HUBZONE: HISTORICALLY UNDERUTILIZED BUSINESS ZONE
Asynchrony is very proud to participate in the HUBZone Empowerment Contracting Program. It was created
through an act of congress in 1997 to help increase employment opportunities and stimulate economic development
and capital investment in distressed communities across the United States. Through legislation sponsored by Missouri Senator Christopher
THE (HUBZONE) MEASURE WILL BENEFIT ENTIRE COMMUNITIES BY CREATING MEANINGFUL INCENTIVES FOR SMALL BUSINESSES TO OPERATE
AND PROVIDE EMPLOYMENT WITHIN AMERICA’S MOST DISADVANTAGED INNER-CITY NEIGHBORHOODS AND RURAL AREAS.
–United States Senate Committee on Small Business
“Kit” Bond, it provides preferences for Federal contracting awards to qualified small businesses owned by U.S. Citizens
whose primary office and at least 35% of its employee pool is located in a HUBZone.
The concept of using government incentives to encourage business development in depressed areas has been in the public domain since the 1970s. Government initiatives in cities and states across the country provided tax incentives to companies that located in designated enterprise zones. harnessing change, and continuous attention to technical excellence.
Prior programs of this type mainly focused on providing advantages related to cost savings. Companies were incented to locate in an enterprise zone in order to gain competitive advantage through tax savings. The HUBZone program takes a new approach and instead provides an opportunity for participating companies to increase their revenues by preferential treatment in their pursuit of federal government contracts.
HUBZONE CERTIFIED COMPANIES HAVE THREE
contract vehicles that provide them with an advantage in the federal procurement process:
COMPETITIVE SET ASIDE If two or more HUBZone concerns are qualified to compete at a reasonable price for any specific requirement between $2,500 and $100,000, a procurement official must offer it as a HUBZone set-aside, taking precedence over consideration of the small business set-aside. (FAR Part 19.1305).
SOLE SOURCE CONTRACT If only one responsible Hubzone small business concern can satisfy a non-manufacturing requirement of between $100,000 and $3,000,000, a participating agency contracting officer may award contracts to HUBZone small business concerns on a sole source basis without considering small business set-aside.
10% PRICE ADVANTAGE A preferential factor of 10 percent shall be applied on a line item basis to bids by HUBZone companies. A full and open competition contract can be awarded with this price evaluation preference. The offer of the HUBZone small business will be considered lower than the offer of a non-HUBZone/non-small business-providing that the offer of the HUBZone small business is not more than 10 percent higher.
In addition, all subcontracting plans for large-business federal contractors must include a negotiated HUBZone contracting goal.
The entire HUBZone program is geared towards efficiency and takes advantage of the latest advances of technology. Application submission, tracking and analyst review are all accomplished electronically. While many government programs still rely on an inefficient paper-based process, the HUBZone program, according to associate administrator Michael P. McHale, was set up from the start “as one of the federal system’s first all-electronic, virtual program.”
Outside of its own investment in the launch and operation of the HUBZone company, Asynchrony has also initiated a number of programs to help fulfill the HUBZone program’s overall mission of revitalizing distressed communities:
- Asynchrony is pioneering an in-house incentive program to motivate employees to relocate into
a HUBZone. An infusion of new residents into HUBZone areas contributes to the revitalization of
distressed neighborhoods, promotes the restoration of building stock and attracts new businesses to the
area who will serve the new residents. By modeling this program and promoting it to other companies,
Asynchrony is working to substantively contribute to the overall goals of the HUBZone program and help it reach its full potential.
- Asynchrony will be working with recruiting firms and online job marketplaces to enable companies to better find potential employees who live in HUBZones. At this time, there is no clear way that HUBZone companies can specifically target the residents of HUBZones, especially since most HUBZone residents aren’t aware that they live in such a designated area. By helping to create new systems that better target the resumes of HUBZone residents, Asynchrony is not only helping itself, but contributing to the greater good of the entire program.
THE HUBZONE PROGRAM IS A WIN-WIN-WIN SOLUTION.
- Distressed areas win by an infusion of jobs, investment and economic development.
- Participating Small Businesses win by increased opportunities to do business with the Federal government.
- Federal agencies win by receiving excellent goods and services from small businesses, and contributing to their growth as future partners.
Asynchrony is an enthusiastic supporter of the HUBZone program and encourages both Federal agencies and other small businesses to become more familiar with how they can take advantage of its benefits while helping to contribute to the programs worthwhile aims.