federally recognized Indian reservations as defined by external boundaries.
What May Qualify As A HUB Zone Small Business?
The HUB Zone Act specifies four criteria to qualify as a HUB Zone small business concern. These are:
What Are the Purposes of the HUB Zone Federal Contracting Program?
The primary purposes are to provide Federal contracting assistance to qualified small businesses located in distressed areas, or HUB Zones, to increase employment opportunities via job creation (i.e., not job training), to stimulate capital investment for small business creation in those areas, and to empower community, sustainable development through economic leveraging and the “multiplier effect.”
Consequently, this is a community-based economic development program designed to stimulate small business creation to generate JOBS needed to promote long-term economic viability. Job creation is accomplished by attracting small businesses to the community and by creating new small businesses in the community. To complete the job creation mandated by Public Law 105-135, workforce skills enhancement and training to meet the increased labor and human resource requirements generated by a growing small business base is an important component of the program.
Overall, small business capital investment will increase and bring about economic sustainability in the distressed locality.
What Distressed Localities May Qualify As A HUB Zone Area?
There are three categories of localities that may qualify as HUB Zone areas. First, there are the distressed urban, or metropolitan, areas consisting of 7,000 HUD defined census tracts. A second category consists of rural areas which are comprised of 900 non-metropolitan counties. Rural counties must meet income and unemployment standards required to be considered a HUB Zone area and the median household income must be less than 80% of incomes level for the state’s non-metropolitan areas. Unemployment rates for rural areas must not be less than 140% of the state-wide average. The third category is the American Indian areas which includes all federally recognized Indian reservations as defined by external boundaries.
What May Qualify As A HUB Zone Small Business?
The HUB Zone Act specifies four criteria to qualify as a HUB Zone small business concern. These are:
1) The enterprise must be a small business by SBA standards;
2) The business must be owned and controlled only by U.S. citizens, Community Development Corporations or Indian tribes;
3) The principal office of the business must be located in a HUB Zone; and
4) At least 35% of the firm’s employees must reside in a HUB Zone.
2) The business must be owned and controlled only by U.S. citizens, Community Development Corporations or Indian tribes;
3) The principal office of the business must be located in a HUB Zone; and
4) At least 35% of the firm’s employees must reside in a HUB Zone.
What does the HUB Zone Federal Contracting Program Do?
All Federal agencies now are subject to annual HUB Zone fiscal year contracting goals. They are required by law to contract a specified percentage of their budget (ex):
Department of Defense requirements are 3%) with qualified small business concerns located in Historically Underutilized Business Zones. The business enterprise must be a small business based upon North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) and it must be owned and controlled only by U.S. citizens. Additionally, the principal office of the concern must be located in a HUB Zone and finally, at least 35% of the concern’s employees must reside in a HUB Zone
The Opportunity:
Fundamentally, the HUB Zone Revitalization Center serves as a knowledge transfer facilitator that channels knowledge about Federal Government Contract Dollars to the HUB Zone area via businesses and worker/residents that supply goods and services to the Federal government. We do this by providing government support services, by assisting HUB Zone businesses identify and work with Federal agencies, district agencies and Federal programs. Further, we promote and facilitate the interaction and use of major Federal contractors for bringing work and jobs to the HUB Zone Area.
The HUB Zone Revitalization Center serves HUB Zone businesses as a mentor and counsels them by providing a wide variety of services. We, at the Center, supply HUB Zone Application Assistance for firms in the area. Our application assistance is preceded by our recruitment of businesses from the region, the state and the nation. Our concept is, through direct outreach and technical assistance, to sell them on the idea of locating in the HUB Zone, thereby bringing jobs and increasing the demand for a workforce in the area. To perform these functions, our HUB Zone Revitalization Center must identify and contact business concerns and educate them regarding the marketplace that is arising as result of the HUB Zone Act. Once contacted, we must assess their potential to qualify for HUB Zone certification and then supply the assistance in completing the application process. While this is primarily an administrative process, it will initiate the education of the business concerns as to how the Federal government classifies their offerings.
Once certified, our HUB Zone Revitalization Center begins to provide procurement technical assistance to create a link between the HUB Zone businesses, the Federal government and major prime contractors. Among the functions we afford are prime and subcontract business plan development, lead identification and development, and access to federal program information.
Assisting the business enterprises in defining their capabilities and experience is a critical part of our services along with preparing communications and marketing packages. Within these functions, the Center must provide target market identification support. In essence, we identify the agencies and prime contractors that have requirements that match the HUB Zone business’s capabilities and offerings and the appropriate procurement and program personnel that purchase such offerings. In the process of providing procurement technical assistance, we will be educating and training the HUBZone businesses about bid and proposal preparation processes as well as Federal procurement policies, practices, and regulations.
