HUBZone Firms "Grandfathered" HUBZone companies may stay in the program until after the 2010 census, even if their location no longer qualifies for HUBZone status. The grandfather clause was part of the 2004 SBA Reauthorization Act. SBA announced rule changes to implement the new law. Companies will not be terminated from the program if the unemployment rate or income in their location improves so that it is no longer eligible for HUBZone status. Any company that has been decertified for those reasons will be reinstated. Termination decisions will wait until 2010 census figures are publicly available. Under the law, a HUBZone business no longer needs to be owned exclusively by U.S. citizens. Citizens must own at least 51% of the business. Other changes: *Agricultural cooperatives are eligible to participate in the program. *A rural county may qualify for HUBZone status if its local unemployment rate is high relative to either the state’s annualized unemployment rate or the national unemployment rate. Previously, the local rate had to be compared only to the state rate. *A tribally owned business may join the program without meeting the qualification that 35% of its employees must be HUBZone residents. If the business receives a HUBZone contract, 35% of employees working on the contract must live in a reservation area or an adjoining HUBZone. “These pivotal changes to the HUBZone program expand its reach dramatically and will create more jobs and economic growth in economically depressed areas for small businesses, and stimulate growth in the nation’s economy,” SBA Administrator Hector Barreto said. For more information, go to www.sba.gov/hubzone.