ÿþ<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD html 4.01//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/strict.dtd"> <HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE>Set-Aside Alert - 8-4-17 - Are the HUBZone changes enough? </TITLE> <meta name="description" content="The premier federal government contract news and information service written especially for small, minority and women-owned businesses"> <META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="govcon, contracting, contractor, small business, set-aside, set aside, setaside, government contract, OSDBU, small disadvantaged, federal contract, HUBZone, HUB Zone, minority-owned, woman-owned, 8a, 8(a), minority owned, MBE, WBE, WOB, SDB, DBE"> </HEAD> <BODY LINK="#000000" VLINK="#000000"> <!--<center> --> <table> <tr><td width="8%" bgcolor="#DCDCDC"> </td> <td width="84%"> <table> <tr><td> <IMG SRC="set-aside.gif" alt="Set-Aside Alert logo" WIDTH="341" HEIGHT="70" BORDER="0" ALT="Set Aside Alert logo"> </td> <td valign="top"> <FONT FACE="garamond" SIZE="3" COLOR="#D00000"> <i><b>&nbsp;&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<br> Federal Market Intelligence<br> for Small Business</b></i> </font> </td> </tr> </table> <p> <center> <FONT FACE="verdana,tahoma,arial" SIZE="2" color="#D00000"><b> <!--<a href="inside.htm">Wash Insider</a> | --> <a href="saanews.htm">Front Page Headlines </a> | <a href="calendar.htm">Calendar of Events</a> | <a href="awards.htm">Contract Awards</a> | <a href="new8as.htm">Newly-Certified Firms</a> | <a href="dodawds.htm">DoD Small Business Awards</a> | <a href="teamopps.htm">Teaming</a> | <a href="procwatch.htm">Procurement Watch</a> | <a href="http://www.sba8a.com/SAASubscribers/toc.htm">Past Issues</a> | <!--<a href="http://www.setasidealert.com/events2.htm">Meet Us!</a> | --> </b> </font> </center> <table><tr><td> <!-- ENTER DATE HERE --> <left><FONT FACE="verdana,tahoma,arial" SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000"> <i> Aug 4 2017 </i> </font> </left> </td> <td>&nbsp;&nbsp; </td> <td> <FONT FACE="verdana,tahoma,arial" SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000"> <right><i> Next issue: Aug 18 2017 </i></right> </font> </td> </tr></table> <hr> <p> <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5"><tr> <!-- Begin main column --> <P> <td width="5%"> </td> <td valign="top" width="60%"> <FONT FACE="verdana,tahoma,arial"> <!-- REPLACE THE STORY HEADLINE AND CONTENT WITH THE APPLICABLE STORY HEAD AND CONTENT. SAVE THE STORY AS STORY1.HTM THRU STORY99.HTM. --> <P> <!--<h2> <i>Set-Aside Alert</i> news analysis: </h2> --> <h1> Are the HUBZone changes enough? </h1> <h4> Former SBA Assoc. Admin. says more improvements are needed </h4> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Small Business Administration s  HUBZone program for small business federal contractors has been struggling for years, and bills pending in the House and Senate propose various changes to boost the program. </p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; But will those proposals--if approved and implemented--make the Historically Underutilized Business Zones program a success? That is an open question. </p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Weighing in on House bill HR 3294, John Shoraka, former SBA Associate Administrator for Government Contracting and Business Development, suggests that the proposed modifications might be too weak to make much of a difference. </p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;  While this is a step in the right direction, the proposed changes do not go far enough to provide a meaningful impact to the deficiencies in the program, Shoraka wrote in a recent blog entry. </p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <b>The HUBZone program</b> </p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The HUBZone program has been struggling for years. The government s goal is to award 3% of contracts to HUBZone small businesses, but results have fallen short. In fiscal 2016, only 1.7% of contracts were awarded to HUBZone firms. </p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <b> Historical weaknesses </b> </p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; According to Shoraka, the HUBZone program has  historical weaknesses that are obstacles to success. </p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; HUBZone areas are tweaked and updated at least once a year, or whenever new census data becomes available, Shoraka wrote.  