Other types of technical assistance programs and training will also be necessary because the HUB Zone Revitalization Center will have to educate and market to the pertinent participants. Among these other participants are the financial institutions. Our job is to see to it that they come to recognize HUB Zone businesses (HZB) are good investments. As they do, the financial institutions provide financial support to the HZB.
Increasing the number of HZB in the HUB Zone area gives rise to increased demand for labor, thereby making it critical to access and upgrade HUB Zone labor resources. By providing workforce development programs & educational institutions the HUB Zone residents upgrade and enhance training and workforce skills via programs to enhance the capabilities of local residents. HZB will increase in number and demand more human and natural resources. Ultimately, the desire is to generate a cumulative, upward spiral resulting in sustainable employment, jobs, training, growth and development in the HUB Zone area resulting in cumulative spiral upward in the regions disposal personal incomes. Consequently, HZB and workers/residents are the ultimate beneficiaries of the HUB Zone Revitalization Center as the transfer of knowledge continues.
Specific Programs for the HUB Zone Revitalization Center
We have indicated a number of programs and functions to be provided by the HUB Zone Revitalization Center. Following are some specific programs demonstrating the nature of the breadth, depth and comprehensiveness of a HUB Zone Revitalization Center.
-One-on-One Counseling - One of the most important services provided by the HUB Zone Revitalization Center is one-on-one counseling. Counseling provides business concerns with the competitive edge the global marketplace demands. Your business becomes a priority to our experienced staff. We provide advice and assistance in areas specific to your company's government contracting needs such as federal acquisition regulation, Department of Labor reporting requirements, contract bidding and performance, and payment and audit issues. From deciphering government contracting terms and acronyms to navigating difficult solicitation packages, our specialists can help. We will guide you through the complex process of government registrations and assist you in becoming a qualified government contractor.
- Informative Workshops – The HUB Zone Revitalization Center and other business assistance agencies in the state provide several workshops to assist business concerns with their pursuit of government contracts. We bring in experts from several fields to guide your company toward success with individual government agencies. We have a curriculum of over 50 different workshops already developed for specific areas within the government-contracting arena. We will also develop customized training for your specific business upon request.
- Comprehensive Marketing Plan - Ready to take your government marketing efforts to the next level? Request a comprehensive marketing plan. The HUB Zone Revitalization Center marketing assistance specialists will meticulously research the government markets for which your company is most suited. The results of the research are compiled and analyzed exclusively for your company's needs. Your custom marketing plan includes a purchasing history for your industry by agency, a report on relevant expiring contracts; procurement forecast information, additional marketing opportunities and resources, and much more. Your marketing assistance specialist will work with you on integrating the plan into your current marketing strategy.
- Bid-matching Services – The HUB Zone Revitalization Center can automatically match your company's product or service with daily bid notices that show you exactly what the government is buying or planning to buy.
- Product and Procurement Histories – The HUB Zone Revitalization Center can provide you with a technical description and important information about the history of a particular product.
- Assistance with Registrations and Crtifications – The HUB Zone Revitalization Center can help you through the complex maze of registrations that are essential to doing business with the government. We will assist you with preparation and filing for certification as a HUB Zone, 8(a), Woman Owned, Minority Owned Business, or Disabled Veteran Owned business.
- Assistance with Federal Regulations and Military Specifications – The HUB Zone Revitalization Center can provide you with copies of local, state, and federal government regulations, including Military Specifications (MIL-Specs) and Federal Acquisitions Regulations (FAR).
- E-Commerce - The HUB Zone Revitalization Center can help you understand how to utilize electronic commerce to successfully work with the government.
- Bid Preparation and Post Award Assistance - We will help you get started with your proposal, we will review it as it evolves, and we will recommend ways to make it stronger and more accurate once it is drafted.
- Subcontracting Assistance - The HUB Zone Revitalization Center can help identify possible subcontracting opportunities with major prime contractors. Companies like General Dynamics, Lockheed-Martin and other large contractors are always looking for new sources of supply. We can help you make that connection.
- GSA Contracts and GSA Schedules - Want to market your product or service through GSA? Ever wondered how companies get listed on GSA schedules? The HUB Zone Revitalization Center can help you make that happen.
- SBIR- The HUB Zone Revitalization Center can help small business concerns get started in the Small Business Innovation Research program. SBIR is a $1.5 billion dollar program set aside for small business concerns that perform R & D of interest to 10 SBIR participating federal agencies.
