As you may be aware, SBA’s regulations provide for strict ownership and control requirements for its socioeconomic programs. One of these requirements is that the qualifying woman must manage the company on a full-time basis and be devoted full-time to the company during the normal working hours of businesses in the same or similar line of business. In the proposed rule, SBA explained that it believes this is overly restrictive. SBA proposes to revise this requirement to provide that the qualifying woman cannot engage in outside obligations that prevent her from devoting sufficient time and attention to the business to control its management and daily operations. SBA understands that a woman can devote sufficient time to the WOSB after normal working hours without preventing her from controlling the WOSB…
In December 2019, SBA implemented a significant overhaul of its HUBZone rules. By comparison, the current proposals for the HUBZone rules are far less significant. Several SBA proposals confirm a few current understandings regarding how SBA processes HUBZone applications and when SBA may remove a firm from the HUBZone Program, while other of the proposals are designed to standardize the language used throughout many of SBA’s set-aside programs.
Perhaps most importantly, SBA clarifies SAM registration guidance for HUBZone JVs. As many know, certifying a HUBZone JV on SAM is not as easy as one would think because of confusion between SAM and SBA’s DSBS database. Until these systems are updated to resolve the confusion, SBA proposes amending the HUBZone rules to help HUBZone firms and contracting officers understand how to determine when an offeror is an eligible HUBZone JV, a particularly challenging process. The proposed rule states that the HUBZone JV should be designated as such in SAM with the HUBZone-certified JV partner identified… Read the full article here.