This constant and ever-changing landscape makes it difficult for a company to rely on and invest in its HUBZone status and its underlying infrastructure. </p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;  As a result, fewer and fewer companies are willing to establish or relocate their companies in a HUBZone and invest in HUBZone employees and local communities. This results in the government having fewer and fewer qualified HUBZone companies to procure from in order to meet its 3% goal, Shoraka added. </p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The need for HUBZone firms to certify their status when getting started, and to recertify when awarded a contract, makes compliance even more difficult. </p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <b>House bill</b> </p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; HR 3294 was introduced by Rep. Nydia Velazquez, D-NY, ranking member of the House Small Business Committee. Chairman Steve Chabot, R-OH, co-sponsored. </p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The bill would establish a five-year cycle for determining the geographic boundaries of HUBZones. </p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; It also would change the calculations by which certain geographic areas qualify for the program, potentially adding as many as 1,000 rural and non-urban counties, according to the committee. </p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; There also is language for better data collection on performance, and for faster response from the SBA to applicants. </p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Shoraka wrote that the changes were beneficial but would have limited impact.  These provisions may stabilize the program, but they will also limit the number of HUBZone areas, which would in effect limit the number of HUBZone firms in SBA s portfolio, Shoraka wrote. The bill also does not address contracting officers concerns about staying ahead of the HUBZone area changes and with enforcing the requirement that 35% of HUBZone workers live in the zone, he added. </p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <b>Senate changes</b> </p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Senate reduced the requirement for HUBZone employees to live in the zones to 33%, from 35%, in its version of the National Defense Authorization Act. See the 7/21/2017 edition for more. </p> <p> <b>More information:</b> Shoraka blog: <a href="http://goo.gl/eBC9zp">http://goo.gl/eBC9zp</a> </p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </font> </td> <!-- Begin secondary column --> <td valign="top" width="35%"> </p> <p> <!-- start contents ------------------------------------- --> <FONT FACE="verdana,tahoma,arial" COLOR="#000000"> <p> <a href="story1.htm"> <h4> Are the HUBZone changes enough? </h4> </a> </p> <p> <a href="story2.htm"> <h4> GSA OASIS shaken up </h4> </a> </p> <p> <a href="story3.htm"> <h4> SBA OIG questions 8(a)s eligibility </h4> </a> </p> <p> <a href="story4.htm"> <h4> NASA verifying resellers </h4> </a> </p> <p> <a href="story5.htm"> <h4> NDAA: loser pays for protests </h4> </a> </p> <p> <a href="story6.htm"> <h4> Chenega award </h4> </a> </p> <p> <a href="story7.htm"> <h4> SBIC bills OKd </h4> </a> </p> <p> <a href="column.htm"> <h4> Column: Empowering the OSDBU to be your advocate without its knowledge! </h4> </a> </p> <p> <h4><a href="inside.htm"> Washington Insider: </h4> </p> <p> <h4> <ul> <li> DOD micropurchases <li> GSA senior execs named <li> FAS execs now consulting </ul> </h4> </a> <p> </p> </FONT> <!-- end contents-------------------------------------- --> </p> <p> <p> </td> </tr> </table> <font face="verdana,tahoma,arial" size="2"> <form method="post" action="/cgi-bin/goswish"> <p>Find all past issues containing these words: <br> <input type="text" name="query" size=30> &nbsp;&nbsp; <input type="submit" value="Search"> <input type="reset" value="Reset"></p></form> </p> <br> <hr> <p> Copyright &copy; 2017 Business Research Services Inc. 301-229-5561 All rights reserved. </p> <p> <h6> <i>Set-Aside Alert</i> is published by<br> <b>Business Research Services, Inc.</b><br> 4641 Montgomery Avenue, Suite 208<br> Bethesda MD 20814<br> 1-800-845-8420<br> Fax: 877-516-0818<br> <a href="mailto:brspubs@sba8a.com">brspubs@sba8a.com </a> <br> <a href="http://www.sba8a.com">www.sba8a.com</a> <!-- <ul> <li><a href="http://www.sba8a.com">8(a) Sources</a> <li><a href="http://www.sba8a.com/order.htm">Our Directories</a> <li><a href="http://www.sba8a.com/about.htm">Our Company</a> <li><a href="http://www.setasidealert.com">Events & Seminars</a> </ul> --> </h6> </font> </td> <td width="8%" bgcolor="#DCDCDC"> </td></table> <a title="hits counter" href="http://statcounter.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://c.statcounter.com/10553859/0/0486a933/1/" alt="hits counter" style="border:none;"></a> </BODY> </HTML>