The U.S. Small Business Administration has a program called HUBZone, that helps small businesses compete for contracts with the Federal Government.

Kevin Sloan and Linda Williams from the Small Business Administration explained the program today at the monthly luncheon of the Brownwood Area Chamber of Commerce.  “HUBZone” stands for Historically Underutilized Businesses.  The program began in 1999 and is designed to give small businesses a fair chance to compete for Federal contracts.  Goods and services procured by the Federal government add up to about $500 billion per year, and by law 3% of that must be from certified HUBZone businesses.  In 2023 about $17.5 billion worth of Federal contracts were with HUBZone businesses.  The biggest category of HUBZone contracts is professional services, followed by manufacturing, construction, etc.

To qualify for HUBZone certification, the business must be located in a certified HUBZone location.  Brownwood and Brown County are certified for HUBZone.  The business can then apply for HUBZone certification, and if approved, begin bidding for Federal contracts.

Kevin Sloan explained:  “The acronym HUBZone stands for Historically Underutilized Business Zone, that is what we call a set-aside, or socio-economic category.  It is designed to present to small businesses the opportunity to sit at the table, to be able to take advantage of full government contracts, or big contracts if you will, and also shrink the pool where you are competing against the large businesses.  Too often we see where the large businesses are defaulting with the large dollar contracts.  This is an opportunity for our small business community to be able to sit at the table and take advantage of these federal contracts.”

More information on the HUBZone program is available at www.SBA.gov/HUBZone

Linda Williams spoke about the SCORE program at the SBA.  The SCORE program is described on the SBA website as “the nation’s largest network of volunteer, expert business mentors, dedicated to helping small businesses plan, launch, manage, and grow… SCORE mentors offer area-specific advice at no cost (financing, human resources, business planning) via email, telephone, and video.  SCORE mentors, all experts in entrepreneurship and related fields, meet with their small business clients on an ongoing basis to provide continued advice and support.  SCORE provides a wide range of services including training, webinars, online workshops, coursed on demand, and a library of online resources.”

More information about the SCORE program can be found at: www.sba.gov/score.