- Contracting Resource Library - The HUB Zone Revitalization Center will provide business concerns with an extensive collection of reference materials, with up-to-date information accessible electronically via the web. Our library includes databases on more than 300 federal agencies, state and local contracting databases, government agency small business specialist directories, databases with Federal Supply Codes, NSN and Manufacturer’s Codes, and valuable links to assist you in your contracting efforts. Information is available regarding PRO-Net and other special programs offered through the Small Business Administration and other agencies. In addition, we offer links to all other sites where bid notices for government agency contract opportunities are found.
- Post Award Assistance- Once you receive that first contract, The HUB Zone Revitalization Center will still be there to help answer any questions that may arise. We can assist with gathering information to secure necessary bonding, and even assist you with invoicing and obtaining payment.
- Basic Service Package- The HUB Zone Revitalization Center will combine some of the most valuable services for a small business interested in getting started in the government-contracting arena into one basic service package. With the Basic Service Package, a business will receive the following:
All Federal agencies now are subject to annual HUB Zone fiscal year contracting goals. They are required by law to contract a specified percentage of their budget (ex):
Department of Defense requirements are 3%) with qualified small business concerns located in Historically Underutilized Business Zones. The business enterprise must be a small business based upon North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) and it must be owned and controlled only by U.S. citizens. Additionally, the principal office of the concern must be located in a HUB Zone and finally, at least 35% of the concern’s employees must reside in a HUB Zone
The Opportunity:
Fundamentally, the HUB Zone Revitalization Center serves as a knowledge transfer facilitator that channels knowledge about Federal Government Contract Dollars to the HUB Zone area via businesses and worker/residents that supply goods and services to the Federal government. We do this by providing government support services, by assisting HUB Zone businesses identify and work with Federal agencies, district agencies and Federal programs. Further, we promote and facilitate the interaction and use of major Federal contractors for bringing work and jobs to the HUB Zone Area.
The HUB Zone Revitalization Center serves HUB Zone businesses as a mentor and counsels them by providing a wide variety of services. We, at the Center, supply HUB Zone Application Assistance for firms in the area. Our application assistance is preceded by our recruitment of businesses from the region, the state and the nation. Our concept is, through direct outreach and technical assistance, to sell them on the idea of locating in the HUB Zone, thereby bringing jobs and increasing the demand for a workforce in the area. To perform these functions, our HUB Zone Revitalization Center must identify and contact business concerns and educate them regarding the marketplace that is arising as result of the HUB Zone Act. Once contacted, we must assess their potential to qualify for HUB Zone certification and then supply the assistance in completing the application process. While this is primarily an administrative process, it will initiate the education of the business concerns as to how the Federal government classifies their offerings.
Once certified, our HUB Zone Revitalization Center begins to provide procurement technical assistance to create a link between the HUB Zone businesses, the Federal government and major prime contractors. Among the functions we afford are prime and subcontract business plan development, lead identification and development, and access to federal program information.
Assisting the business enterprises in defining their capabilities and experience is a critical part of our services along with preparing communications and marketing packages. Within these functions, the Center must provide target market identification support. In essence, we identify the agencies and prime contractors that have requirements that match the HUB Zone business’s capabilities and offerings and the appropriate procurement and program personnel that purchase such offerings. In the process of providing procurement technical assistance, we will be educating and training the HUBZone businesses about bid and proposal preparation processes as well as Federal procurement policies, practices, and regulations.
Other types of technical assistance programs and training will also be necessary because the HUB Zone Revitalization Center will have to educate and market to the pertinent participants. Among these other participants are the financial institutions. Our job is to see to it that they come to recognize HUB Zone businesses (HZB) are good investments. As they do, the financial institutions provide financial support to the HZB.
Increasing the number of HZB in the HUB Zone area gives rise to increased demand for labor, thereby making it critical to access and upgrade HUB Zone labor resources. By providing workforce development programs & educational institutions the HUB Zone residents upgrade and enhance training and workforce skills via programs to enhance the capabilities of local residents. HZB will increase in number and demand more human and natural resources. Ultimately, the desire is to generate a cumulative, upward spiral resulting in sustainable employment, jobs, training, growth and development in the HUB Zone area resulting in cumulative spiral upward in the regions disposal personal incomes. Consequently, HZB and workers/residents are the ultimate beneficiaries of the HUB Zone Revitalization Center as the transfer of knowledge continues.
Specific Programs for the HUB Zone Revitalization Center
We have indicated a number of programs and functions to be provided by the HUB Zone Revitalization Center. Following are some specific programs demonstrating the nature of the breadth, depth and comprehensiveness of a HUB Zone Revitalization Center.
