HUBZONE update: SBA reports on performance, goals for 2023

SBA seeks big increase in budget for HUBZ admin; New initiatives include Manufacturing HUB Office

      The Small Business Administration is seeking a large hike in its budget for administering the HUBZone small business contracting program in fiscal 2023.

      SBA’s proposed HUBZone administrative budget for fiscal 2023 is $14.3 million, up from $8.2 million in fiscal 2021 and an estimated $11.9 million in fiscal 2022, according to the agency’s recent Fiscal 2023 Congressional Budget Justification and Fiscal 2021 Performance Report document.

      SBA said $4 million would go toward establishing more support for small and underserved manufacturers, including creation of a new Manufacturing HUB Office within the HUBZone Program Office.

      The new office would coordinate efforts within SBA to carry out Executive Order 14005 on enhancing “Made in America” efforts for small business manufacturing, the SBA said.

      It also would provide resources “to help small manufacturers build resiliency, contribute to the economic recovery of their communities, and play a central role in expanding supply chain diversity and U.S. competitiveness,” SBA said in the report.

Fiscal 2021 performance

      For fiscal 2021, the SBA reported 5,685 HUBZone firms in its portfolio. The agency also highlighted several changes it made to the HUBZone program last year, including:

• Establishing a 60-day goal for approving a new HUBZone application;
• Incorporating Governor-Designated Covered Areas into the HUBZone program, based on a January 2020 direct final rule;
• Introducing annual recertification and program reviews every three years;
• Offering temporary flexibilities to ease compliance with HUBZone rules during the COVID-19 pandemic;
• Creating a new strategy to help agencies achieve their HUBZone goals;
• Initiating new studies on the economic impact of HUBZones;
• Streamlining verification requirements for contracts; and
• Providing opportunities for firms to receive credits for long term investments in employees and facilities.

Fiscal 2023 plans

      Additional plans for the HUBZone program in 2023 include:

• Updating of the HUBZone map in July 2023 to reflect the results of the 2020 Census;
• Continuing outreach to governors on governor-designated HUBZones;
• Continuing outreach to inform firms and federal agency contracting officers about the HUBZone program; and
• Continuing streamlining of the HUBZone application process. HUBZone performance data

      The SBA released new data on the HUBZone program in its performance report. All years are fiscal years.

      Set-Aside Alert also assembled HUBZone data from the SBA’s annual Procurement Scorecard.

      The following chart is of HUBZone total prime contract awards and the percentage of HUBZone prime contracts in relation to total federal contracts.

More Information:
SBA report: https://bit.ly/3P0UoDd
Procurement scorecards: https://bit.ly/37oZnwQ

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