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Government Contracting : Classifications :
HUBZone Program
The purpose of the HUBZone Program is to provide Federal contracting assistance for qualified small business concerns located in historically underutilized business zones, in an effort to increase employment opportunities, investment, and economic development in those areas.
- Q. What are the benefits to being HUBZone certified?
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Federal agencies must set aside at not less than 3 percent of awards for HUBZone small businesses. A participating agency contracting officer may award contracts to HUBZone small business concerns on a sole source basis without considering small business set-asides.
The contracting officer shall give offers from HUBZone small business concerns a price evaluation preference by adding a factor of 10 percent to all offers, except:
- Offers from HUBZone small business concerns that have not waived the evaluation preference;
- Otherwise successful offers from small business concerns;
- Otherwise successful offers of eligible products under the Trade Agreements Act when the acquisition equals or exceeds the dollar threshold in FAR Subpart 25.4; and
- Otherwise successful offers where application of the factor would be inconsistent with a Memorandum of Understanding or other international agreement with a foreign government (see agency supplement).
The factor of 10 percent shall be applied on a line item basis or to any group of items on which award may be made. Other evaluation factors, such as transportation costs or rent-free use of Government facilities, shall be added to the offer to establish the base offer before adding the factor of 10 percent.
A concern that is both a HUBZone small business concern and a small disadvantaged business concern shall receive the benefit of both the HUBZone small business price evaluation preference and the small disadvantaged business price evaluation adjustment (see Subpart 19.11). Each applicable price evaluation preference or adjustment shall be calculated independently against an offeror's base offer. These individual preference and adjustment amounts shall both be added to the base offer to arrive at the total evaluated price for that offer.
- Q. What are the basic HUBZone requirements?
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To participate in the HUBZone Empowerment Contracting Program, a business must be determined to be a "qualified HUBZone small business concern." A firm can be found to be a qualified HUBZone concern, if:
- It is small,
- It is located in an "historically underutilized business zone" (HUBZone)
- It is owned and controlled by one or more U.S. Citizens, and
- At least 35% of its employees reside in a HUBZone.
- Q. How do I certify/classify as a HUBZone business?
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Businesses must be certified by the Small Business Administration to qualify as HUBZone.
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