-One-on-One Counseling - One of the most important services provided by the HUB Zone Revitalization Center is one-on-one counseling. Counseling provides business concerns with the competitive edge the global marketplace demands. Your business becomes a priority to our experienced staff. We provide advice and assistance in areas specific to your company's government contracting needs such as federal acquisition regulation, Department of Labor reporting requirements, contract bidding and performance, and payment and audit issues. From deciphering government contracting terms and acronyms to navigating difficult solicitation packages, our specialists can help. We will guide you through the complex process of government registrations and assist you in becoming a qualified government contractor.
- Informative Workshops – The HUB Zone Revitalization Center and other business assistance agencies in the state provide several workshops to assist business concerns with their pursuit of government contracts. We bring in experts from several fields to guide your company toward success with individual government agencies. We have a curriculum of over 50 different workshops already developed for specific areas within the government-contracting arena. We will also develop customized training for your specific business upon request.
- Comprehensive Marketing Plan - Ready to take your government marketing efforts to the next level? Request a comprehensive marketing plan. The HUB Zone Revitalization Center marketing assistance specialists will meticulously research the government markets for which your company is most suited. The results of the research are compiled and analyzed exclusively for your company's needs. Your custom marketing plan includes a purchasing history for your industry by agency, a report on relevant expiring contracts; procurement forecast information, additional marketing opportunities and resources, and much more. Your marketing assistance specialist will work with you on integrating the plan into your current marketing strategy.
- Bid-matching Services – The HUB Zone Revitalization Center can automatically match your company's product or service with daily bid notices that show you exactly what the government is buying or planning to buy.
- Product and Procurement Histories – The HUB Zone Revitalization Center can provide you with a technical description and important information about the history of a particular product.
- Assistance with Registrations and Crtifications – The HUB Zone Revitalization Center can help you through the complex maze of registrations that are essential to doing business with the government. We will assist you with preparation and filing for certification as a HUB Zone, 8(a), Woman Owned, Minority Owned Business, or Disabled Veteran Owned business.
- Assistance with Federal Regulations and Military Specifications – The HUB Zone Revitalization Center can provide you with copies of local, state, and federal government regulations, including Military Specifications (MIL-Specs) and Federal Acquisitions Regulations (FAR).
- E-Commerce - The HUB Zone Revitalization Center can help you understand how to utilize electronic commerce to successfully work with the government.
- Bid Preparation and Post Award Assistance - We will help you get started with your proposal, we will review it as it evolves, and we will recommend ways to make it stronger and more accurate once it is drafted.
- Subcontracting Assistance - The HUB Zone Revitalization Center can help identify possible subcontracting opportunities with major prime contractors. Companies like General Dynamics, Lockheed-Martin and other large contractors are always looking for new sources of supply. We can help you make that connection.
- GSA Contracts and GSA Schedules - Want to market your product or service through GSA? Ever wondered how companies get listed on GSA schedules? The HUB Zone Revitalization Center can help you make that happen.
- SBIR- The HUB Zone Revitalization Center can help small business concerns get started in the Small Business Innovation Research program. SBIR is a $1.5 billion dollar program set aside for small business concerns that perform R & D of interest to 10 SBIR participating federal agencies.
- Contracting Resource Library - The HUB Zone Revitalization Center will provide business concerns with an extensive collection of reference materials, with up-to-date information accessible electronically via the web. Our library includes databases on more than 300 federal agencies, state and local contracting databases, government agency small business specialist directories, databases with Federal Supply Codes, NSN and Manufacturer’s Codes, and valuable links to assist you in your contracting efforts. Information is available regarding PRO-Net and other special programs offered through the Small Business Administration and other agencies. In addition, we offer links to all other sites where bid notices for government agency contract opportunities are found.
- Post Award Assistance- Once you receive that first contract, The HUB Zone Revitalization Center will still be there to help answer any questions that may arise. We can assist with gathering information to secure necessary bonding, and even assist you with invoicing and obtaining payment.
- Basic Service Package- The HUB Zone Revitalization Center will combine some of the most valuable services for a small business interested in getting started in the government-contracting arena into one basic service package. With the Basic Service Package, a business will receive the following:
- Initial Consultation with our highly trained marketing assistance specialists
- E-mailed government solicitation announcements matched to your company's capabilities and interests
- Basic Guidance with interpreting the solicitation package, preparing proposals and completing the bid package
- Military specification & standards information
- DoD-adopted commercial standards information
- Access to world-class Internet tools
- Access to a contracting library
- E-mailed government solicitation announcements matched to your company's capabilities and interests
- Basic Guidance with interpreting the solicitation package, preparing proposals and completing the bid package
- Military specification & standards information
- DoD-adopted commercial standards information
- Access to world-class Internet tools
- Access to a contracting library
