What is SBA's HUBZone program, and where is the HUBZone map?
What the HUBZone program is, where SBA's own HUBZone map is, where to apply, and why SBA, not a map or this page, decides who qualifies.
Updated
HUBZone is a program the Small Business Administration (SBA) runs for small businesses in Historically Underutilized Business Zones. SBA's own HUBZone map shows where the zones are, and SBA, not a map or this page, decides who qualifies. You register in SAM.gov first, then apply on SBA's own site.
What is the HUBZone program?
HUBZone stands for Historically Underutilized Business Zone. SBA's HUBZone program is for small businesses whose principal office is in one of those zones and some of whose employees live in one. SBA's rules set how many, and what counts as the principal office.
Agencies can limit some contracts to HUBZone businesses. Being in the program does not mean a contract will follow.
Where is the HUBZone map?
SBA publishes its own HUBZone map, at maps.certify.sba.gov/hubzone/map. It shows which areas are zones. Firmenza does not look addresses up on it and keeps no copy of it.
The map changes, so an area that is a zone today may not be one later, and the other way round. Where your office sits is one fact among several, and SBA decides on the whole application.
Who decides whether my business qualifies?
SBA does. It reads each application against its rules, including where the principal office is, where employees live, and size, and it decides who is admitted. Firmenza does not decide, and this page does not say whether your business qualifies.
Whether a business is small, and whether another business has to be counted with yours, are questions about your own facts. Take them to a free counselor or an attorney. The card just below this guide names places to ask.
What comes before the application?
A SAM.gov registration. SBA's application asks for the Unique Entity ID that registration gives your business. The guide on how to register walks the order of a first registration.
Your SAM.gov registration's representations about HUBZone status are yours to make. This guide does not suggest an answer.
Where do I apply?
On SBA's own site. SBA describes the program at sba.gov, and takes HUBZone applications through SBA Certifications, at certifications.sba.gov.
Staying in the program has rules of its own, which SBA's program page sets out.
Where is free help?
APEX Accelerators, Small Business Development Centers and SCORE counsel small businesses at no charge, including on SBA's programs. The guide on the free help that already exists names them.
Questions about size, ownership and control, or affiliation are about your own facts. A free counselor can work through them with you, and an attorney can read your arrangement.
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