Native Hawaiian Organizations soon will be able to own HUBZone companies under a new SBA direct final rule published yesterday in the Federal Register.
The new rule implements provisions of the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act, in which Congress instructed the SBA to open the HUBZone program to NHOs.
The HUBZone program will see significant changes to its rules as a result of major SBA changes set to take effect in late August.
These changes apply generally to two aspects of the HUBZone program: that relating to the SBA’s processing of HUBZone applications, and a significant expansion of the HUBZone joint venture requirements.
The SBA will not aggregate a HUBZone applicant’s employees with the employees of the applicant’s affiliates for purposes of determining compliance with the “35% rule,” but only if the SBA determines that there is a “clear line of fracture” between the HUBZone applicant and its affiliates.
A recent decision by the U.S. Court of Federal Claims highlights an important SBA policy, which isn’t codified in the SBA’s regulations but can have a tremendous impact on HUBZone Program eligibility.
As summer turns to fall (and football season), government contractors are dealing with the flurry of awards, orders and modifications that always accompanies the end of the federal fiscal year. In this week’s SmallGovCon Week In Review, a HUBZone fraudster gets jail time, a Navy report reveals systemic Berry Amendment violations (by the Navy!) and much more.
As we head into the final week of August, there is plenty going on in the world of government contracting. In this week’s SmallGovCon Week In Review, an in-depth article on alleged 8(a) fraud, a contractor is hit with felony charges for bribing a government official, and much more.